Murder on a Designer Diet * Shawn Reilly Simmons * Red Carpet Catering #3

When a demanding Hollywood director mysteriously drops dead on a movie set after drinking a specialized wellness shake, an elite red-carpet caterer must untangle a web of toxic industry rivalries to clear her crew's name.

The Story: Written by prominent cozy mystery author Shawn Reilly Simmons, this fast-paced, glamorous third installment in the Red Carpet Catering universe turns a high-budget movie production into a dangerous, high-stakes workspace. Penelope Sutherland is the creative force behind her premier movie-set catering company, navigating a chaotic sandbox of eccentric actors and strict studio timelines. Her low-friction culinary routine permanently shatters when a tyrannical film director goes into sudden, fatal anaphylactic shock right after consuming a proprietary health drink. Because Penelope's team prepared the meal tracking lines, the studio executives immediately drop a heavy defensive shield of suspicion onto her kitchen.Refusing to let her professional sanctuary face a permanent administrative deadline, Penelope launches a synchronized counter-campaign. Armed with her sharp culinary diagnostic toolkit, she moves step-by-step through a dark ledger of behind-the-scenes scandals, bitter typecasting grudges, and secret studio contracts. From analyzing the exact ingredient parameters of the designer diet shake to observing the suspicious behavior of pampered movie stars and desperate screenwriters, she breaks through the film industry's defensive armor. Working against a ticking-clock deadline before the police shut down production, Penelope coordinates her own investigative dragnet to sieve through a cast of deceptive suspects and unmask a calculated predator.

Perfect For: Devotees of traditional, fair-play cozy puzzle mysteries, cooking and culinary enthusiasts who enjoy authentic food aesthetics, and readers who cherish the lighthearted, Hollywood-centric amateur sleuth writing of authors like Laura Childs, Laura Levine, or Diane Mott Davidson.