A Taste for Crime by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliff was another excellent addition to the Hope Street Church Mystery series. Everyone should follow Cooper and her journey. I am excited to see how her relationship with Jon matures, and I love the character Zoe who was introduced in this book.

A fun who-done-it mystery! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Hope Street Church Mysteries series is quite enjoyable. Each book can be read as a stand alone, so you can jump in anytime. Cooper Lee is the main character in each story, along with her friends in the Sunrise Bible Study group. This newest addition to the collection finds the sleuthing members of the group determined to help absolve a local chef of the murder of a food critic. The victim was found in the chef’s restaurant….and the chef is the uncle/mentor of Cooper’s boyfriend.

As always, their plans for investigating the crime are interesting to delve into. The characters are all intriguing. I appreciate the reliance on their faith as they go about the work to solve the crime. Plus there are some featured treats from Magnolia’s Marvels….definitely a good thing for those of us who are reader foodies.

If you like to read cozy mysteries written by award-winning authors, you will be glad you picked up A Taste for Crime. Be sure to check out the recipes at the end!

Favorite quotes:
“Ephesians 2:8 tells us we have been saved through faith. Faith is a gift from God. Trust is simply the confidence in that faith even when the world tells you otherwise.”

“When we acknowledge that something is missing in our lives, we’re taking the first step toward meeting God.”

*I received this book from NetGalley and publisher Beyond the Page with no requirement to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

I am very familiar with Ms Adams work but I had never read this series or anything by her co-author. It is made very clear that the characters in this book are part of a Bible study group and that they are very church oriented, so if you are not into that, there is plenty of warning. This is a very nice group of characters that obviously know one another, and they all have their story, it is obvious that all these characters have developed over time but it is not hard to follow their relationships and contributions to the group. In this book, Cooper, the main character, is asked by her boyfriend to help his honorary uncle and mentor, another chef, who has a famous restaurant as well as his own cooking show. His restaurant has gotten a bad review that is also affecting interest in his cooking show. When the critic is found murdered in his closed restaurant, the chef is the main suspect. Can Cooper and company find out who really killed the critic? While the suspects are not many, it is a pleasant enough story, if not the greatest mystery. Thank you to #Netgally and #BeyondthePagebooks for an opportunity to read.

This is the second book that I have read in the series, and I keep telling myself that I need to read the others because they are so good. Of course they can be read as a stand alone. There is a wonderful group of friends who met at church and have a bible study class together, who inadvertently gets caught up in solving murders. This one has a food critic who meets her untimely death and there is a few suspects who she has done bad reviews on their establishments. Who actually killed the food critic and will the group figure it out before an innoncent man goes on trial. You have a detective who is always teeling the group to mind their own business, just like in this statement. "I see. Does that mean I can count on you and your group to meddle in my investigation?""Meddle is a bit harsh,". Then you have a one-eyed rescue pug, named Popeye who just adds to a wonderful story. If you love cozy mysteries, then you will love this one. I am thankful for being approved through Netgalley and the publisher to read an advance copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cute mystery with fun characters and plot. Lots of details included. Enjoyed the bible studies the most. This book was provided through Net Gallies, the author and publisher. These are my own personal opinions.

"A Taste for Crime" by Ellery Adams/Tina Radcliffe is, what I would call, a Christian Cozy Mystery. It's a bible study group lead in part by Cooper (our main character) that does the vigilante snooping. This is the 8th book in the series and occasionally it references past events that it would go over better if you'd read the past books, but not necessary.

The mystery was centered around a chef with some secrets and habit of making people mad. I really only had one person in mind for the culprit. It wasn't them but at least they were guilty of something.

Faith, Family and Friends are the heart of this story. The mystery, while juicy, further illustrates the commitment our Bible study group has to each other and their faith. Cooper Lee and her boyfriend Jon Eason are fortunate to get a lot of help from the rest of the Bible study group. Cooper, who has a lot on her plate, never hesitates to back down from helping family and friends. At one point, she tells Zoe her parents raised her that way and essentially, she would do anything for them as they would for her. The line struck a chord with me because like Cooper, I am family oriented and feel the same for my family. For me the ability to truly connect with a character made the story come alive a little more and I commend the author for creating a character that is relatable.
Like any cozy we got the requisite animals, but they played a little lighter role than we normally see with the furry companions until the very end when the dog solved it all in her own way. The lovable furry friends enhance cozy mysteries and add something else relatable to the story. The author handled the insertion of faith into the story in a very tasteful way without making the story feel preachy. I appreciated her references to believe, hope and faith that can come from the Bible because no matter what happens in life that believe is important.
The mystery aspect of the story grew by leaps and bounds as Cooper and her Bible study group continued to dig. Our victim and I use that term loosely was much more than she seemed. I liked how the team took major leads to the police and found it fascinating when Cooper told the officer the online forums help cops all the time. We understandably so had a lot of suspects for our crew to research, but the author did a nice job of spreading the tasks to make all the members of the group useful. Overall, I enjoyed the mystery. I enjoyed how it appeared that the more we learned the more we had to learn.
If I had one complaint, I am not a fan of the leading lady’s name. I have always associated the name Cooper with a man and not being familiar with other books in this series, it took me a minute to get used to the leading lady being Cooper. This is a personal complaint and one that went away when I got into the story more. It just gave me a moment’s pause. Overall, we have a terrific cast of characters that do a great job at the gumshoe stuff while keeping their faith and holding their friends close.
Thanks to NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing.

I have not read this series before, but I automatically was drawn into the mystery. Right from the start I enjoyed Cooper, Jon and the Bible study group. The mystery was also interesting even though I figured out who did it early on in the book. It was still an enjoyable read and I would recommend this book if you enjoy cozy mysteries. My only recommendation is that readers should read the earlier books in this series so that they can be more familiar with the characters and their history. This book did mention events that had happened prior to this book and I felt in a way that they were spoilers if you haven't read the previous books. YET I couldn't stop reading this book because it was that enjoyable.

I will state that since a Bible study group is in this book there is mention of religion which may turn off some people. It didn't bother me, but I do know some readers are sensitive to this topic. If the reader skims over these parts, they should still enjoy this read.

I will be searching for the rest of the books since I want to get to know these characters more and go on more adventures with them.

Cooper Lee and her sleuthing Bible Study friends are back in A Taste for Crime, by authors Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe.
Cooper has a lot going on in her life. Taking over Buts and Pieces, the show almost-formerly-owned by Chef Jon’s aunt, hiring a new employee, dog sitting her dear friend’s pup, and now…murder? Monica Amsterdam is a food critic whose cutting remarks are sharper than a santoku knife. She’s found murdered and the main suspect is close to Coop’s boyfriend, Chef Jon. Can the Hope Street Bible Study group investigate and clear Jon’s honorary uncle while trying to steer clear of Detective Olson?
Find out in A Taste for Crime! I loved meeting up with these old “friends” again, plus it has some wonderful recipes!
I received a complimentary copy of this book, but my opinion is entirely my own.

If you like your cozy mystery books with a touch of both mystery and religion, this one is definitely for you. Although I was perfectly happy with the Christian aspects, it did add some frustration as they frequently slowed the mystery. Let's face it, all mystery readers are in a hurry to find out whodunit. Although I've read most of this series from the beginning, It's easy, however, to enjoy the friendship and support the members of the Hope Street Church's Bible study members provide to each other. Heck, there's even romance. It didn't put me off the book, I'll note. In fact I found most of the scriptures related to the problem at hand, but felt it was fair to give potential readers a heads up, just as the publisher did me.

That said, I didn't really feel like I got to know more than the basic background of the supporting cast. I still found myself enjoying my time with Cooper, who began the series, if memory serves, working to repair copy machines. She's now the owner of a business and, as such, dealing with the need to juggle business, family, and personal needs. And, oh, while a cat person, she's dog sitting for a friend and that isn't proving an easy task for her given the little terrier's feisty personality and energy. Needless to say, her felines aren't happy, either. On the business side, while her father prepares for retirement, she's just hired a new employee and is dealing with her desire to have trust in her, a theme of one of the Bible study meetings, btw, while finding it difficult to do so on a couple occasions. And, oh, boy. Then there is her sister. Let's just say, they couldn't be much more different.

And, then there's that murder. The victim, a nasty food reviewer, is found dead in celebrity chef Anton Parsley's restaurant. Seems Cooper's boyfriend, Jon, is his honorary nephew. It therefore goes without asking that Cooper and the Hope Church group become involved in helping Anton and thereby Jon find the real murderer. There don't seem to be that many suspects. I had to laugh at times as the group investigated while admiring their "all for one" cooperation and support. Cooper is, hey, this is a cozy mystery, frequently warned away by the detective in charge but, well, Jon's involvement makes it personal, so Cooper vows to stay involved but safe. I bet you can guess that neither of these is easy, even with the best intentions.

Bottom line, despite my concerns that the Christian aspects may turn off those who walk into the book unprepared and what seemed a slow start with several slow downs, not to mention some some serious silly choices on Cooper's part, I did enjoy the book. Hence, a 3.5 rounded to 4 stars. Thanks #NetGalley and #BeyondThePagePublishing for allowing me to drop into Hope Street Church again. I grew up with many of those same stories and admired the authors' ability to tie them into the very real-life murder investigation.