Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for A Murder Most Fowl: A Food Truck Mystery by Carmela Dutra. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
A Murder Most Fowl: A Food Truck Mystery
by Carmela Dutra
A Murder Most Fowl: A Food Truck Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – California
Publisher : Crooked Lane Books
Publication date : September 9, 2025
Print length : 336 pages
A food truck run by twins serves up a clucking good murder in this cozy debut mystery, perfect for fans of Lucy Burdette and Joanne Fluke.
When their late aunt Dolly passes away, twins Beth and Seth Lloyd inherit a chicken themed food truck. Despite the challenges, the siblings rise to the occasion, even going as far as signing up their truck Kluckin’ Good to compete on a top cooking show and ruffle a few feathers for some good publicity. But the competition goes from heated to lethal when a contestant is found dead.
With the elimination competition becoming far too literal, Beth and Seth will need all the help they can get to get out of the frying pan without landing in the fire. With their loyal assistant–and Beth’s best friend–Rylie by their side, they’ll have to follow the bread crumbs to untangle a very twisted case before either one of them is put on the chopping block.
This humorous series debut with a mouthwatering mystery will charm readers and keep them guessing right until the not-so-bitter end.
Author Guest Post | Murder, Mystery, and Fried Chicken: The Story Behind A Murder Most Fowl
I’ve always been a huge fan of mysteries, especially cozies. Maybe that’s because I grew up watching cozy mystery TV shows with my mom. Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, even ones like Matlock and The Scarecrow and Mrs. King—I adored them all. Those shows had a way of tackling heavy subjects without being overwhelming, always leaving you content at the end. Much like a cozy mystery novel, they gave you suspense and intrigue, but also comfort and heart.
When I first decided I wanted to write my own cozy, I knew food had to be at the heart of the story. The problem was I didn’t know what direction to take it in. Coffee shops and bakeries are wonderful, but the cozy shelves are already packed with them. I wanted something different.
The spark came during one of my favorite pastimes: talking on the phone with my grandmother. She was an identical twin, and she and my great-aunt were closer than best friends, but that didn’t stop them from bickering like only siblings can. One night, while my husband and I were out to dinner, my grandmother called to vent about the latest spat with her sister. Her story was so ridiculous that I couldn’t stop laughing, and by the time we hung up, she was feeling better too.
I shared the story with my husband, and he said, “You should write a book about them.”
“Yeah,” I joked, “but then they’d kill each other.”
That offhand comment lit the spark. I remember saying out loud, what if I wrote a book about a set of twins?
My husband asked, “Would they kill each other, or solve a murder?”
Both my grandmother and great-aunt loved a good whodunit, so the answer was easy.
Then, in true brainstorming fashion, my husband added, “Well, if you’re going to write about your family, you’d better include fried chicken, because you know how much everyone loves it.” He wasn’t wrong. We were actually eating fried chicken at a restaurant called Plucked! during this very conversation.
The more we talked, the clearer the idea became. I shared how I wanted a unique setting that would allow for fresh, exciting backdrops in each book. That’s when my husband pointed out the window at a food truck driving past and said, “What about a food truck?”
Living in the Bay Area, the food truck culture is everywhere—festivals, food truck nights, and trucks parked at every corner. It was perfect.
But the final piece of the puzzle came to me in the most unexpected way, while watching a cooking competition show. Contestants were battling it out with burners blazing, tempers flaring, and knives flashing, and I thought: This has all the makings of a cozy mystery. What if someone didn’t make it to the elimination round? Literally…
And just like that, my debut novel, A Murder Most Fowl, was born.
Sadly, my grandmother and great-aunt passed away before I finished the book, but I know in my heart they would have been proud. To borrow one of their favorite sayings, they would have been “tickled pink.” My series is, in many ways, a tribute to them, blending family, food, humor, and of course—murder.
And that’s how murder, mystery, and fried chicken found their way onto my menu.
About Carmela Dutra
Hailing from the Bay Area of California, Carmela Dutra cherishes her family, rainy days, and making others laugh.
After years of working on her award-winning indie children’s picture books, she transitioned into crafting cozy mysteries filled with emotion, humor and heart.
When she’s not penning her latest tale, Carmela enjoys sketching, sipping copious amounts of coffee, and over-cuddling her allergy-inducing cats and dog. She shares her life with her best friend and husband, raising two dinosaur-obsessed sons. A lover of alternative rock, Carmela often writes to its rhythm and finds comfort in rewatching The Big Bang Theory and M*A*S*H.
Author Links
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarmelaDutra/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/authorcarmela/
Threads https://www.threads.com/@authorcarmela?xmt=AQF0ZEH7iWCFepVBgn7dGBtXhsCtpZEdklC1i4OwBhRqMnM
Twitter/X https://x.com/authorcarmela
Purchase Links
Amazon Barnes & Noble Bookshop.org Penguin Random House
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A Murder Most Fowl TOUR PARTICIPANTS
August 26 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
August 26 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
August 27 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
August 27 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 28 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
August 28 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
August 29 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
August 29 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
August 29 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
August 30 – FUONLYKNEW – RECIPE
August 31 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
September 1 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 2 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
September 2 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 3 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 3 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
September 4 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
September 5 – Ruff Drafts – RECIPE
September 5 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 6 – Infinite House of Books – SPOTLIGHT
September 7 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
September 8 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
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