Delilah O’Leary is busy thinking up the perfect bratwurst deep-dish pizza to enter in her town’s 25th Annual Taste of Wisconsin Cook-Off competition. The winning entry will receive a hefty cash prize—an injection of funds Delilah’s elevated pizza restaurant desperately needs in order to stay afloat during the winter offseason. Her wealthy ex-fiancé, Sam VanMeter, initially bankrolled the construction of Delilah & Son, but she’s refused to accept any more money from him since their admittedly amicable breakup. Now, her accounts are projected to slide into the red despite a fairly decent but not gangbusters summer season.

Delilah’s hopes for winning the competition take a nosedive when celebrity chef Graham Ulrich is announced as head judge. Delilah’s best friend and sous chef, Sonya Perlman-Dokter, had an ill-advised affair with Graham’s wife while working for him. When the notoriously bad-tempered chef found out, he dumped a pan of demi-glace on Sonya, ordered her out of the kitchen, and blackballed her from the Chicago cooking scene.

While Chicago’s loss is Delilah’s gain, she hates the fact that Graham seems to be extending his vendetta against Sonya by tracking her down to her new job and city. If that weren’t bad enough, Delilah’s attempt at joint custody of her beloved cat Butterball is going poorly too, despite her and Sam’s best efforts. Delilah also doesn’t know how to feel about the fact that Sam already seems to be moving on with Jordan Watts, the owner of the local smoothie store Juice Revolution. It’s while transferring custody of Butterball to Sam there one day that they witness a shocking death, as a client gulps down his drink and abruptly dies.

When Jordan becomes the poisoner’s next target, everyone goes on high alert. Is there a random poisoner at work in Geneva Bay, or is someone very cleverly concealing the identity of their intended victim with a shockingly callous amount of collateral damage? As the body count continues to rise, Delilah and her friends will have to race to uncover the murderer’s identity in order to save lives and, perhaps, her own livelihood in the process.

This was a wonderfully layered cozy mystery that felt immensely realistic. From the complicated interpersonal relationships to the crushing money concerns, this felt like the tale of an actual business owner who happens to solve crimes on the side. Delilah was also far less abrasive than she was in the first book in the series—or at least more understandably so. I hope she continues to mellow out as the series progresses without losing her keen eye for detail and justice.

There were six recipes included, all written in the distinctive style of each recipe’s (fictional) contributor. I laughed out loud reading Mac’s entry but absolutely had to try the recipe from Jarka, whom I adore.

Banitsa, a Bulgarian Cheese Pie

Ingredients

3 large eggs

250 g. natural Greek yogurt (1 c.)

7 g. of baking soda (1 tsp.)

400 g. finely crumbled feta cheese (2 c.)

15-20 phyllo pastry sheets

75 g. unsalted butter, melted (6 T.)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F. Make greasy a 9-inch pie plate with a little oil or melted butter.

Crack the eggs into a medium-sized bowl and beat them not too hard.

Add yogurt and baking soda. Mix. Stir the feta cheese into mixture and stir with spoon.

Unroll phyllo pastry, then paint with melted butter on one phyllo sheet. Then, put two or three spoons full of egg-and-cheese mixture on top of this phyllo sheet. Spread the mixture around the center of the pastry dough. Gently for this, like you are stroking the cheek of very small, small baby or you will rip the dough.

Roll loosely the sheet of phyllo pastry up like a log, starting from long side, and place this into your pie plate making beautiful spiral shape like magnificent snail.

Keep doing this until you have done this with all of your pastry or you cannot fit any more pastry.

If you have left any melted butter, pour it on top and bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden.

Leave to cool for 20 minutes before you cut the pieces. Serve with extra yogurt for the side, and also have a glass of fruit liqueur such as rakia.

I was genuinely concerned that this pie’s lack of seasonings would mean a lack of flavor, but I was utterly wrong to worry. The sharpness of the feta contrasts beautifully with the mellow piquancy of the egg custard and the light flakiness of the phyllo, making for a dish that tasted perfectly complete. I didn’t even feel the need to add any black pepper, as is my wont.

I was also a little surprised by how much phyllo I didn’t use. I don’t believe I used even 15 of the phyllo sheets, but I also lived dangerously and only used one per roll. My sheets definitely ripped in places while being rolled up, but it doesn’t really matter as long as the log holds together at least long enough to be properly positioned in the baking pan. This is a unique, pastry-forward dish that could easily substitute for a quiche or similar savory pie in the home chef’s repertoire. I really liked it.

Next week, we head back to the East Coast to investigate a murder on the set of a “reality” show while whipping up a delicious Italian-adjacent dish. Do join me!

See also: Cooking the Books: Four Charming Spells by Lynn Cahoon