Restaurant owner and amateur sleuth Robbie Jordan is looking forward to watching her diner’s entry compete in the popular Outhouse Race held every Memorial Day weekend in her Indiana county. Local businesses and associations have gone all in on decorating old-timey outhouse replicas on wheels as part of the county’s annual Abe Martin festivities. Robbie and her staff at Pans ‘N Pancakes are excited to be able to participate in the race this year. Their enthusiasm abruptly ends, however, when a corpse falls out of their outhouse just as they’re getting ready to line up for the starting whistle.

The dead woman is fellow diner owner Evermina Martin, who seemed to have plenty of enemies both in South Lick–where Robbie lives and works–and the county seat of Nashville, where the race traditionally takes place. Evermina had an unfortunate penchant for launching online campaigns targeting the restaurants she considered her rivals, including Robbie’s. Unsurprisingly, local and state police immediately start questioning Robbie as a possible suspect in Evermina’s murder. Kind-hearted Robbie scoffs at the idea that anyone would seriously think that a business rivalry is a sufficient motive for murder. Alas that the Nashville police don’t know and trust her quite as well as South Lick’s do. The feeling is reciprocated: Robbie feels a lot less interested in helping them figure out whodunit than she would if the SLPD were in charge.

Things get complicated with the reappearance of an old flame of Robbie’s, who might be more involved in what happened to Evermina than he cares to admit. But it’s when the investigating police really start scrutinizing a member of Robbie’s extended family that she feels compelled to pitch in with solving the murder–even before the safety of her loved ones is placed in jeopardy.

I loved the smart choices Robbie made in the climactic scene of this novel, despite the provocations that would have absolutely dragged a lesser cozy heroine into certain peril. The scene was no less suspenseful for placing Robbie at a remove, and I really appreciated the balance between drama and common sense. In contrast, the depiction of the day-to-day life of a diner and B&B owner was both insightful and soothing. This winning combination of moods felt like the perfect embodiment of everything culinary cozy readers look for in the genre.

Which includes, of course, six recipes mentioned in the text. I decided to try out this one, lightly edited as I just used store bought dough. Check out the book if you want to try Maddie Day’s homemade dough recipe as well!

Apple Dumplings

Ingredients

Butter

6 apples, cored and quartered

2 tablespoons, cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup sugar

Pie crust dough, commercial or homemade

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 . Grease a 9” x 13” baking dish with butter.

In a bowl, toss the apples with the cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a small saucepan, dissolve sugar in two cups water and stir until dissolved. Bring to simmer, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.

Roll out pie dough to an ⅛-inch thickness. Cut into 4-inch squares.

Place an apple quarter in a square. Gently stretch the edges up around it and pinch them shut. If the dough tears a little, it doesn’t matter. Place the dumplings in the baking dish. Repeat. Makes 24 dumplings.

Pour the hot syrup over the top. Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the syrup bubbles up and becomes thick and gooey and the tops are slightly brown.

Enjoy warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

For whatever reason, there was only one box of pie crust dough left at the grocery store when my family went shopping, so I decided to see how puff pastry dough would hold up as a substitute when I inevitably ran out of pie crust. I also left some apple quarters bare just to see how that would taste. While every version was delicious, each member of my family had a different favorite. My kids loved the pie crust version best, while I was a sucker for the puff pastry dumplings. Pie crust is undoubtedly the most “authentic” version of this dish, but puff pastry makes for a tasty variation in a pinch.

Like Robbie, I really loved how these dumplings are baked in a sugar syrup. It helps keep the dough from burning while coating everything in a delicious glaze. I’m going to have to incorporate that tip into some of my future baking experiments!

Next week, we leave the continental United States to make a delicious chicken dish while investigating the death of a vanishing victim. Do join me!

See also: Cooking the Books: Easter Basket Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis & Barbara Ross