Cafe owner Val Deniston is worried about her boyfriend Bram Muir’s first big shift as a volunteer firefighter. While he’s been called out to minor fires before, this latest blaze is taking a lot longer to control than usual. Fortunately, Bram returns physically unharmed–but he comes bearing bad news: the fire was at the home of someone they knew. Worse, their friend didn’t survive it.

Jane Johnson had been a tireless volunteer in their Eastern Maryland town of Bayport and had been set to play a leading role in an upcoming Readers Theater performance that Bram and Val’s granddad are also participating in. Since the show, as always, must go on, director Millicent Rilke recruits Val to take Jane’s place. Granddad volunteers to take over the rehearsal-hosting duties that had previously been Jane’s, giving himself and Val front-row seats to the speculation among Jane’s closest theater friends regarding both her death and the skeleton shockingly found locked in her freezer.

When Granddad is subsequently hired to keep an eye on the grand opening of a nearby Med Spa by its nervous manager, Ron Melgrem, he and Val can’t help but wonder whether Jane’s death has anything to do with the threats that Ron has recently been receiving. Jane’s friends in the Readers Theater have nothing good to say about the spa but won’t do more than drop cryptic hints as to why. Will Val be able to convince any of them to open up to her when it seems like a killer could be getting away with murder?

This was another fun installment of the Five-Ingredient Mystery series, as Val investigates what could possibly link five thespians with the new spa in town and whether that link could drive someone to murder. Everyone’s a suspect as the plot twists and turns. I was especially impressed by how Maya Corrigan keeps the secrets of The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie’s legendary play, well under wraps despite it taking a central role in the proceedings.

There were five recipes included here of dishes described in the book, all with five ingredients or less. I was in the mood for a savory entree, so I decided to try out this one, lightly edited here for space:

Baked Fish with Basil Pesto

Ingredients

10-12 ounces of salmon filet (The recipe also works for other fish, like grouper, bass, and halibut.)

2 tablespoons fresh, frozen, or store-bought basil pesto

¼ cup bread crumbs

¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking pan with foil or parchment paper, and place the salmon filet on it.

Mix the bread crumbs and cheese together.

Spread the pesto on the salmon. Top with the breadcrumb mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes or until done to your likeness. The baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the salmon and your own taste.

Serves 2.

I figured I’d use up the last of the salmon filets in my freezer with this dish and just eyeball a little extra pesto, cheese, and breadcrumbs for the topping. Luckily for me, this is a very forgiving recipe that encourages you to add more rather than less, as the point of the topping is to keep the fish nice and moist while baking. I whipped up some quick mashed potatoes and sautéed peppers to go with this, making for a delicious and complete meal. I do recommend using parchment paper instead of foil, if possible, to avoid any accidental scraping of foil with your fish.

Next week, we travel a short way north to figure out whether ghosts killed a paranormal investigator while whipping up a delicious pie. Do join me!

See also: Cooking the Books: Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley