You're Enjoying Bake Off

Want a real-life mystery or are looking for a fresh take on the whodunnit

Hi friends,

Hope you’re doing well. Before getting to this week’s recommendations, I want to share a few things I’ve written around the web:

• For CrimeReads, I wrote about why CBS’s “Elsbeth” is a classic cozy mystery. The show has a quirky female sleuth and oddball cases. It’s just lacking a punny title.

• I interviewed Christine Larson about why romance writers have thrived financially in the self-publishing era for publishing guru Jane Friedman’s website.

• I contributed to Yahoo’s list of the best gifts for bookworms. (Might help as we head into the holiday shopping season?)

And, now, what to read if …

The Great British Bake Off Has Inspired You to Get in the Kitchen

Snacking Bakes by Yossy Arefi

We are just weeks away from finding out who won this year’s season of the Great British Bake Off. (I have a whole B-side on the judging this season that I will spare you from, but let me know in the comments if you’re interested.) If watching their showstoppers has you thinking of trying to bake your own specialties — or you’re trying to find a new recipe for Thanksgiving — grab Yossy Arefi’s Snacking Bakes.

Just as she did in Snacking Cakes, Arefi provides easy recipes that deliver delicious tastes. Each of the bakes featured can be made in one hour, in one bowl (my dream!). The book is broken into three sections: cookies, bars/brownies/bark and cakes/loaves. There’s something in there for everyone — including savory dessert people (I am not one of them). The simplicity of the recipes makes it a great guide for new bakers as well as those working on their Bake Off audition tape.

I particularly like the recipe matrix that helps you choose what you’re in the mood for.  And the chocolate chip snickerdoodle cake has quickly become one of my favorites.

You’re Looking for a Real-Life Mystery

The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel by Douglas Brunt

On September 29, 1913, just months before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off the First World War, Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine and one of the most famous men in the world, disappeared from a steamship halfway between Belgium and England. Newspapers around the world speculated if it was an accident, suicide or murder — but more than 100 years later, Douglas Brunt might have finally solved the mystery. In The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel, he chronicles the life of the engineer and offers an extremely plausible explanation for what happened to him.

After a chaotic, impoverished childhood, Diesel became a multi-millionaire who was recognized around the world when he invented a powerful engine that did not require expensive petroleum-based fuel. His discovery made him powerful enemies, including Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, who feared Diesel would partner with the British, and John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil, who had a vested interest in keeping the world hooked on petroleum. Both men became suspects after Diesel vanished.

Erik Larson fans won’t want to miss this one. As author Jay Winik described, it’s “equal parts Walter Isaacson and Sherlock Holmes, The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel yanks back the curtain on the greatest caper of the 20th century in this riveting history.”

You Want a New Take on a Golden Age Mystery

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

Evander “Andy” Mills is at his lowest and considering suicide as Lavender House opens. It’s 1952, and the former San Francisco police officer was fired after his coworkers found him at a gay bar during a raid. He’s quickly blacklisted and loses his apartment, leaving him unemployed and homeless. While at a bar drowning his sorrows, Pearl Velez sits next to Andy and asks him to investigate the death of her wife, Irene Lamontaine, the woman behind a famous soap brand.

Andy knows he has no options and agrees to take the case. He moves into the secluded Lamontaine estate, where nearly all the other residents are queer. In the mansion, they can live openly even as they hide their identities in the outside world. Some of the home’s denizens believe Irene’s fall from the balcony was an accident, others, including Pearl, think it’s murder. Most, though, are suspicious of Andy and any outside attention his investigation might bring to their oasis.

The mystery is fairly straightforward and I figured out who the murderer was pretty early on, but Lavender House’s real strength is its characters and exploration of queer life in the 1950s. Further proof: famed mystery writer Walter Mosley praised Lavender House as a “smart, bittersweet tale [that] plays with the oldest truth of all: the price we pay for our identity in America.”

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