By Cook or by Crook by Maya Corrigan

goodreads.com

Book on in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. After a horrible car accident that tanks her career Val moves from fast-paced New York to the slower Chesapeake Bay area to stay with her grandfather. Since she loves to cook she is running the cafe at the local fitness club trying to make it more healthy and popular at the same time. She finds a member dead and her cousin who happens to be her best friend is the prime suspect since the dead woman was having an affair with her husband. Val finds herself investigating the murder in an interesting manner that of course puts her in danger. The characters are good, the writing is strong, development is smooth, and the blend is all quite nice to be honest. Her grandfather is quite the character and I just love how he refuses to use a recipe with more than five ingredients (hence the series title). His other surprises were quite comical as well and they added some excellent transitions for the story itself. This was a very enjoyable cozy mystery so I give it 4/5 stars.