Graduate student and part-time chef Neil Marshall only wants to go for an early morning run. Instead he witnesses the near-fatal shooting of legendary Houston private eye C.J. McDaniels, and he fears the gunmen can identify them.

Before long, Neil finds himself in the eye of a hurricane, his quiet academic life ripped apart as he rides a swath of violence that cuts across a mansion in River Oaks to an eerily silent suburban home, from a secret hospital room to the bed of a fascinating woman. In Houston's sultry summer heat a deep-rooted rage is building from a whisper to a...

Forget a white Christmas in Houston. Poet, chef and amateur sleuth Neil Marshall sees a blue, blue Yuletide heading straight at him. And as if his holiday funk and the hectic seasonal demands aren't enough, Neil's grandfather, who bears an uncanny resemblance to old St. Nick, decides to make an unexpected visit. Soon, however, Neil learns that Grandpa's normal holiday cheer is closer to holiday fear as the elder Marshall is on the lam from a murder charge back in Colorado. It's up to Neil to nab the real murderer or else Grandpa's twelve days of Christmas may be his...

Out of control skinheads, a flashy magazine publisher, a dead celebrity chef, and a vindictive food critic make for one messy kitchen. Add one murder suspect in the person of caterer Perry Stevens, and you have a recipe for disaster. It’s up to chef and part-time sleuth Neil Marsha

ll to turn up the heat and smoke out the real killer before his boss finds himself ordering his last meal a la cart on death row.

Too many cooks may spoil the broth, but one dead chef ruins the party.

Publisher's Weekly said: 

There's quite a shake-up in...