Annie Capshaw doesn't take chances or unnecessary risks, so it's surprising to her that she quit her safe, stable job as a bank teller for a job as business manager for Bellywasher's, a pub. Not just any pub, of course. It's the pub owned by Annie's hunky Scottish boyfriend, Jim MacDonald. When a mutual friend fails to show up for a cooking class hosted at Bellywasher's, Annie volunteers to go seek him out at his gourmet cooking shop, Très Bonne Cuisine. She doesn't count on finding the police already there with the body of the salesclerk.

Why would anyone want to kill mild-mannered former teacher Greg? Or was the killer intending to go after the shop's owner, Frenchman Jacques Lavoie? And where is Monsieur Lavoie? Annie's determined to uncover the reasons someone would want to harm or kill him and also to find out where Monsieur Lavoie is hiding. Her previous experiences with murder come in handy as she ferrets out clues.

As Annie works two jobs, working at both Bellywasher's and Très Bonne Cuisine, she discovers that Monsieur Lavoie isn't exactly who he portrays himself as. Distracting her from her investigation is her ex-husband Peter. Annie hasn't seen him in two years, since they divorced after he cheated on her. Why does he keep showing up at both her places of work? Assisting Annie in her sleuthing are her best friend Eve and of course Jim. Less helpful is police detective Tyler Cooper, Eve's ex-fiancé.

DYING FOR DINNER is a pleasant cozy mystery, great to escape for a few hours. Readers don't need to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this fourth book in Ms. Bliss' Cooking Class mysteries. I highly recommend this series to readers of culinary cozy mysteries. Recipes are included as well.