Halia Watkins is busy with her restaurant, Mahalia’s Sweet Tea, when an unexpected opportunity drops in her lap. A well-known cooking competition, Elite Chef, is filming in the area and Halia is invited to be one of the judges. Halia is initially skeptical, but her cousin, Wavonne, strongly encourages her to participate. Of course, Wavonne comes along for the ride as well as she’s excited at the opportunity to be on television. Unfortunately, not everyone on the cooking show is playing fair and things turn ugly when a contestant winds up dead. Can Halia uncover who the murderer is without becoming a target herself?

And oh, am I ever a fan of Wavonne! The wise cracking and downright outrageous antics of Wavonne kept me in stitches from laughing so hard! Wavonne says exactly what is on her mind and I love her confidence in who she is. She’s the perfect complement to the far more down-to-earth Halia. The witty repartee between them is absolutely hysterical, never mind Wavonne’s stories of her past dates!

The twists and turns in MURDER WITH HONEY HAM BISCUITS keep the reader guessing, as we wonder who is behind the murder. We have plenty of viable suspects, but they have alibis, making the conclusion all the more interesting. And while I missed spending more time at Mahalia’s Sweet Tea, but we still get plenty of scrumptious sounding recipes from Halia to make up for it.

MURDER WITH HONEY HAM BISCUITS is pure fun! MURDER WITH HONEY HAM BISCUITS is the fourth book in the Mahalia Watkins series, and wow, this series only gets better with each new installment! I have to admit I’m not always a fan of plotlines involving culinary cooking contests, but A.L. Herbert knocked it out of the park with MURDER AND HONEY HAM BISCUITS!