Dead as Dirt

Lovable, snarky food critic Bernice Black returns to solve the bombing of NYC’s hottest vegetarian restaurant, Dirt, in W.M. Akers’ follow up to USA Today bestselling To Kill a Cook (“A delectably unhinged mystery” —Kirkus)

Bernice Black is trying to enjoy life—(cautiously) dating Susan, writing for the St. Mark’s Arch, and enduring the health food craze taking over downtown Manhattan. Between fruitarian cafés, restaurants cooking only with cider vinegar, and dessert menus made entirely of unsalted nuts, Bernice is ready to give up on food writing altogether. 

Then Dirt opens. The food is incredible, the chef is magnetic, and Bernice quickly becomes obsessed with both. But when the restaurant explodes (literally) and owner/chef Muriel Blood turns up dead, Bernice finds herself chasing another murder mystery—one tied to Susan’s past. And when Susan disappears, things get very personal. 

W.M. Akers’ Dead as Dirt is a gritty, laugh-out-loud mystery about food, obsession, and secrets that refuse to stay buried.