Fried Chicken Castañeda

Historical Culinary Cozy Mystery, #1

by

Suzanne Stauffer

A great start to this new historical cozy mystery series.

Fried Chicken Castañeda marks the debut of author Suzanne Stauffer’s compelling new Historical Culinary Cozy Mystery series and the introduction of a sweet, serious, and courageous young amateur sleuth, Miss Prudence Bates, a former librarian from Cleveland, Ohio. Set in 1929, Prudence is bored with her life and staid career and is bitten by the adventure bug when she attends a lecture about the Southwestern Indian Detours and the young women who guide them. Determined to broaden her life experiences before settling down, she decides to pursue her interest by applying for the program and by making a temporary change in profession. After a long train journey to Las Vegas, New Mexico, she checks into the Castañeda Hotel, where she’ll join one of the tours to reach her training location, making friends with several of the young women, the Harvey Girls, working there. But when the brother of one of her new friends is murdered, she is compelled to help identify his killer. 

I so enjoyed the main character, Prudence Bates, and found her engaging and quite relatable in her longing to finally live her life for herself. She’s smart but has limited experience with life beyond her own circumstances, and her eyes are gradually opened to what others are dealing with in the country at this time. She’s resourceful as she tries to uncover the truth behind the murder. 

The author packs a lot of punch into this first book in the series, and I felt I learned so much about an unusual and little-known topic. Her vivid descriptions and use of unique settings made this time period (1929 and Prohibition) and location (a railroad town deep in the Southwestern U.S.)  really come to life as she developed the foundation for the series, so much so that I didn’t realize until later that the murder didn’t occur until past the halfway point of the story. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of action going on, though, as Prudence explores the small New Mexico town, discovers a vast array of culinary delights, and sees a different side of society than what she’s accustomed to as the mixed cultures clash. 

I recommend FRIED CHICKEN CASTAÑEDA to readers of historical and culinary-themed cozy mysteries, especially those with an interest in the Southwestern Indian Detours and couriers and settings in the Southwestern United States. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.