Leslie Budewitz takes us back to Seattle’s Pike Place Market for the latest Spice Shop mystery, Between a Wok and a Dead Place. Although the spice shop setting, and all the discussion of food puts these mysteries in the cozy category, there’s a depth to the stories that is often lacking in cozies. This time, Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop, learns about Seattle’s Chinatown, its culture and history, right along with the reader.

It’s the Year of the Rabbit, and Pepper is enjoys the parade as well as the food walk in the Chinatown International District. Afterwards, Roxanne Davidson, a museum curator, grabs her, saying she thinks she found a body at the Gold Rush Hotel. It’s a long-closed residential hotel for Chinese immigrants. But, Roxanne, a curator of small weird things, had been hired by Oliver Wu, owner of the hotel, and she was searching for a twentieth century Chinese pharmacy when she stumbled across the dead body of a man dressed as a lion dancer. Pepper is the one with experience with murder investigations, though, and connections to local police.

Although Pepper is intrigued by the mystery of the pharmacy and the Gold Rush Hotel, she grows a little suspicious of Roxanne. Pepper’s boyfriend, Nate, is fishing in Alaska, and Roxanne has a family connection. Even when Pepper talks with Nate, she doesn’t discover all of the secrets connecting the two. And, when the subject of Roxanne comes up with the police, they tell Pepper to talk with her boyfriend.

Pepper always has a juggling act as she investigates. She keeps the Spice Shop new and interesting, hires staff, works in the warehouse to put spices and kits together, worries about her long-distance relationship with Nate, and learns about the history of Chinatown and its residents. She’s also concerned about the warnings she receives from older residents of Chinatown who tell her to leave the past alone.

If Pepper Reece left the past alone, readers wouldn’t have such absorbing mysteries. She’s an amateur sleuth who loves her community, the people she works with, and the history of the area. She cares when someone dies, wondering about the people who loved and missed the victim. If Pepper didn’t care about people, she wouldn’t get involved in thought-provoking mysteries such as Between a Wok and a Dead Place.

A note – As with many cozies, there are recipes included. However, I’m most grateful with the list of characters at the beginning of the book.

Leslie Budewitz’ website is https://www.lesliebudewitz.com/

Between a Wok and a Dead Place by Leslie Budewitz. Seventh Street Books, 2023. ISBN 978164560611 (paperback), 236p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a PDF so I could review the book for a journal.