• Fatally Flaky. Diane Mott Davidson. Morrow. 336 pages. $25.99.

Davidson has become the queen of the culinary mystery, and her 15th novel showcases her plotting and characterization skills. For the record, Davidson's recipes equal her plotting; I still use her stovetop chocolate soufflé from Dying for Chocolate.

In Fatally Flaky, Davidson's Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz has been hired to prepare a wedding reception for a bridezilla. A local physician's death is linked to a town scandal, insists Jack Carmichael, Goldy's godfather.

Davidson's novels have become fan favorites because of her attention to characters and plotting. Goldy started as a new divorcee escaping an abusive marriage from a prominent doctor, showing that domestic violence could happen in the best of homes. Her now-happy home life, strong marriage and relationship with her son have added new dimensions to this beloved, entertaining series.

• Cream Puff Murder. Joanne Fluke. Kensington. 320 pages. $24.

Fluke's Hannah Swensen novels act as the wonderful little sister of Diane Mott Davidson's series. Hannah is a baker, specializing in cookies in Lake Eden, Minn., and in this 11th outing she is forced to go on a diet and start working out at a gym. But the body of a fitness instructor found in the club's Jacuzzi may put a stop to that nonsense.

Fluke's trademark of eccentric characters gets a workout, and the 22 original dessert recipes make Cream Puff Murder even sweeter. Look for Fluke's Plum Pudding Murder to be released in time for the holidays.

• The Battered Body. J.B. Stanley. Midnight Ink. 302 pages. $13.95.

When the Flab Five get together, it is supposed to be for dieting, but good food just keeps getting in the way in the charming Supper Club Mysteries set in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

Librarian James Henry and his four friends are a motley crew with distinct personalities who have found a refuge in their gatherings. Stanley's fifth novel in this series continues to combine the culinary mystery with the village mystery. Each chapter begins with the calorie count of the recipe that's at its end.

In The Battered Body, an arrogant celebrity chef is killed while making a wedding cake. The suspects include just about anyone who ever met her, as James and his buddies find.

Stanley's light approach works, but the author also frosts each novel with an insightful look at how people form relationships and sometimes have nothing to do with blood relations.

Oline H. Cogdill reviewed these books for The Sun Sentinel.