Welcome to The Plantain Tart Mystery

When Caribbean-born Jane Michaels discovers her husband is cheating on her and also loses her job, she decides it’s time for a fresh start. Leaving her adopted life in Canada behind, she returns to the small island of St. Jerome, where she and her childhood friend Nicole open a cozy vegetarian bistro. Things seem to be going well. Jane has a talented chef, a wonderful staff, and everyone adores her food—everyone except Roy Bernier.

Roy runs a popular raw food restaurant just a ten-minute walk from Jane’s, and he’s none too pleased that an outsider is stealing his spotlight. Soon, he begins to disrupt Jane’s business in the most nasty and distressing ways—until, one morning, he’s found unconscious on her bistro’s doorstep, clutching one of her plantain tarts. All eyes turn to Jane and her team. She’s sure they’re innocent. But if they didn’t do it, who did—and why?

With the help of her friends, relatives, and Dennis, her kind (and handsome) vegetable supplier, Jane is determined to uncover the truth. Yet the closer she gets, the more her new life threatens to go up in smoke before she can savour it.

Rich in Afro-Caribbean flavour and charm, The Plantain Tart Mystery is a feelgood

culinary whodunnit—served warm, with a dash of romance on the side.

This is my first experience reading a “cozy mystery” and I loved it!

Lots of page-turning suspense, characters I enjoyed meeting and getting to know. [Note to author: please bring them back in your next book!] 

I felt like I was visiting this special “fictional” Caribbean Island and learning something about Caribbean culture from an insider. I could hear the characters talking and feel their emotions, their anxieties, and their affections. I enjoyed their habits of running, checking in on each other, enjoying good food, getting re-acquainted with old friends, meeting new friends. 

It was refreshing to encounter a heroine who was “starting over” in her 40s, after the unhappy end of a long marriage. And the starting over included a lot of new growth, exciting challenges and romance. Best of all a happy – cozy – ending…

Thank you, Valerie, for writing this delightful book. More please! 

GS

P.S. This would make a great new TV series – but maybe you could add some yoga, as well as recipes for plantain tarts.

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Jane and her St. Jerome are so vividly described that you know them and love them right away. You'll cheer for her, worry for her and wish you could visit!

SC

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I finished your book and have to say it's fantastic!! A cozy mystery through and through with a wonderful cast of characters, a complex and interesting protagonist with a story that pulls you into her world and keeps you reading up to the satisfying ending! I'd love to read more... will there be a sequel?

AV