Very funny, non-traditional heroine in a small-town mystery.

I didn't figure out whodunit before it was revealed, and the story was well laid out.
It all takes place in a tiny town on the South Dakota prairie, peopled with
quirky folks who all manage to find their way to the Delphi Cafe, where most
of the action happens. It introduces Tory Bauer, a middle-aged widow who
shares a trailer with her dead husband's cousin and works as a waitress at
the restaurant for a hard-bitten gal named Aphrodite who rules the kitchen
amidst the grease, gravy and cigarette smoke.

Like most small towns, it seems like nothing important ever happens there,
until the day that Tory discovers the body of a young Mormon missionary in
the mop closet, and whether she wants to or not, she feels compelled to
track down the clues that seem to be apparent to no one but her. ( )

Funeral Food by Kathleen Taylor is the first in the Tory Bauer mystery series. Tory is short and round. She is a widow. She's a waitress. She lives in a trailer with a man-eater named Delphine and Delphine's son, Presley. (Delphine swears up and down that Elvis is his father.) Tory lives in that exciting hiccup in the road--Delphi, South Dakota.

Charles Winston is a young Mormon missionary who's been assigned to Delphi. He's handsome, soft-spoken, and generally well-liked amongst the townsfolk in Delphi even if they think his religion is crazy. When Tory finds his body stuffed in the mop closet at the café, she finds herself searching for a murderer.

I fell for this book in a big way. I like all sorts of mysteries and I have a twisted sense of humor, so I love it when I find a book that combines the two. (Especially since Evanovich has become rather stale.) Taylor uses the small town South Dakota setting to perfection. Anyone who's lived in a small town will recognize the cast of oddball characters. Tory herself is someone many women can identify with. There were several laugh-out-loud funny scenes *and* I didn't figure out who "Anti Santa" and the murderer were!

One warning for anyone thinking of reading Funeral Food: sex plays a part, and some of the humor is racy and adult. Not your typical cozy!

This book surprised me. It made me smile. It made me laugh. I closed it feeling as if I knew Tory and the other residents of Delphi. ( )