Memphis BBQ Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Memphis BBQ Mysteries Books

The Memphis BBQ Mysteries series is a series of mystery books written by one of the noteworthy novelists of America named Elizabeth Spann Craig. There are four books published in the series in total, which were released between the years 2010 and 2013. All the books in the series follow the happenings in the life of the chief protagonist named Lulu Taylor. Lulu is depicted by author Elizabeth Craig as running a barbecue joint in Memphis, Tennessee. He has named the restaurant after her great aunt named Aunt Pat and it is famous for its spicy cornbreads and ribs. Author Elizabeth Craig wrote the series under the pen name of Riley Adams. The success of the mystery series enabled her to pen down another mystery book series titled as the ‘Southern Quilting Mysteries’ series. Author Elizabeth Craig began writing the mystery series in the year 2010. She completed the writing work of the debut novel in the year same year and published it shortly after. As of now, the series is still ongoing as author Elizabeth Craig is working on the development of the plot and the characters of the fifth book in the series. The first book in the Memphis BBQ Mysteries series written by author Elizabeth Spann Craig was published under the title ‘Delicious and Suspicious’. It was released in the year 2010 by the Berkeley publication. Author Craig has set the central plot of the book in Memphis, Tennessee, the United States. At the starting sequence of the mystery book, author Craig has introduced the main character named Lulu Taylor as the owner of a famous barbecue restaurant located in Memphis, Tennessee. The food joint is popular serving delicious dishes and is named after the Lulu’s Great Aunt Pat.

Author Craig has described sarcastically that the restaurant also serves fun and murder as side orders. The Taylor family seems to be overwhelmed with the response that the restaurant has been getting recently because of its ribs and extra spicy cornbreads. Lulu Taylor feels that naming the restaurant after Aunt Pat, her great aunt, has proved lucky for him as well as for the business of the food joint. He also appears to be quite satisfied that he has successfully carried forward and took over the family run restaurant business. But, it seems that the Taylor family is going to land in trouble after being named in a murder that takes place at Aunt Pat’s restaurant. A well known reporter named Rebecca Adrian has come to Memphis in order to shoot a show covering the popular local barbecue for a famous Cooking Show channel. But, the problem is that she is found dead and the reason for her death turns out to be a mystery ingredient that was mixed in her food. When Lulu finds out that she had eaten the BBQ from her restaurant he becomes certain that all the fingers for the murder of Rebecca Adrian will be pointing towards him and Aunt Pat’s restaurant. Before she and her restaurant get convicted for a crime that she has not committed, Lulu Taylor is required to find proof of her innocence. At first, she seems horrified, but later, she gears up to use all her investigative skills to look for evidences related to the murder. Lulu knows that she does not have much time and therefore, she has to solve the crime as soon as possible and prevent anyone else from getting skewered.

One of the other books released initially in the Memphis BBQ Mystery series was published under the title ‘Rubbed Out’. The book was released in the year 2013 by Berkeley. Author Elizabeth Craig has once again set the book’s plot in Memphis, Tennessee. At the start of the book, Lulu Taylor is once again depicted as the owner of the Aunt Pat’s Barbecue restaurant, located at a central location in Memphis. She is depicted a coming out of the kitchen every now and then. When the ‘Rock and Ribs’ comes near, she also decides to participate and present her special dishes from the restaurant. But, she does not seem to have any idea that she is going to taste more trouble than cuisine in the festival. At the festival, one of the other participants is Reuben Shaw, who is notorious for having rubbed a number of people wrongly. One of the victims of the Reuben Shaw is Cherry, who is the best friend of Lulu Taylor. To her bad luck, Cherry gets a booth next to Reuben Shaw at the festival. In his overconfident attitude, Reuben Shaw thinks that he is the favorite to win the competition at the barbecue festival. But, he seems to be spending a lot of time causing trouble to the other participants than caring about his own barbecue ribs. Reuben even gets into a quarrel with Cherry after a few hours into the competition. After a short while, Cherry comes across the dead body of Reuben Shaw. He is discovered with a knife stabbed in his chest. People had already witnessed Cherry quarreling with Reuben Shaw and therefore, she is seen as the prime suspect in Reuben’s murder.

Everyone thinks that she is going to get grilled by the police for being involved in the crime and is going to serve a long term in prison. But, Lulu Taylor Seems to have other plans. She sets out to find the truth behind Reuben’s murder and catch the person actually responsible for the crime. With the help of her investigative skills, she finds out that Reuben Shaw had a lot of secrets as well as numerous enemies who had possible motives of murdering him. Soon, she completes a list full of many suspects and begins to look into each of their lives to unravel the mystery of Reuben Shaw’s murder. But, she is required to act very fast as time is running out and the killer is still roaming free. Also, the killer knows that she is running behind him with clues and will very soon become successful in catching him. So, he might as well try to hurt someone else, including Lulu Taylor. But, Lulu does not seem to be the one who be become afraid of him and continues to move ahead with her investigation until she finally makes the murderer pay for his deadly crime. The book not only became successful, but also helped author Craig to increase her popularity even more as being an author of mystery novels. She was highly appreciated by the critics and the readers for her dedicated efforts in writing down the intriguing plot of the novel. This gave her a lot of motivation to continue to work for the future novels of the mystery series.