Fiona Silk Mystery Books in Order

The Fiona Silk books are comic capers, but the comedy works because Fiona herself is so tired, broke, and realistic about her situation. She is a failed romance writer living in Saint-Aubaine, a quaint bilingual village in West Quebec, trying to keep a low profile with only her Samoyed, Tolstoy, for company. Naturally, the village has other plans.

In Lament For A Lounge Lizard, Fiona comes home to find a former lover dead in her bed, which is exactly the kind of scandal a small town will never let die on its own. The police look hard at her. So do the locals. Fiona becomes a reluctant investigator because nobody else seems especially interested in preserving her reputation, and she knows that if she leaves things alone, she may be the one who pays for it.

Poor Fiona cannot even have a proper disaster in private.

The second book, Too Hot to Handle, keeps the same blend of embarrassment and real danger. Fiona's writing career is wobbling, her finances are a mess, and her agent thinks an erotic cookbook is the answer. While Fiona tries to fake her way through that assignment, a television cooking production arrives in town, a fatal crash sparks questions, her house catches fire, and murder keeps circling closer. Recipes even turn up along the way, which suits the book's food-and-chaos energy.

Saint-Aubaine is a big part of the appeal. It is small enough for gossip to travel fast and charming enough to make every scandal feel slightly ridiculous. The village's bilingual chatter, artsy personalities, and nosy friends give the books a lived-in feel. Fiona's young helper Josey Thring adds extra energy, especially when Fiona would prefer to stay unnoticed and Josey is ready to dig into the trouble.

These novels are lighter than the Camilla MacPhee books, but they are not weightless. Fiona is lonely, short on money, and often one step away from personal disaster, which gives the humor something solid to push against. The mysteries grow out of jealousy, vanity, failed relationships, and people who think a clever story will cover what they have done. Fiona solves crimes mostly because she has no comfortable alternative.

If you like cozy mysteries with dry humor, village gossip, and a heroine who would much rather avoid attention but never quite gets the chance, Fiona Silk is easy to enjoy. It is a short series, so it is simple to read in order. Start with Lament For A Lounge Lizard, then move on to Too Hot to Handle.