Hot Wings and Homicide
by Carmela Dutra
I read Carmela Dutra’s Hot Wings and Homicide for the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour and loved it. You can not only learn about the book but about Carmela’s writing process in her guest post: What Writing a Food Truck Mystery Taught Me About Chaos.
The author is offering a tour wide GIVEAWAY for this tour with two Hot Wings and Homicide Prize Packs, so make sure you enter the Giveaway at the end of the post.
About Hot Wings and Homicide
Hot Wings and Homicide (A Food Truck Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – San Francisco, California
Publisher : Crooked Lane Books
Publication date : May 12, 2026
Print length : 320 pages
Hardcover
ISBN-13 : 979-8892424417
Paperback
ISBN-13 : 979-8892424424
Digital
ISBN-13 : 979-8892424431
Audiobook
ASIN : B0FY43Z1DC
Twins Beth and Seth Lloyd are on the chopping block in the follow-up to A Murder Most Fowl, where a perfect recipe for murder is stirred up.
Business at Kluckin’ Good is smoking hot. To keep momentum going, Beth and her twin brother, Seth, just scored a prime spot at the Flavors of the Bay Food Festival. For three and a half days, food lovers will flock to the Bay Area’s biggest culinary event to enjoy gourmet food trucks, cook-offs, and live music, but this recipe for success is also the perfect setup for murder.
When the infamous food critic Brad Dawson—also Beth’s ex—turns up dead, the only clue at the scene of the crime is a Kluckin’ Good tumbler mug. The timing couldn’t be worse. Beth and Brad were seen in a heated altercation, and days prior, witnesses saw Seth punch Brad. Suspicion naturally falls on the twins. With the cops hot on their trail, Beth will have to avoid the flames to clear their names and save her food truck’s reputation.
But the chickens are out of the coop, and as Beth digs into Brad’s final hours, she will uncover rivalries, grudges, and a different side of Brad she never knew. If she doesn’t crack the case soon, she might be the next one to get cooked. Best of cluck!
A mouthwatering mystery for fans of Joanne Fluke that will leave you peckish for more.
Storybook Lady
Review
Hot Wings and Homicide
by Carmela Dutra
Business at Kluckin’ Good food Truck is hot. But when a food critic, who happens to be Beth’s ex ends up dead, the most obvious suspects at the food festival are Beth and Seth. The food truck community is a small one and everyone knows each other, giving this book a small town cozy mystery feel. The plot is well planned, and there are plenty of clues, suspects and surprises. This is a second novel in the series, but it can be read as a standalone. That said, I am in the mood for book one and big serving of chicken. This book was Cluckin’ Good.
AUTHOR GUEST POST:
By Carmela Dutra
What Writing a Food Truck Mystery
Taught Me About Chaos
I used to think I needed perfect conditions to write.
A quiet house with a clear schedule. Maybe a cup of coffee that stayed hot longer than five minutes. The kind of environment where inspiration could gently arrive and everything would fall into place.
That version of my life does not exist.
Instead, I write in the middle of real life. Kids, pets, noise, interruptions, and the constant feeling that I’m forgetting something important (usually that something involves a wet load of laundry… or a math lesson that somehow turned into a full discussion about dinosaurs).
I’m also a hybrid homeschool mom, which means my days don’t just have interruptions; they are interruptions. I like to think of them as structured chaos with organized unpredictability. Plans that look great on paper and then immediately get derailed by life.
For a long time, I saw that as a problem. Something to work around. Something that made writing harder than it needed to be. And then I started writing Hot Wings and Homicide, and I started looking at things a little differently.
Because here’s the thing: Beth’s world isn’t calm or controlled either. She’s running a food truck with her twin brother, juggling customers, chaos, and the occasional murder investigation. Things go wrong. People interrupt. Plans fall apart.
Sound familiar?
Around the same time, I was talking to a real-life food truck owner for research and asked her how she keeps everything on the truck so organized. From the outside, her team ran like a well-oiled machine. Orders flying out the window, food coming out perfectly, everyone moving like they’d rehearsed it a hundred times.
She laughed, assuring me that their organization level is not what I assume. They prep ahead of time and do everything they can to be ready, then they just hope for the best. Because once the day starts, they can’t control what’s coming. A rush hits, equipment acts up, something runs out. You just go with it. And when a lull comes, you take that moment to breathe and rest. Ready to tackle the next thing.
That stuck with me. Because writing—and life—works the same way. You prepare. You outline. You carve out time where you can. And then real life shows up anyway. A kid gets sick, or your schedule shifts. Your parents suddenly need a ride or taken to a doctor’s appointment. Or none of that happens, but it’s a day where your brain just… refuses to cooperate.
Talking with that woman reminded me of the early days of motherhood. You can prepare all you want, but you cannot control a poopy diaper in aisle twelve of the grocery store. You just can’t. The best you can do is handle it, adapt, and keep going.
Writing during a deadline feels a lot like that to me.
When I was working on Hot Wings and Homicide, I did everything I could to prepare. I had a plan. I had deadlines marked on the calendar, and goals for how much I wanted to get done each day.
But life happens.
Some days, I got so much writing done I felt unstoppable. Other days, I didn’t manage a single sentence. And for a while, that frustrated me. It felt like I was falling behind, like I wasn’t doing enough.
But here’s what I’ve learned: It’s okay to not have a productive day because chaos has a rhythm. It doesn’t look like a perfect routine or follow a neat schedule. Life moves and shifts. And once I stopped fighting it, I started noticing how much it was actually helping me.
The dialogue felt more natural. Reactions felt sharper. The pacing improved because life doesn’t move in a straight line—it jumps, pivots, and surprises you. Just like a good mystery.
Now, I’m not saying I wouldn’t still appreciate a quiet writing day every once in a while. I absolutely would. But I’ve stopped waiting for perfect conditions to create something meaningful. Because perfect conditions aren’t where the stories are.
The stories are in the noise. In the interruptions and the moments where everything feels a little messy and unpredictable. Kind of like life.
And definitely like a food truck during the lunch rush.
About Carmela Dutra
Carmela Dutra is a writer from the San Francisco Bay Area who loves food trucks, family, and cozy mysteries. She is the author of the Food Truck Mysteries, including A Murder Most Fowl and Hot Wings and Homicide. Her series has been praised by Kirkus Reviews, which called her debut “a serious set of crimes leavened by plenty of amusing moments,” and by Library Journal, which noted that Hot Wings and Homicide “is perfect for foodies.” Criminal Element highlighted the “juicy reasoning behind the sabotage that was almost as shocking as the murder itself,” and New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams described the books as “the perfect escapist read, brimming with banter and an extra helping of fun.” Carmela has also been featured in CrimeReads Magazine.
A lover of humor, quirky characters, and all things geeky, Carmela spends her days sketching, sipping far too much coffee, and over-cuddling her allergy-inducing cats and dog. She lives with her husband and two dinosaur-obsessed sons, drawing inspiration from rainy afternoons, bustling farmers’ markets, and the unexpected moments that make life memorable.
Learn More about Carmela Dutra
Find out more about Carmela and her books at Carmeladutra.com
Purchase Links – Universal Link Amazon Barnes & Noble
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
May 12 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – SPOTLIGHT
May 12 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
May 13 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
May 13 – Storybook Lady – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 14 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
May 14 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
May 16 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
May 17 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
May 18 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 19 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 20 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
May 20 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
May 21 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 22 – @bibliophile_foodie – REVIEW
May 23 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
May 24 – Sarandipity’s-AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 24 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 25 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
Want to read more of my reviews?
Interested in my reviews? I also have a Goodreads shelf dedicated to Cozy Mysteries. Want to read my reviews for books in other genres? I’ve got you covered. There are almost two thousand reviews on Goodreads. Just check out Julie Ditton on Goodreads.
Hot Wings and Homicide
Prize Packs Giveaway
2- Hot Wings and Homicide Prize Packs. Each pack will include a signed copy of Hot Wings and Homicide, a crocheted chicken bookmark, custom vinyl stickers, and an exclusive recipe card
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Thanks for having me on your blog to talk about my chaotic life!
it was a pleasure. I really enjoyed our guest post.
yl05gi