Sweet tea. Slow smoke. Sharper instincts than the local police.
Welcome to Aunt Pat's.
Lulu Taylor runs Aunt Pat's, the BBQ joint her late mother-in-law built and the warm beating heart of her stretch of Memphis. White hair in a bun, floral-print dress, a kind word for every customer — and an uncanny knack for noticing the one detail the police didn't. Four mysteries set among the brick walls and neon signs of Beale Street, the smell of hickory smoke, and a best friend named Cherry who rides a motorcycle to her job at Graceland.
✏️ Published as Riley Adams — the pen name Elizabeth used for this series.
Not a small town. Not a mountain village. Memphis — the real one, with the river and the music and the smoke. Aunt Pat's sits on a corner near Beale Street, brick walls covered in old license plates, neon pig in the window, red checkered cloths on every table. Lulu took the place over after her mother-in-law passed and runs it with a smile, a sharp eye, and a gift for getting strangers to tell her things they didn't mean to. Cherry shows up most days in her Elvis helmet. Somebody always orders the dry rub. And every now and then, somebody turns up dead.
"Lulu Taylor is one intrepid amateur sleuth."
"Lulu Taylor is a hoot! I look forward to reading the next book in the Memphis BBQ series!"
"You'll feel transported to Beale Street."
Lulu runs Aunt Pat's, the BBQ joint her late mother-in-law built up from a sidewalk smoker into a Memphis institution. White hair tucked into a bun, a closet full of floral-print dresses, a cast-iron memory for what every regular orders. She is, as her grandkids will tell you, the world's most comfortable hugger.
She is also, somewhat accidentally, very good at solving murders. Lulu has no detective training. What she has is thirty years of running a restaurant that everyone in the neighborhood passes through eventually — a place where people get a little unguarded once the ribs hit the table. She notices things. She remembers things. And when somebody she cares about is in trouble, she has the patience to wait until the whole story walks up to the counter and orders a sweet tea.
The standout in her circle is Cherry — best friend, comic engine, and the loudest thing on any block she happens to be on. Henna-red hair, neon-everything wardrobe, bracelets that announce her arrival three storefronts early. She rides a motorcycle to her job as a Graceland docent and wears an Elvis helmet, on the theory that life is too dangerous to face without a helmet. Where Lulu is patient and watchful, Cherry is fearless and loud. They are perfect together, which is why most of the trouble in these books finds them both at once.
Lulu's son and daughter-in-law help run Aunt Pat's; her grandkids are permanently underfoot; and the regulars are characters in their own right. The series spans four books, with stops at Beale Street, the Peabody, and the real Memphis in May barbeque competition.
Best read in order — but each book stands on its own. New readers usually start with Delicious and Suspicious. Click any cover for buy links.
"The very richly-drawn characters and setting really make you feel like you're in the South at Aunt Pat's barbeque restaurant. And the food talk made me drool. There's some humor and some heartbreak and a mystery that kept me guessing until the end."
"Readers looking for a humorous Southern cozy mystery will be delighted. Ms. Adams did a fine job bringing Memphis to life, especially the descriptions of the delicious food!"
"Being a fifth generation Memphian, I loved the setting of Beale Street, the Peabody, and a great barbeque place. Ms. Adams definitely knows Memphis and its landmarks."
"Lulu Taylor is a hoot! I look forward to reading the next book in the Memphis BBQ series!"