Gourmet Detective Books in Order: How to read Peter King’s Series?

Diner with a side of murder.

What is the Gourmet Detective series about?

Written by Peter King, the Gourmet Detective book series is also a Hallmark TV show about a Chef who’s also a detective.

As the official description tells it: They call him the gourmet detective; the only thing sharper than his mind is his palate. When chefs need a rare ingredient, an ancient wine, or simply a new idea to gain that extra Michelin-star boost, they come to the detective’s cozy London office and plead for his help.

For top-notch cooking, he is always happy to lend his taste buds to the cause.

How to read the Gourmet Detective Books in Order?

Every book in the Gourmet Detective series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

1. The Gourmet Detective – Raymond Lefebvre, executive chef at one of London’s finest French restaurants, has asked for the detective’s help with a bit of kitchen espionage. Lefebvre’s crosstown rival is winning international accolades cooking a dish called Oiseau Royal, and Lefebvre wants the recipe. Getting it takes the detective deep into the Circle of Careme, where the most elite chefs in Britain gather to swap recipes, techniques, and gossip. But when the chefs of Careme start to die, the detective starts to salivate. There is no finer appetizer than murder.
2. Spiced to Death – A sack of Celestial Spice, it supposedly vanished five centuries ago (and its name lives on only as culinary myth), has turned up in New York City. When London’s finest gourmet detective proclaims the mysterious spice authentic, this sack of weeds becomes the most valuable substance on earth. But soon the spice vanishes, one of his colleagues is murdered.
3. Dying on the Vine – The vineyards of the Willesford Wine Group occupy a particularly choice section of French wine country. Next to their spectacular estate lies the petite Peregrine Winery, whose shadowy owners suddenly make repeated requests to buy Willesford’s property. Unable to discern Peregrine’s motive for these persistent attempts, the Willesford group sends for London’s gourmet detective.

4. Death al Dente – London’s gourmet detective is contemplating an empty bank account and, worse, an empty stomach, when a phone call solves both problems at once. Over lunch, Desmond Lansdown, world-renowned actor and burgeoning restaurateur, hires the detective for a chef-hunt, sending him to Italy to eat until he can decide which cook Lansdown should hire.
5. A Healthy Place to Die – Vacationing in an Alpine Springs health resort, the gourmet detective arranges a tryst with a fellow expert, a beautiful young woman named Kathleen Evans. They are deep in the woods, about to begin enjoying themselves, when something knocks the detective out cold. When he comes to, Kathleen has vanished, and the detective begins to suspect that life in the Alps is not as healthful as it appears.
6. Eat, Drink, and be Buried – At Sir Gerald’s medieval festival, the castle is authentic, the jousting is rousing, and the wenches are the sauciest in the land. The only thing missing is decent food. And so Sir Gerald calls in London’s gourmet detective whose specialties include locating rare ingredients, designing historically accurate menus, and solving the occasional murder. And all three skills will be tested if he is to escape the age of chivalry alive.

7. Roux the Day – For five generations, the Belvedere family restaurant has been a Louisiana landmark. Unfortunately, the Belvedere clan inherits more than a talent for cooking from each other-they also have an unfortunate tendency of becoming insane. When the latest Belvedere patriarch loses his mind, his son attempts to take over the business, only to find that the ancient family cookbook has vanished-and with it the priceless recipe for the world famous Oysters Belvedere.
8. Dine and Die on the Danube Express – The Danube Express was once the most famous train on the continent. When a group of savvy investors revived it in the 1970s, it became an Express only in name. A five-star hotel on wheels, it is now a luxurious icon-and it’s celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary. Some of the most glamorous figures in the world have booked passage on this historic trip, including London’s gourmet detective. But when a Hungarian actress disappears from the train, it turns out to be more than a publicity stunt.

If you like The Gourmet Detective, you may also want to see our Aurora Teagarden Mystery reading order, or our guide to Julie Wassmer’s Whitstable Pearl Mystery Series. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.