Down South Café Mystery Books in Order
Down South Café Mystery contains 9 books, published between 2016 and 2026. The first book is The Calamity Café (2016) and the newest is Dressed to Grill (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 9
- Published
- 2016–2026
- Pages on record
- 1,440 in 5 of 9 books
- Reading time
- 24–36 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,440 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 5 of 9 titles with a page count on record.
Down South Café Mystery is a mystery series set in Virginia, credited to Gayle Leeson on 5 books and Gayle Trent on 4. Nine books are catalogued between 2016 and 2026. The Calamity Café (2016) opens the run, and two 2026 titles, A Recipe for Death and Dressed to Grill, are the newest. Subjects record women sleuths, cooks, restaurateurs and poisoning. Silence of the Jams (2017), Honey-Baked Homicide (2017), Apples and Alibis (2019), Fruit Baskets and Holiday Caskets (2020), Truffles and Tragedy (2021) and Cake and I Scream (2023) fill the run.
How many Down South Café Mystery books are there?
Down South Café Mystery has 9 books, released between 2016 and 2026.
Down South Café Mystery Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 9 Down South Café Mystery books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1The Calamity Café2016 · 304 pages · confirmed 2/420163042/4
- 2Silence of the Jams2017 · 291 pages · confirmed 2/420172912/4
- 3Honey-Baked Homicide2017 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/420172882/4
- 4Apples and Alibis2019 · 294 pages · confirmed 2/420192942/4
- 5Fruit Baskets and Holiday Caskets2020 · 263 pages · confirmed 2/420202632/4
- 6Truffles and Tragedy2021 · confirmed 2/42021–2/4
- 7Cake and I Scream2023 · confirmed 2/42023–2/4
- 8A Recipe for Death2026 · confirmed 2/42026–2/4
- 9Dressed to Grill2026 · confirmed 2/42026–2/4
Do you have to read Down South Café Mystery books in order?
You should read the Down South Café Mystery books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Down South Café Mystery book also stands alone.
Where to start with Down South Café Mystery
Start with The Calamity Café (2016), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Down South Café Mystery book?
Dressed to Grill (2026) is the newest Down South Café Mystery book released so far.
Is there a new Down South Café Mystery book coming?
No next Down South Café Mystery book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Down South Café Mystery at a glance
- Still running
- Down South Café Mystery is still running, with a title published as recently as 2026.
- Release pace
- Down South Café Mystery books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 1,440 pages across the 5 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 291 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Down South Café Mystery books, 5 of 9, were published in the 2020s.
- Attribution
- Of the 9 titles, 5 are credited to Gayle Leeson and 4 to Gayle Trent.
What the Down South Café Mystery books are about
3 of the 9 Down South Café Mystery books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective, women sleuths is tagged on 2 of 3. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 2 of 3 books
- Cooks 1 of 3 books
- Crime 1 of 3 books
- Mystery & detective 1 of 3 books
- Poisoning 1 of 3 books
- Restaurateurs 1 of 3 books
- Virginia 1 of 3 books