A celebrity chef. A locked pantry. An untouched tray of pastries.

Rory Lane only meant to cater the soft opening of Copper Thyme, Willowbrook’s shiny new farm-to-table restaurant. With the Spring Food Festival filling Main Street and a famous chef bringing attention to town, it should be good news for Rory’s Corner Café.

But when celebrity chef Sebastian Kline disappears into a locked prep pantry for his private tasting ritual and never comes back, the evening turns from elegant opening night to murder investigation.

The clues are small, strange, and easy to miss. Rory’s rhubarb-and-custard tarts return untouched. A private collection of tasting oils sits in the pantry. A locked door raises more questions than it answers. And behind Sebastian’s polished public charm, Rory finds a trail of kitchen resentment, stolen credit, and people whose work may have carried someone else’s name.

With Detective Ellison asking careful questions, Mabel gathering whispers, Harold tracing the paper trail, and Lena keeping the café steady, Rory must sort gossip from evidence before Willowbrook serves up the wrong suspect.

Reservation for Murder is the third book in The Rory Lane Café Mysteries, a warm culinary cozy mystery series full of small-town secrets, café charm, clever clues, and food worth talking about. Each book can be read as a standalone, but the series is best enjoyed in order.