Livia Day Books

Tabitha Darling has always had a dab hand for pastry and a knack for getting into trouble. Which was fine when she was a tearaway teen, but not so useful now she’s trying to run a hipster urban cafe, invent the perfect trendy dessert, and stop feeding the many (oh so unfashionable) policemen in her life.When a dead muso is found in the flat upstairs, Tabitha does her best (honestly) not to interfere with the investigation, despite the cute Scottish blogger who keeps angling for her help. Her superpower is gossip, not solving murder mysteries, and those are totally not the same thing, right?But as that strange death turns into a string of random crimes across the city of Hobart, Tabitha can’t shake the unsettling feeling that maybe, for once, it really is ALL ABOUT HER.And maybe she’s figured out the deadly truth a trifle late…

Scones, tea, and a stabbing... When Tabitha Darling entered Cafe La Femme in a reality TV show hosted by an infamous "bad boy" Chef, she never expected to be a suspect in his murder. When Xanthippe Carides quit working in a cafe to become a private detective, she never expected one of her first cases would be keeping Tabitha out of jail... These two friends have a mystery to solve, and only one of them is telling the whole truth. Praise for Drowned Vanilla "A delicious, frothy confection, full of vintage frocks, murder, heart, and fun. Tabitha Day is my favorite mystery heroine in years...and she is anything but vanilla!" - Stephanie Burgis "Drowned Vanilla is a deliciously intriguing Tasmanian tale of missing girls and murder. One of the most original crime novels I've read in ages, this second book in the Cafe la Femme series sparkles with Livia Day's unique brand of murder-mystery served with a triple helping of mouthwatering desserts, vintage fashion and romantic tension. A wonderful, exuberant and quirky novel that warms your heart, makes you laugh, and keeps you turning the pages until the very last." - Poppy Gee

It's the beginning of a hot, hot summer in Hobart. Tabitha Darling is in love with the wrong man, and determined to perfect the art of ice cream. Playing amateur detective again is definitely not on the cards-not even when her friends try to lure her into an arty film noir project in the historical town of Flynn. But when a young woman goes missing from a house full of live webcams, and is found drowned in the lake outside Flynn, Tabitha is dragged into the whole mess- film crew, murder victim, love life and all. There were two girls using the internet pseudonym French Vanilla, and only one is dead. So where is the other one? Why is everyone suddenly behaving like they're in a (quite specific) Raymond Chandler novel? And how the hell did the best kiss of Tabitha's life end up on YouTube? Even ice cream isn't going to get them out of this one.