Julie Smith: The Sourdough Wars (USA 1996)

From the Publisher:
"MYSTERY FANS WILL HOPE TO SEE MORE OF SMITH AND SCHWARTZ." San Francisco Examiner
Thanks to front-page coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle, everyone knows about the upcoming auction of the Martinelli family's renowned sourdough starter. No one anticipates the outcome: the auction will never take place, because handsome Peter Martinelli, owner of the recipe, is brutally murdered.

No more did attorney Rebecca Schwartz expect to find herself engaged in a hair-raising variety of unlawful and dangerous deeds, inspired by her reckless determination to find out whether Peter really died for a handful of dough. The more she sifts through the tangled relationships of the city's bread-making dynasties, the more Rebecca is certain that this is no simple affair, Love, hate, revenge, and pride are all ingredients in a dazzling mystery that only Julie Smith could have written-a puzzle that challenges the heart as much as it does the mind.

Julie Smith won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her novel NEW ORLEANS MOURNING.

Julie Smith: The Sourdough Wars. A Rebecca Schwartz Mystery. Ivy Books, ISBN: 080410929X (March, 1996), 163 p., $4.99.

Julie Smith: The Sourdough Wars (USA 1984)

From the Publisher:
Rebecca Schwartz is a young San Francisco lawyer with a small but solid practice. She's lucky enough to have a partner who is also a friend, a homey apartment, and a satisfying, not-too-serious relationship with a reporter from the Chronicle. But for an impertinent male secretary and a mother who loves to criticize Rebecca's headstrong (and unmarried!) behavior, things would be perfect.

Indeed, all is fine until Rebecca finds herself sidetracked from her practice once again when an impetuous decision to represent her partner's boyfriend leads to an investigation of murder.

Chris's new beau is a scion of a legendary Italian baking family. Though the bakery is no lon-ger in business, the family's famous sourdough starter still exists: It has been frozen solid by a cryogenics firm. Now, in reduced circumstances, Chris's friend decides to sell the starter, and Rebecca and Chris impulsively agree to set up the auction. The event attracts enough media attention to make the whole city curious about the outcome.

San Francisco's leading bakers and even an East Coast frozen-food conglomerate prepare to bid. Then a series of ominous phone calls begin, and a cold-blooded murder occurs.

Determined to avenge the death on her very doorstep, Rebecca and her newspaper friend Rob sort through the tangled relationships that pervade the closely knit baking community. They learn that honor and pride can be two of the strongest sources of motivation in the busi-ness world. Soon Rebecca finds herself to be a vengeful sleuth, and also a target of the killer, the meddling press, and the legal system.

As the novel hurtles towards its thrilling conclusion, Rebecca discovers that her tenacity could undermine her professional reputation -- and even cost her life.

Julie Smith: The Sourdough Wars. A Rebecca Schwartz Mystery. Walker & Co., ISBN: 0802755895 (March, 1996), 180 p., $12.95.