Twelve-year-old Josephine DeLune can’t take the heat this sweltering summer of 1955, and she was out of the kitchen long ago.
An awful cook, she ruins recipes left and right, and she certainly can’t compete with her family’s reputation for extraordinary food. Her daddy’s parents ran one of the best restaurants in all of Paris, but Josephine lives in Paris, Missouri. On her mama’s side, she’s up against a long tradition of sinfully delicious soul food. Rumor has it, her Creole ancestors cooked up some voodoo to make tasty even tastier. Josephine knows the secret ingredient: she comes from a long line of conjure witches with spellbinding culinary skills.
Disenchanted, Josephine works as a carhop at Carl and Earl’s Drive-In. Just plain old hamburgers, hot dogs, and curly fries, nothing magical about them. She’s got bigger fish to fry, though, when a grease fire erupts into a devilish creature who hisses her name with desire. Turns out he’s the Ravenous One, the granddaddy of all voodoo spirits, and he’s hungry for her soul. Josephine thinks he’s got the wrong girl–she’s no witch–but a gorgeous, dangerous night-skinned lady named Shaula sets her straight. Josephine is one of the most powerful witches alive, so overflowing with conjure that her out-of-control cooking simply catches fire.
Josephine would love to laugh this off, but Shaula warns her that she must learn to master her magic before the Ravenous One devours her soul. Spurred into action, Josephine breaks out her grandma’s old conjure cookbook and starts cooking. Nothing grand, just the usual recipes for undying friendship and revenge. But soon Josephine can’t escape the consequences of her conjure. When the people of Paris start turning into zombies with a strange fondness for cake, Josephine looks pretty responsible for their undead reawakening…
Romance heat level: 🌶️ (1 out of 5)
Excerpt:
I bend over the coffee-dark creek, looking real hard for any magic. The sun slides over the water like a pat of butter on a hot skillet. Supposed to be something extra special underwater, but I’m not seeing anything unusual.
“Conjure’s thick here, Josephine.” Grandma Lula dabs her sweaty forehead with her handkerchief. “Keep your eyes peeled.”
I breathe in slow, in case I can sniff it out. Where the sun hits the thick crust of leaves on mud, a sweet, root-beer smell rises up.
“Grandma? What is it we’re looking for, again?”
She glances sideways at me. “I suppose you’re old enough to know. Somewhere in this swamp, my own grandma lost her grimoire.”
“Grimoire?”
“Child, you know what a grimoire is. A magic cookbook, full of all her secret recipes for whipping up conjure. The best witches alive today have got nothing on my grandma. She didn’t settle for no small-fry spells.”
As I sit on a gnarled old log, my toes squish the muck. “So why’d she lose her grimoire?”
Grandma Lula’s nostrils flare. “She tangled with a powerful voodoo spirit by the name of Shaula. Prettier than anything, and twice as deadly. The two of them near killed each other, and the grimoire got lost in this very swamp.”
I stare into the water. If there’s a book down there, it’s got to be rotten mush.
“Josephine, you’re going to be the one to find it. You’ve got some of the strongest conjure I’ve felt in ages.”
I sigh. Grandma Lula keeps on saying this, no matter how many times I prove her wrong.
What readers are saying…
“Josephine is a great character. She’s realistic in that she makes mistakes, but she’s clearly good at heart and tries to do the best for everyone.” – Candace’s Book Blog
“It was great seeing Josephine come into her own and accept the support and help from her friends, mother, grandmother, and ancestors. Within the pages of Deadly Delicious are several lessons worth remembering. I hope you get a chance to discover them for yourself.” – Gin’s Book Notes
“I’ve read books with the zombies that eat brains, and the zombies that are, well, just zombies. But I’ve never encountered a cake-eating zombie. And Deadly Delicious was a lovely introduction to them.” – Icey Books
“Also great about this book is the fact that the protagonist is an African-American girl. Best part, I could even imagine this as a movie. Disney, you need to get on this, NOW.” – G. G. Silverman
