Four Ways I Use Food in My Mysteries

Two of our three weeks in Sicily have been spent with two other couples in a lovely villa, a short drive from the sea. We’ve eaten some great lunches and dinners in restaurants, but we’ve also enjoyed some wonderful food cooked by whichever of us is inspired. The delicious meals of fish, meat (for me), pasta, and vegetables followed often by gelato have led me to think about the importance of food in relationships. And, of course, I’ve given some thought to how I use food in my writing. Here I briefly focus on four ways.

  • Setting

By one count, there are more than ninety cuisines in New York City. In the NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli mysteries, food is part of the atmosphere. Corelli and Parker eat in Chinatown, a small Mexican restaurant in Corelli’s Meat Packing neighborhood, and a restaurant at the South Street Seaport. They also have slices at a pizza place on the Upper West Side, multiple halal lunches and dinners from the food trucks outside the stationhouse, and takeout from Thai and other ethnic restaurants.

The wide-ranging selection of food options is, for me, an important part of living in New York City. And, I hope having Corelli and Parker take advantage of it, gives the reader a sense of the experience of living there.

  • Relationships

Food can be used to communicate love. And Corelli’s sisters often leave food in her refrigerator, knowing she will be too busy to think ahead or too tired to care about eating. 

Family dinners and gatherings at Corelli’s sister Gianna’s house show her connection to her family and also the strain between her and her dad about her being a lesbian and doing a job he considers men’s work.

  • Characterization

Food can show a character’s mood.  In the early books, Corelli is struggling with PTSD and often takes a few bites then pushes the food around on plate. 

Although neither Corelli nor Parker is a vegetarian, choosing to identify a character as vegetarian can provide insight to their beliefs.

Having a character being super cautious about what they eat or always on a diet can show how they feel about themselves and their body.

  • Backstory

The smell, taste or sight of a particular food can trigger a memory, offering an opportunity to fill in some backstory to propel the plot forward.

How do you use food in your books?

Catherine Maiorisi

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Catherine Maiorisi is the author of the NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli Mystery series featuring Corelli and her partner Detective P.J. Parker–two tough women, fighting each other while solving high profile crimes. A Matter of BloodThe Blood Runs ColdA Message in Blood, and Legacy in the Blood are all available as ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks narrated by Abby Craden.  

In addition to publishing multiple mystery and romance short stories in various anthologies, Catherine has authored four romances novels. Her latest book, The Disappearance of Lindy James, was awarded a GOLDIE for Best General Fiction.

7 comments

  1. Writing about my characters eating, or not eating, is one of the most fun I have with my stories. If they are eating, I usually give them food I’d like, unless I try to write ‘outside the box’ and have them eat and enjoy blooming onions (I can’t stand onions). Having my characters starve themselves is also weirdly fun to write because they do it for interesting reasons. I agree! Food in stories is a great way to both immerse the reader and show character.

  2. Oh! I hadn’t thought of using it as backstory. Great idea.
    I use it, as Emilya says above, to show character. Like someone who will eat something they’ve never even heard of. Also, how people order in a restaurant can be so funny. I know one family and everyone orders by saying, “May I please have…” By the time all 4 of them order in my head I hear this begging, whining plea. Then on the other end of the spectrum is, “Steak, rare.” Slams menu.

  3. Good points, Catherine, about the uses of food in your writing! I, too, use food to show relationships and character. Walt, the husband of my sleuth Mimi Goldman, is a real foodie — a caring, detail-minded man who loves serving friends and familyt feasts and original (often humorously named) cocktails. Mimi’s 90-year-old sidekick Sylvia is often appalled by the prices of today’s restaurant food and coffee, revealing her prickliness and vintage. I also often use food the way some people use a last-chapter wedding or kiss — as part of a (hopefully) satisfying wrap-up happy ending.

  4. Catherine, these are all great points for any writer to consider. The idea of backstory bringing a wave of nostalgia over a loved dish resonates with anyone. In Death in the Orchard, Trudy’s mom is baker and those smells evoke home to her. And her mother’s “magic meatloaf” is one everyone in their neighborhood enjoys.

    I tend to show my characters eating, too, as I think readers notice if you never allow a character to eat! One crime series we’ve watched, Magellan, has made a habit of the detective being interrupted over gorgeous bistro lunches he never gets to eat! It’s become a hallmark of each episode.

    Glad you had some wonderful meals in Italy~

  5. This is a great post Catherine. Good ideas!
    In my mystery series, I have Dodie O’dell, the protagonist, serve as the manager of a restaurant while solving crimes. She creates theme food for the community theatre next door (Italian night for Romeo and Juliet, seafood buffet for Dames At Sea etc.) So food sets up atmosphere and reinforces relationships among the characters.

  6. Thanks so much for this thoughtful post about one of my favorite topics! Food plays an important role in my On Pointe mysteries, as the protagonist is a skinny ballerina who’s obsessed with her weight and longs for bagels and black and white cookies. Food becomes a metaphor for all the unforgiving expectations others have of her and that she has of herself.

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