Culinary mysteries are one of the most flourishing subgenres of crime fiction today. As J. Madison Davis contends, “the world of haute cuisine provides lots of opportunities for odd, colorful characters obsessed with perfecting their work.” It is therefore not surprising that culinary mysteries have enjoyed wide popularity and commercial success both in the United States and in Europe. The Austrian capital Vienna even features a special bookstore for mysteries and culinary arts: Thrill and Chill: Spezialbuchhandlung für Krimi und Kulinarik.

One of the most compelling series of culinary mysteries, written by Eva Rossmann, takes place in Vienna. The protagonist of Rossmann’s mystery series, which comprises fifteen titles to date, is Mira Valensky, a journalist and passionate cook. Together with her Bosnian sidekick, Vesna Krajner, she solves cases that take place in restaurant kitchens, supermarkets, wineries, and on the sets of cooking shows. Both Mira and Vesna are strong female characters who, true to Rossmann’s feminist leanings, defy gender expectations and try to right the social wrongs they encounter. In these culinary mysteries, a reevaluation of cooking as a gendered activity thus goes hand in hand with a critical examination of gender roles in contemporary Austrian society.

In her Mira Valensky series, Rossmann invites her readers to contemplate the implications of diverse issues like food safety and working conditions in restaurants and supermarkets. She is also sensitive to gender, ethnic, and disability discourse, and expands limiting notions of “Austrianness” by including protagonists from many different subsections of society. While none of these topics is purely Austrian—which could account for the mysteries’ appeal across the German-speaking world— they are certainly important issues in Austria today. Food has always played a significant role in Austria, and, not coincidentally, Austria is widely known for its many culinary delicacies. It is also a country with a fairly traditional society that has experienced some recent upheaval in regard to gender roles, specifically in regard to women taking leadership positions and entering the political realm.

My analysis of Rossmann’s fiction explores how her focus on social issues allows her to comment on a wide variety of topics and to question traditional stereotypes about women and minorities.