Craft food royalty Stella and Ashley don't care for each other, which is to say they'd rather eat roach-infested chili while dipped in burning oil than spend a minute in each other's company. Writer Frank Dodge lands in the middle of their feud when he gets a plum assignment from a national magazine'to write about the growth of boutique food in the Midwest. When Dodge's rival Helen shows up at the same food convention in Dubuque, Dodge suspects she's trying to steal another story from him. When a fire breaks out at the convention, Dodge and his friends escape but two people die. Dodge suspects that the fire is related to the feud between Stella and Ashley and won't stop investigating until he gets justice for the victims. Can he keep Helen at bay as he investigates the fire or will he get left sweeping up crumbs? And how far will Stella and Ashley ultimately go to skewer each other? Double-Dealing in Dubuque is a compelling novel that delves into what can go wrong when feuds get out of hand.