Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Cook the Books
Gourmet Girl series, book 5

by Jessica Conant-Park & Susan Conant

     

Series character Chloe Carter is an unabashed foodie, in love with good food, good restaurants, and a very good chef named Josh. That's one of her problems. They both lived in Boston but Josh left her on a day’s notice for a job in Hawaii, expecting her to drop everything and come with him. Hurt and angry, she said no and has deleted his emails unread ever since.

The other big problem is that she's broke. A stipend from her late uncle’s estate is supporting Chloe through grad school; but the stipend can’t support her adoration for the cutest baby in the world—her best friend Adrianna's new son. She's spent a small fortune spoiling him and his parents and needs to find a job to cover the credit card bills... like yesterday.

Chloe finds a perfect fit for a foodie who’s been doing a lot of grad school papers—cookbook author's assistant. Her new boss is a nice guy who’s good looking and generous. A bit clueless and disorganized, but that’s why he needs her, so it’s all to the good for job security.  The only downer is that the cookbook theme is recipes from Boston chefs and restaurants, which will mean dealing with a lot of Josh’s friends.

Chloe arrives for a scheduled tasting with one of them, Digger, only to find his apartment building a burnt out shell and people talking about the young chef who died in the fire. Everyone's assuming Digger got careless, but Chloe knows him too well to buy that. Since no one else thinks it's anything but an accident, she simply has to investigate.

This series is as light and frothy as a perfect chocolate mousse, but you know what, sometimes that's just what you're in the mood for—light and sweet. Chloe and her friends may not be especially profound company, but they are genuinely nice, fun-loving people with a sense of humor, which is reflected in the stories. I thought the writing in this book was noticeably tighter than with others in the series, making for a more enjoyable read (my interest would lag in the middle of some of the others). I did figure some things out before the end, but they weren’t too obviously telegraphed, as I thought happened in the prior book. A fun read to take out to lunch in the sun at a good sidewalk cafe.

The Book

Berkley Prime Crime
March 2010
Hardcover
0425232468
Mystery / Cozy / Cooking
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: There are recipes included at the back of the book which are of a much better quality than most "recipes inside" included with cozies. The co-author is married to a Boston area chef, drawing on her husband's and their friends' expertise.

The Reviewer

Kim Malo
Reviewed 2010
NOTE:
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