In her debut mystery,
author Nell Hampton introduces readers to Chef Carrie Ann
Cole as she starts a new life in England. She has a one-year
contract to work as the family chef to the royal family at
Kensington Palace. Carrie Ann has left her longtime boyfriend,
hoping that distance will make his heart grow fonder and that
he'll eventually come to join her. Will John come to England,
or decide to stay in America?
The Chef has barely settled into her new home
and job when one of her two assistants is brutally murdered
in the palace greenhouse just off her kitchen! Poor Carrie
Ann is the first one to find his body. Frank Deems was a man
with a young family and everything to live for. Her other
assistant, Michael Haregrove quickly becomes the chief suspect,
but Carrie Ann feels in her heart that the kind young man
cannot be a murderer.
As she snoops around, asking far too many
questions, Carrie Ann realizes that there are plenty of other
suspects worth looking into. Yet if she asks the wrong questions
of the wrong people, she may find herself in boiling water
– either out of a job or the next victim!
I enjoyed this British cozy quiet a lot. It
was a smooth and fast read, populated by interesting characters
with a variety of motives for what they did day to day. It
brought a smile to my face to read about the royals, who were
obviously based on Prince William, Princess Kate, and their
children.
If Carrie Ann’s romance with John doesn’t
work out, there are a few options in the palace as well, and
those other men may foreshadow what is to come in the next
book or two. Chef Butterbottom, the palace chef, feels that
he should be cooking for the family as well, and he dislikes
American’s, so Carrie Ann finds herself on a rocky road
with him, especially when she and her assistants have to work
in his kitchen and he decides to confine them to the small
test kitchen instead!
I did find that there were a few missteps
in how some characters behaved. An example is that in one
chapter, Michael Haregrove tells Carrie Ann to go away and
stay away from him for her own sake. Not that long later,
she returns to his doorstep and he welcomes her in as if he’d
never said such a thing. I suppose it is a small thing, but
it bothered me.
Carrie Ann also has extremely loose-lips,
and if the character is going to grow into a strong protagonist,
the author may want to imbue her with some verbal restraint.
Maybe have Carrie Ann learn and remember her lessons from
this story? I believe that as the character and author grow
together, this has the potential to become a long-lived and
well-loved series.
I recommend
the book to readers of all ages, and think it would be an
ideal introduction to cozy mysteries for a young person, teenage
and up. There are even a few recipes included after the story
ends and those could provide an introduction to some British
cooking! Enjoy!
Reviews of previous titles in this series
Kale
to the Queen #1
Lord
of the Pies #2
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