Published
by Purple Panda Press,
15 July 2015.
ISBN978-1-910679-05-0
Chef Maurice is head chef and owner of Le Cochon
Rouge, the finest (and only) restaurant in the Cotswold village of
Beakley. Following an unfortunate
incident in which a bottle of rather fine Barolo became an ingredient in what
was agreed to have been a splendid red wine jus, it has been decided to provide
some staff training and so the Cochon Rouge Wine Appreciation Society was
established. Chef Maurice’s love of food
and drink is boundless and so, when renowned wine collector Sir William
Burton-Trent turns up to the Society’s first meeting and invites him to a
dinner and wine tasting the following evening, he is delighted.
With
his friend, food critic Arthur Wordington-Smythe, Chef Maurice makes the snowy
journey to Sir William’s home, where they chat with their fellow guests,
unaware that in a short time they will find themselves involved in a classic
locked room mystery. Their host is found
dead in his own wine cellar. Chef
Maurice is no stranger to murder and he, Arthur, and his colleagues at the Cochon
Rouge, together with the local Police Constable Lucy (will she and Patrick, the
sous-chef, ever get together?) use smart logic and a kipper sandwich to solve
the fine wine mystery in fine style.
This
book is the second in what is developing into a delightful series. It is a cozy with Golden Age trimmings; the
plotting is deft, the characters are attractive, and the writing has a light
touch – altogether a entertaining read.
------
Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Other
books by the author: Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle; Chef
Maurice and the Bunny-Boiler Bake
J.A. Lang is
the author of the Chef Maurice Mysteries, set in the fictional Cotswold village
of Beakley, conveniently located within driving distance of her home in Oxford,
England. She lives with her husband, an excessive number of cookbooks, and a
sourdough starter named Bob.When not at her writing desk, she enjoys cooking,
eating, travelling to places with good food, drinking good wine, and thinking
about her next meal. (Please note that any similarities between J.A. Lang and
her main character, Chef Maurice, are purely coincidental.)
Jo Hesslewood. Crime
fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first
spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves. For twenty-five years the commute to and from
London provided plenty of reading time.
I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book
club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop . I enjoy attending crime fiction events and
currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.
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