Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
In his third foray into mystery (after Spiced to Death), the Gourmet Detective gets to frolic through the vineyards and fine restaurants of Provence. He's hired by the English owners of the large Willesford vineyard in Provence to learn why the owners of a tiny vineyard surrounded by Willesford have offered many times the market value to purchase the larger property. The first thing he sees when he arrives is a corpse leaning against a cart. That may be the high point of the investigation. Someone clearly doesn't want him delving, for he is bombed with a beehive and shoved into a vat of wine, not to mention mauled by a herd of amorous boars. He meets an eclectic crew of eccentrics as he bumbles about the country savoring the glorious food of Provence. Mouth-watering descriptions of the fare are accompanied by a foray into truffle lore and spicy observations about the local inhabitants. King spins another light mystery treat in which improbable happenings and assorted red herrings lead to the uncovering of a resourceful villain pursuing an unexpected aspiration.
Kirkus Reviews
Even The Gourmet Detective doubts that he's the best man to find out why the owners of the tiny Peregrine Vineyard has made a series of ever richer cash offers for the surrounding Willesford Vineyard. But Sir Charles Willesford insists that he's tried everything else without result, Edouard Morel, the French detective he hired to uncover the motive, has disappeared himself, so The Gourmet jets off to Provence just in time to discover the corpse of a Willesford worker apparently gored by a wild boar. It's only the first of four deaths (there'll be three fruitless attempts on The Gourmet's life as well) that The Gourmet will learn about en route to finding out what's so valuable about the Willesford property. (Hint: It's not water, oil, or precious minerals; it doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the Willesford wines; and, yes, it does turn out to draw on The Gourmet's expertise in an unexpected way.) Apart from the motive for all this skullduggery, though, most of King's ingenuity seems to go into dreaming up novel ways to kill, or nearly kill, his large, glossy cast, and of course into choosing the right wines for the meals that celebrate so many of the characters' entrances.
As in his first two cases (Spiced to Death, 1997, etc.), the highlights here, for better or worse, are a series of lovingly described meals, paired with name-brand vintages or surprisingly good local wines.
From the Publisher
"King spins another...mystery treat."-- Publishers Weekly
"Glorious menus...infused with a love of food and place, this third case sits just right on the palate and earns five stars."-- Booknews
"The appealing detective serves up nuggets of culinary trivia and wry foodie humor."-- People on The Gourmet Detective
