Stick a Fork in It (Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Series #2)

by Robin Allen

Overview

When the owner of a new restaurant is found hanging from a rope, it's up to Poppy Markham to discover who sizzled his steak.

As a health inspector and former chef, Poppy Markham thought she'd seen it all—until she steps into Capital Punishment. The restaurant's twisted concept—last meals of death row inmates—could be a hit only in outlandish Austin, Texas. But the macabre theme becomes all too real when co-owner Troy Sharpe is found dangling from a hangman's noose in the cinder block dining room. Discovering that Troy was a hard-drinking jerk leads Poppy to the rub: if Troy had more enemies than a jail has bars, which one sent him to the land of rigor-mortised restaurateurs?

Praise:

"A must-read for cozy lovers."—Publishers Weekly

"An entertaining mystery set in the modern, dynamic city of Austin, Stick a Fork in It demonstrates Robin Allen's knowledge and skill as she masters her craft and entertains her readers."—Texas Books in Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781410450708
Publisher:	Gale Cengage Learning
Publication date:	10/26/2012
Series:	Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Series , #2
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	373
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Robin Allen is the author of the Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery series. Her writing has also appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Country Woman Magazine and Writers' Journal. In addition to writing, Allen has worked as a food server, cocktail waitress, bartender, and barista. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is a member of Austin's Heart of Texas Sisters in Crime (SinC) chapter. She can be found online at RobinAllenTX.blogspot.com.

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Editorial Reviews

In Allen’s fun sequel to 2011’s If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Austin, Tex., health inspector Poppy Markham targets a new restaurant still under wraps, Capital Punishment, which features prison décor (electric chair, anyone?) and a menu of executed criminals’ last meals. The restaurant can’t open without her okay, and problem after problem keeps her returning to recheck progress—which stalls when Troy Sharpe, ex-jock and co-owner, is found hanged from the catwalk. The other owners—Troy’s twin brother, Todd, and the Sharpes’ schoolmate, Danny MacAdams—are determined to open on time, but construction chief Miles Archer struggles to get everything working at once. Determined to find out if Troy’s death is suicide or murder, Poppy must also contend with the mystery of the snack truck she can’t catch up with to inspect as well as her complicated love life. Lots of plot twists help make this a must-read for cozy lovers. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron & Associates. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"A must-read for cozy lovers."—Publishers Weekly

"An entertaining mystery set in the modern, dynamic city of Austin, Stick a Fork in It demonstrates Robin Allen's knowledge and skill as she masters her craft and entertains her readers."—Texas Books in Review

From the Publisher

A health inspector finds murder in an over-the-top concept restaurant. Who says vegetarians don't really like food? Texas vegan Poppy Markham has built her life around edibles. As the daughter of Mitch Markham, owner of Markham's Grille & Cocktails, she earned her chops as head chef. But after a fellow employee set her bedroom on fire (If You Can't Stand the Heat, 2011), Poppy traded her toque for a job with the food police, issuing permits for the myriad eateries dotting Austin's culinary scene. The very latest food venture, she discovers, is being built by two of Poppy's high school classmates, ex-football stars Troy and Todd Sharpe. The jocks have a bizarre twist: offer guests a choice of the last meals enjoyed by a variety of criminals shortly before their executions. But their grisly plan takes an even more grisly turn when Poppy checks out their three-part sink and finds Troy dangling from the second-floor catwalk. Investigating Troy's death is just the break Poppy needs from trying to patch things up with food critic Jamie Sherwood, who sent their relationship into a nose dive by sleeping with another woman. She also has to mull the return of her ex-fiance, Drew Cooper, who abruptly disappeared into the blue yonder years back, obliging her to fall in love with perfidious Jamie. Now that Mitch has hired Drew as general manager at Markham's, where Poppy's temperamental stepsister Ursula has her eyes all over him, the need to keep a delicate balance between two gorgeous but unreliable guys makes solving a murder look as easy to Poppy as inspecting a hot dog stand. Murder is definitely at the back of the house in Poppy's second case, with jousting between exes firmly planted in the front.

Kirkus Reviews