Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
This series debut by a Cordon Bleu chef leads readers on a cook's tour of haute cuisine, replete with tantalizing descriptions of food and its preparation, robust wit and an appropriately culinary murder.
London's "Gourmet Detective," whose business is "locating rare and exotic foods, advising on substitutes for scarce products, finding alternate sources of ingredients," is hired by Francois Duquesne to find out who is sabotaging his famous restaurant by confiscating shipments of food and planting mice in the larder. The unnamed detective, who narrates the tale, is in attendance at the prestigious Circle of Careme banquet at Francois's restaurant when an influential TV journalist is poisoned. Asked to assist in the investigation by Scotland Yard's Food Squad inspector, the Gourmet Detective traces the media-steeped case to its conclusion.
King serves up an entertaining puzzle as his hearty main course, rounding out the offering with food facts, references to mystery literature and exotic ingredients (among them ortolans and turbot) and snappy one-liners. The hero declares at the end that he's had enough of murder and will stick "with mangoes and marjoram from now on." Readers will hope he doesn't mean it.
People
"This appealign detective serves up nuggets of culinary trivia and wry foode humor."
Kirkus Reviews
The unnamed Gourmet Detective is an ex-chef, whodunit buff, and hopeful hero and narrator of a projected series. He makes a living consulting on hard-to-create menus and hard-to-trace ingredients—until drawn into a more practical challenge by a London restaurateur who feels that his operation is being sabotaged. When a hated investigative reporter is murdered at the prestigious Circle of Câreme dinner—Tartelettes à la Dijonnaise, Brouillade d'Oeufs Mystère, and, for the poison course, eels marinated in Tintulinum botulinum—the Gourmet Detective is fired by his client but tapped for assistance by Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard's "Food Squad." Sleuthing follows in a frenetic but somewhat flavorless round of cocktail-hour flirtation, back-alley spying, and brain-picking under false pretenses. It concludes with a second Circle of Câreme dinner featuring Asparagus Vinaigrette Mimosa, Nougatine Glacée au Café, and a denouement revealing the murderer—a surprise only because, given the author's demi-glacé- thin characterization, we may have forgotten meeting him/her before.
Cordon Bleu chef/first-novelist King crams his pages with food and fictional allusions, writing like a dedicated hobbyist who, unfortunately, can't be bothered with style. A derivative series idea that falls flat.
From the Publisher
"This appealign detective serves up nuggets of culinary trivia and wry foode humor." -People
"This series debut by a Cordon Bleu chef leads readers on a cook's tour of haute cuisine, replete with tantalizing descriptions of food and its preparation, robust wit and an appropriately culinary murder." -Publisher's Weekly
