A Tasty Little Mystery!
Written: Apr 06 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun and frothy "theme" mystery.
Cons: Not the best I've ever read by far.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this for mystery-lovers who enjoy the food genre.
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| caconti's Full Review: Gourmet Detective, The Books |
For my money, the greatest goal of any man is to become the master of that which interests him most, to become the best at whatever interest drives him. Food is my passion, and its a drive that I share with Peter King's Gourmet Detective. I have in love with the Gourmet Detective since this first book in the series, which was recommended to me by the geniuses at The MysteryBooks Store in Washington (now defunct).
The story itself is fairly standard mystery fare, but done quite well. It opens with an introduction to the Gourmet Detective, a private researcher whose forte is locating and procuring rare culinary ingredients. He is soon hired by two rival restaurants to investigate recent acts of sabotage(Both head chefs seeming to suspect the other) and finds himself in the middle of a mysterious poisoning of a famous television reporter. Working with Scotland Yard, he uses his credibility as a gourmet to gain entrance to places the police can't(Places where clues are only obvious to those with a great knowledge of and passion for food). As the plot thickens the Gourmet Detective rushes to find a killer, to protect his clients and he even finds a few moments to romance one of the Scotland Yard detectives. The frenetic pace of the novel holds steady until the last page, when a Christie-like gathering of suspects leads to an adrenaline-packed final scene...
King is a consistently strong writer with an eye for a detail and a powerful grasp on that dying literary art known as character creation. From The Gourmet Detective himself to most ancillary character, everyone has a distinct personality; there are no stock characters or shortcuts in this novel. As for the mystery itself, it is well-organized and believable, two elements that weigh heavily on my judgement of a book. There are no wild stretches here, just a naturally flowing course of events that manages to be realistic and enigmatic at the same time, no easy feat! King is so generous and concerned with quality as to provide more than enough red herrings and surprise twists to keep even the most astute armchair detective guessing, playing with our minds as he works to make our mouths water.
While all of the aforementioned factors would make The Gourmet Detective a worthwhile read, what truly sets it apart from other contemporary mysteries is its food theme, and the class with which it is handled. "Food mysteries" have grown increasingly popular in the last 3 years, and as with any new format there are masters and destroyers of the style. Unfortunately, the food theme has produced more of the latter than the former, the genre is flooded with such amateurish and insulting entrants as the Desiree Shapiro series and a noxious collection of novels featuring an Amish food theme(Some of these stories even bow so low to attract readers as to print recipes within the story, as if a nice apple pie recipe would mitigate a horrible plot.) While the discussion of food is an integral facet of The Gourmet Detective's charm, it is done with great attention and intelligence. Recipes are not thrown in helter-skelter, the presence of food helps drive the plot and add color and personality to each scene. King knows his food, so when you read the mystery you will actually LEARN new things about fine cuisine that you can't find in any other novel, a proposition that has always excited me about this series. From the menus that the Gourmet Detective cooks to his careful consideration of Medieval cuisine for a side case, this book is packed with intriguing tidbits about the world of food!
If you are a lover of well-constructed mysteries and indulgent meals, Peter King's Gourmet Detective is going to more than satisfy your cravings for both. Short and sweet like the classics from Christie and Conan Doyle, this is novel that takes a convention and, instead of beating it to death and building the story around it, masters it to improve an already worthy mystery. I highly recommend this book...you will not regret picking it up!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
caconti
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Christian Conti
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 636
Trusted by: 481 members
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