Publisher: Berkley
Published: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0425278215
Genre: Cozy
Mystery
Format: Print
Obtained via: Publisher
Jennifer (J.J.) Tanner keeps busy working with her friend Skye
as an event planner in Half Moon Bay, Vermont at Make It Happen. On top of that, along with her friends she’s
a member of Culinary Capers—a dinner group that meets every month with each
member picking a dinner theme. While
cooking isn’t her strong suit, J.J. does her best. It’s her turn to plan the dinner theme and
she’s chosen Italian. She considers asking
famous chef Antonio Marcotti who she’s hired to cater a major event she’s
planning for Make It Happen. But the temperamental
Marcotti is far from approachable. In
fact, he’s darn right argumentative. So
much so that a number of J.J.’s friends clue her in to how many people he’s
gotten into spats with. But when he
turns up dead after his event with J.J., the police have no doubt she’s suspect
#1.
Can she find the killer before the police lock her away for
good?
I had a great time reading Linda Wiken’s TOASTING UP TROUBLE,
the first in her Dinner Club Series. She
has some great characters who are fully fleshed out, a fresh theme with her
dinner club and a solid mystery. There is the token gay couple – who could be
any couple with a good relationship.
Missing from the “usual” cozy checklist are the disabled character and
inter-racial couple so pleasantly the focus was on J.J. finding the
killer. Wiken does a great job of weaving
together J.J.’s day to day life of balancing work and friends along with her
own insecurities over cooking her main dish.
While that may seem a minor point, it goes to how well developed the
character is from the git go. The sub-mystery
of the stolen event ideas was a nice twist—although I knew who was behind it as
soon as it happened. Most particularly I
enjoyed how she led J.J. to solving the mystery of who killed Marcotti.
Cozy mystery readers will enjoy this one for many reasons. If you are new to cozies, this is a great series
to start off with. Definitely one to add
to your TBR.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of
this book.
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