Cook the Books

COOK THE BOOKS: A GOURMET GIRL MYSTERY provides the fifth installment of the culinary mystery series pairing recipes with drama. Chloe Carter is in her second year of social work school here and needs to find a job as an assistant to a cookbook writer to pay her bills. When the job turns out to be more than she expected - even dangerous - trouble begins. A fine mystery, this is a pick for any mystery library.

Chloe's still reeling from her breakup with her chef boyfriend, Josh, who moved to Hawaii . She misses him something fierce, but the new addition to her BFFs family helps ease the pain a little. Although she now needs to find a part-time job to pay for all the baby items for Patrick. She finds the perfect job, helping to organize a cookbook of Boston restaurants with the son of a famous chef. Chloe hears that Digger, Josh's friend, has a new restaurant opening soon. She volunteers to call him and set up a tasting with her boss and his father. When Chloe arrives at Digger's apartment for the tasting a little bit early to help set up, she discovers a fire truck blocking her way. Digger's apartment building is on fire, with him trapped inside. At first, it looks like an accident, but the more Chloe talks to other chefs for the cookbook, the more truths she uncovers. When Josh shows up to find answers, Chloe finds herself in hot water. On one hand, she's so happy to see him, but so angry with him for leaving. Does he have the best intentions or will she be setting herself up for more heartbreak? Could Chloe be engaging with a killer who wants to advance in the chef world, or could it be a woman scorned out for revenge? Will she uncover the truth before she says too much to the wrong person? COOK THE BOOKS, the fifth title in the GOURMET GIRL MYSTERY series, mixes murder, romance, jobs, and friendships with food - lots of food. This mother-daughter team has created another mouth-watering treat. Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

I have enjoyed all the Gourmet Girl Mysteries. They are so well written that they are easy and enjoyable reads. The characters have certainly developed over the series and are interesting to follow through their individual trials and tribulations. The food descriptions are amazing; the writers obviously love and celebrate food - I find I get hunger pangs often while reading. Recipes for the dishes described in the story are included as a bonus. I look forward to the next book in the series!

Having finally made it to her second year of graduate school, you'd think that Boston's Chloe Carter would be over the moon and showering herself with praise, presents, and blissful desserts - after all, she is a food connoisseur with a healthy appetite. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. Yes, she may have her education under control, but every other aspect of her life is in complete disarray. As if it isn't bad enough that her beloved boyfriend Josh basically abandoned her by picking up and fleeing Boston's brutal weather to take up residence in sunny Hawaii working as the personal chef to a couple sitting pretty on a pile of money; Chloe has now found herself in the throes of financial trouble courtesy of the lavish gifts she finds herself incapable of bestowing upon her godson Patrick. Rather than cutback on her spending habits, however, Chloe decides to do the unthinkable and snag herself a part-time job - and she finds the absolute perfect one as the assistant to handsome Kyle Boucher, a cookbook writer putting together a recipe book featuring cooking secrets from some of Boston's most brilliant chefs. Despite the fact that she is forced to deal with some of Josh's best buddies, Chloe is convinced that the position was tailor-made with her in mind; and believes that she can contribute a great deal to the project. That is, until she finds herself in a gruesome situation when she arrives at the apartment of Josh's loudmouth pal Digger, only to find his humble abode, and his body, burnt to a crisp. Chloe knows Digger well enough to feel certain that he would never allow himself to fall victim to a grease fire. In her mind there's no question about it...Digger was murdered; and she's determined to uncover the killer. But with so many people harboring ill will towards the lovable ladies man, doing so may prove to be more challenging than anything Chloe has ever encountered before; not to mention dangerous. For if Chloe doesn't catch the killer soon, the killer may just catch her. I have been cheering Chloe on since we were first introduced to one another via Steamed (A Gourmet Girl Mystery) in 2006. In the four installments prior to Cook the Books (Gourmet Girls Mysteries), mother-daughter duo Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant have painted the classy Chloe as a feisty firecracker; Cook the Books (Gourmet Girls Mysteries), however, greets us with a slightly different side of Chloe, highlighting her compassion towards her friends, in addition to a softer side of her personality courtesy of her recent heartbreak - all of which appears more prominent based upon the darker storyline. Cook the Books (Gourmet Girls Mysteries) takes readers behind the scenes of the restaurant business, showcasing the spite, bitter feelings, and hostility that underlie the niceties which take place in the world of cooking; yet despite the animosity and anger found upon each page, Conant-Park and Conant put forth a story that is not only engrossing, but brimming wit

In Boston Chloe Carter insures herself she is over the dumping by her former boyfriend Josh who left her and the restaurant scene to become a personal chef to an affluent couple in Hawaii. Chloe remains busy with her schooling as she works on obtaining a Masters in social work while spending time and a fortune on her godson Patrick. To pay her bills, she obtains a position of assistant to cookbook writer Kyle Boucher and his renowned chef of a father. They plan to write a series of cookbooks with recipes given to them from lesser known chefs. Chloe plans to introduce them to her friend Digger, but a fire in his apartment left him dead. Several people insist the blaze was not an accident especially those who knew him well who insists Digger kept his kitchen pristine clean; and Chloe agrees as she has a hard time accepting an experienced chef like Digger would cause an out of control fire. Working with Kyle proves difficult as he keeps sloppy records and cannot delineate the good from the bad. Josh returns home for his friend's funeral and to find his killer, as well as see Chloe who he misses. The fifth Gourmet Girl amateur sleuth is a truly scrumptious mystery that gives readers a glimpse at the dark side of the restaurant business with its bang -bang cutthroat competition as Chloe finds a horde of suspects with strong motives. Readers will admire her for putting friends first as she genuinely cares about people while also empathizing with her as she still loves Josh and his leaving does not Simmer Down her feelings and his returning to Turn Up the Heat complicates her need to move on. Harriet Klausner