The Perils of Paella

I had fun with this book--it paid off and I like the characters. Good story and kept me reading.

I did not enjoy the Perils of Paella as much as the previous Carolyn Blue books. I thought the missing Jason created a void. I also had a hard time keeping all the Spanish names straight at first. The inspector's perspective was a welcome change but I kept hoping Jason would show up. Interaction between Carolyn, Jason and the inspector would have been interesting. I recommend this delightful series and hope the next installment has Jason featured more. I find the travel descriptions as well as the historical facts very entertaining. Hopefully Carolyn and the inspector's paths will cross somewhere in a future book.

Carolyn and Jason Blue are off to Barcelona. She arrives earlier to spend some time with her friend Roberta Hecht (Robbie). Robbie is a resident Miro scholar currently at a modern art museum there. When Carolyn arrives, the security guard and receptionist won't let her in to the exhibit with her suitcase to wait for her friend. Finally she is able to leave her suitcase at the front desk, pay the exorbitant entrance fee and begin to tour the Tapas Triage exhibit. This was performance art. Each partitioned space contained a hospital bed. Most contained a patient (art student). There were creatures that came into the exhibit. They were representing Life and Death. The Angel of Life and Joy brought tapas. An Englishman tourist determined that the next performer to "die" would be the one that didn't get the tapas. When Carolyn goes to the last patient, she discovers that she resembles her friend Robbie. She thought she was playing a joke on her. Then she realizes that this woman is not Robbie and worse, she is dead.Inspector Ildefons Pujol I Serra ("Inspector Pujol") is called into head up the investigation. Immediately he suspects Carolyn or Robbie because they are Americans. Then Robbie discovers that her stepson, Henri Samuel Fauree (Sammie) has gone missing from his American school. Then her husband Hugh tells her that his passport and some money are missing. Robbie contact the consul and finds that Sammie arrived in Barcelona a few days ago. They begin searching for him. Robbie and Carolyn get into many interesting and dangerous situations in this book. There are many suspects in the death at the museum and they hope to help Inspector Pujol discover the real killer before they are arrested.I like Carolyn a lot. She is a delightful character and I find the books in this series to be a light and enjoyable read. I must say that at first I had a lot of trouble with the foreign names in this book. Once I stuck with it, I was able to keep everyone straight. I liked the setting of Barcelona but some of the places that Carolyn and/or Robbie went are not places I would want to see.I highly recommend this book!

Ever since her children have grown up, Carolyn Blue is doing things that she wants to do. She is a syndicated food columnist, published writer and jets around the world, accompanying her husband to science conferences. Of course she always finds time to solve murder investigations along the way.Carolyn is currently in Barcelona visiting her friend Roberta Hecht, who is working in the research project at the El Esperit de Gaudi i Miro museum. When Carolyn goes to the museum she makes it a point to see the interactive exhibit "Tapas Triage" but is startled to find a dead woman who looks like her friend. It turns out that the woman was the mistress of the owner of the museum. In the xenophobic chauvinistic eyes of Inspector Pojol, who doesn't have a high opinion of American women, Roberta is the only suspect. Carolyn feels obligated to prove her friend's innocence without implicating Roberta's stepson who thinks he might have killed the victim.THE PERILS OF PAELLA is obviously a title twist of "The Perils of Pauline" as the heroine goes from one dangerous adventure into another one. Nancy Fairbanks has some mouth watering descriptions of Catalonian repasts so don't read this culinary mystery on an empty stomach something this reviewer learned first hand. However, my spouse rejected my placing culpability on Ms. Fairbanks for a large dessert I devoured. There are enough suspects to keep the storyline interesting without overwhelming the audience with trivia. This fast and funny Ever since her children have grown up, Carolyn Blue is doing things that she wants to do. She is a syndicated food columnist, published writer and jets around the world, accompanying her husband to science conferences. Of course she always finds time to solve murder investigations along the way.Carolyn is currently in Barcelona visiting her friend Roberta Hecht, who is working in the research project at the El Esperit de Gaudi i Miro museum. When Carolyn goes to the museum she makes it a point to see the interactive exhibit "Tapas Triage" but is startled to find a dead woman who looks like her friend. It turns out that the woman was the mistress of the owner of the museum. In the xenophobic chauvinistic eyes of Inspector Pojol, who doesn't have a high opinion of American women, Roberta is the only suspect. Carolyn feels obligated to prove her friend's innocence without implicating Roberta's stepson who thinks he might have killed the victim.THE PERILS OF PAELLA is obviously a title twist of "The Perils of Pauline" as the heroine goes from one dangerous adventure into another one. Nancy Fairbanks has some mouth watering descriptions of Catalonian repasts so don't read this culinary mystery on an empty stomach something this reviewer learned first hand. However, my spouse rejected my placing culpability on Ms. Fairbanks for a large dessert I devoured. There are enough suspects to keep the storyline interesting without overwhelming the audience with trivia. Th