"serio-comic amateur sleuth"

The last year has not been a good one for thirty-five years old Arlington, Virginia bank teller Anne Capshaw. Her husband of eight years left her for the bimbo who works at the dry cleaners and her self-esteem is at an all time low. Her cooking skills, never much to begin with, hit rock bottom when she tries to boil water and ruins the pot. Her best friend Eve enrolls both of them at a cooking class at the upscale Tres Bonne Cuisine. On the first night of class, Annie and Eve witness an argument between fellow student Beyla and a man named Drago.

Later that night when they return to the classroom to find the watch Eve left behind they discover Drago's dead body in the parking lot. They call the police; the girlfriend of Eve's former boyfriend is the responding officer. Beyla denies ever knowing Drago even though they both witnessed the fight and locate a picture in the newspaper of them together. When Eve's ex-fiancé talks to the class to find out if they know anything he also tells Eve to butt out of the investigation because he believe Beyla didn't know the murdered victim. That is enough to propel Annie and Eve into high gear not realizing that will put their lives in danger.

This charming serio-comic amateur sleuth investigation is the first cooking class mystery and readers will love it due in part to the protagonists, who are great friends and surprisingly realistic detectives. They follow the clues where they take them and although the pair takes chances, they are calculated ones so the audience believes they could do such an investigation. Miranda Bliss lives up to her surname as she writes a blissful who-done-it that is filled with some very funny scenes and characters who care about each other.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 5, 2006

Summary

Some culinary disasters can be deadly.

Annie and Eve are life-long best friends who have absolutely nothing in common—except a lack of skill in the kitchen. So when they sign up for a cooking class at the local gourmet shop, they figure the only things at risk are a few innocent fruits and vegetables. But on their first night, Annie and Eve see their fellow student Beyla arguing with a man—a man who later turns up dead in the parking lot. Now the friends feel bound to uncover whatever secrets she's hiding, before someone else's goose—perhaps one of their own—gets cooked.