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Steamed
GourmetGirl Series #1

by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant



      Chloe Carter has two things on her mind: men and gourmet food. When her on-off boyfriend turns into a cheating rat, she is desperate to make him jealous and find somebody new. Online dating is not something she would normally try, but soon she is fixed up with "DinnerDude." Eric Rafferty turns out to be a stuffed shirt -boring, pompous, and despite his fondness for the edible delights in life, not Chloe's type. When he disappears into the men's room halfway through the meal, she thinks he has left her in the lurch, but actually he has been murdered...

This is the first entry in a brand new series of "Gourmet Girl Mysteries," complete with recipes and tying together those two natural partners: cozy crime and food. There is also a third element in here that actually dominates the story, causing me to ponder on quite what sub-genre to file it under. Fans of the currently popular "chicklit" will rejoice when they read this novel, as somehow, even when the body is still warm and the sleuthing has begun, the crime part of the book is still not in the forefront. If you like ditzy narrators, lots of girly chatter about the perils of dating, swapping clothes and boy hunting, then this will appeal to you. If you want a detective story with more detection in it, then look elsewhere.

The Book

Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin)
March 2006
Hardback
0425208052
Cozy Mystery [Contemporary, Massachusetts]
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Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2006
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© 2006 MyShelf.com