Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496714435
Kensington Publishing
336 Pages
$7.99; $4.99 Amazon
April 24, 2018
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With contestants from Maine to California and a ten-thousand-dollar prize at stake, Sherry's latest competition, hosted by the CEO of an organic food company, is sure to be heated. But she's more than ready to step up to the stove. After all, she did win the award for Most Creative Cupcake back in high-school. Today, she's hoping her flavorful pork tenderloin will sway the judges. Instead, it seems someone's decided to slay one of the judges...
After Chef Birns falls face first into the Seafood Flatbread Pizza, Sherry's dish is deemed suspicious. Now she'll have to stir through a stew of rule-breaking, corruption, and gossip to get herself off the chopping block, and find out who turned this food fight fatal...
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Sherry Frazzelle is keen on entering cooking competitions. The one she's in now is for an organic food company, OrgaNicks, named after the owner, Nick Andime. Also entering is her younger sister, Marla. Cooking competitions can be cutthroat and stressful. Unfortunately, this is one of those times, with the person next to her - Kenny Dewitt - being abrasive and snide. However, she's not going to let him ruin it.
After the dishes are completed and the entrants have been seated, the three chefs have taken their places and are tasting the food. But when they're getting ready to announce the winner of the ten thousand dollar prize, one of the chefs keels over and later dies - poisoned. Sherry eventually finds out that the last dish he tasted was hers, and now she's under suspicion of being the guilty party.
While both the police and her father tell her to stay out of it, Sherry knows her reputation is on the line, and she needs to find a killer. But, of course, that's only if the killer doesn't find her first...
I wanted to read this book because like Sherry, I love to cook and bake. It's the first in a new series, and I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed. Sherry asks questions, but she's not truly invasive nor get-in-your-face with questions. I really dislike protagonists who follow people around and demand answers from them. Sherry tries to make it seem as if she's having a normal conversation; but, of course, the killer doesn't see it that way.
She's also trying to find a new life without her husband of five years, Charlie. But this relationship is different: Charlie didn't cheat, he didn't abuse her; he just decided he didn't want to be married. However, he's a likable character, darn it. Just like Sherry thinks about him, it's difficult to dislike a man who appears to be so nice. He's there when she needs him, and leaves a little bit of himself behind, almost as if he doesn't really want to let go of her.
The mystery itself was done really well. The clues abound, and red herrings are everywhere, with almost anyone who could be the guilty party. But while we're sifting through them, it's an interesting tale with a backbone to it, and keeps you reading throughout until you get to the end. When we do discover the killer and the reason for the murder, it's unfortunate and sad at the same time while not giving sympathy to the murderer.
Although I feel that Sherry is a little OCD about things - she needs to be in control, is neurotic, easily irritated with people, anxious, slightly paranoiac, and a little bit pessimistic (expecting the worst all the time); there are people like this, and she just happens to be one of them. She also hates it when her name is mispronounced and gets irritated when others call her 'Ma'am' instead of Miss/Ms. (Personally, I hate 'Ms'). While her quirks are meant, in my opinion, to make her endearing, too many of them make one not to spend a lot of time with her. Perhaps it's because she had to step in for her mother at an early age and never really was allowed a full childhood; but we don't know. (Maybe she needs to see a therapist?) In future books I would like to know more about this and see Sherry change a little bit as she becomes more accustomed to living alone.
Her father Erno is a font of wisdom, even if it is couched in adages; I do like Amber and hope to see more of her in future books. Although This was a fun mystery, full of surprises and I'm glad I took the time to read it. There are also some nice recipes in the back (although not the one for the pork tenderloin, unfortunately). All in all, I enjoyed the book; it's a nice cozy that can be gotten through quickly and I hope to read more by this author.
https://www.amazon.com/Expiration-Cook-Off-Mystery-Devon-Delaney/dp/1496714431/ref=
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2740865131
More on Devon Delaney's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/devon-delaney/
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