Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496724977
Kensington Publishing
336 Pages
$8.99; $7.69 Amazon
June 29, 2021
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When the chef actually does suffer a mild heart attack, he ends up sharing a hospital room with Hayley's brother Randy, who's there for gall bladder surgery. Chef Romeo has tasted Hayley's cooking and asks her to take over his restaurant while he's laid up. But this temporary gig may turn permanent, after the chef dies from complications. Only thing is, Randy tells a different story. He might have been sedated, but Hayley's bro swears he saw someone come into their room and put Romeo out of his misery. Now it's up to Hayley to find the person who had no reservations about killing the chef...
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When Hayley, her husband Bruce, and brother Randy eat at a new restaurant, the chef recognizes her and asks what he thinks of her food. When she raves about it but tells him she likes her Carbonara better, he demands she make it for him. He agrees hers is better and wants her to work for him, which she turns down.
Then Randy has a gall bladder attack and winds up in the hospital; then he asks Hayley to run his restaurant until he returns, and she reluctantly agrees. What Hayley doesn't expect is that Chef Romeo is Randy's roommate. When the chef dies and everyone says it was a massive heart attack, Randy tells her that it was murder. When there's suspicious activity regarding the chef's death, Hayley does what she does best: investigate murders.
But there's more going on, since she has her work at the newspaper, is trying to run what appears to be a successful restaurant, take care of Randy; and with both Bruce and Randy's husband Sergio out of town, she's on her own, especially when the police sergeant who's temporarily in charge isn't taking anything she says seriously...
I have read every book in this series, and I have to say that while I wasn't impressed with the first one, it's definitely gotten much better over the years. In fact, this is my favorite one of them all. Hayley's showing the type of person she's been all along, but with a new confidence about her, and she's determined to find out who killed the chef.
I really felt sorry for Randy, having gone through the exact same thing myself. Trust me, this is not something you want to go through; it's not just gallbladder surgery but much more life-threatening. I'm grateful I survived (although I wasn't as needy as Randy).
There's action aplenty, and a lot going on at once, so the pacing is fast and the mystery intriguing. The identity of the killer is a bit of a surprise, with an extra thrown in for good measure. I really loved the way this book ended, so much so that I wish I could read the next in the series right now. Highly recommended.
More on Lee Hollis's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/lee-hollis/
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