Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Mystery
Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words
Availability
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on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
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Author:
A New
Jersey native, Lewandowski now makes her home in Tampa, Florida. She has two
other novels, Born to Die: The Montauk
Murders and My Gentleman Vampire: The
Undead Have Style.
A regular
contributor at Indies Unlimited, Lewandowski also has a blog, largely, but not
entirely, focused on food, called Culture and Cuisine Club.
Description:
“After
escaping the brutal murders in Montauk, Katherine Montgomery breathes a sigh of
relief and settles into her sophisticated mansion on Tampa Bay. In this sultry
paradise her world is filled with tennis, growing her art gallery business, and
nights spent with dear friends at the Gaspar Gourmets dinner club. Her life
seems ideal until a close friend dies suddenly. But the accident may not be
what it seems, and Detective Frank Olson is assigned to investigate. Katherine
is immediately attracted to the smart, handsome detective. She can’t help but
wonder, however, if his interest in her is as a woman or a suspect.”
Appraisal:
“The rich
are different from you and me.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
Whether
this quote is usually true, I don’t know, but I was reminded of it when
considering the characters in The Gourmet
Murders, most of whom are rich and not at all like me. While that might
make some of the characters harder to relate to, it also meant the underlying murder
mystery was tougher to get a handle on. Were there obvious motives I was
overlooking? Was a certain attitude or action that made me suspect a person
really within the norms for this environment? These questions nagging at the
back of my mind kept me guessing about whodunit and led me astray the entire
way.
Set among
the members of a gourmet dinner club (a group of well-to-do Tampa residents who
rotate giving dinner parties for each other), this murder mystery follows the
characters as they flit from dinner party, to art show opening, to the privacy
of their bedrooms, with a periodic dead body popping up to keep everyone on edge.
A fun and different read.
FYI:
Some adult
language and sexual situations.
Although
technically a sequel to Lewandowski’s The
Montauk Murders, I had no problem reading and understanding this book as a
standalone.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues
Rating: **** Four Stars
1 comment:
Thank you for this post. I might not have been aware of this book. I'm intrigued and will buy a copy. Having lived in that general area for many years, I'd love to see it through the character's eyes. I'm tempted to second guess the motives and the locations. Nice review.
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