A Dinner to Die For

Jill investigates the death of a chef who was mysteriously poisoned by his own soup

Until the helicopter crash, Jill Smith never knew fear. A homicide detective in the leftist enclave of Berkeley, California, she has faced down her share of thugs, thieves, and killers, but since surviving the downed helicopter, her nerves have been shot. Unwilling to submit to her anxiety, she goes back to work.

The chef and owner of Paradise, an upscale restaurant in Berkeley's so-called "Gourmet Ghetto...