A Souffle of Suspicion

by Daryl Wood Gerber

Overview

When Chef Camille’s sister turns up dead in the kitchen, it's up to Mimi Rousseau to tease the real killer out of a mélange of menacing characters

Crush Week in Nouvelle Vie is a madhouse—in a good way. Tourists pour into town for the pressing of the Napa Valley’s world-renowned grapes and all the town’s businesses get a nice lift, including Bistro and Maison Rousseau. Mimi is raising the ante this year with a Sweet Treats Festival, a wonderland of croissants, cakes, tarts, and soufflés crafted with expert care by the area’s top talents.

Chef Camille’s sister Renee is managing the festival with a cast-iron fist, upsetting everyone, including her sister. Which is bad for Camille when Renee turns up dead in the chef’s kitchen. Mimi is still building her business, so her first course of action is to whip up answers and catch the unsavory perpetrator before Camille takes a dusting and gets burned.

Fans of JoAnna Carl and Joanne Fluke will want a succulent second serving of A Soufflé of Suspicion, Daryl Wood Gerber’s appetizing second French Bistro mystery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683315865
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	07/10/2018
Series:	A French Bistro Mystery , #2
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	515,922
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber writes the Cookbook Nook mysteries, and as Avery Aames, she pens the Cheese Shop mysteries. As an actress, Daryl appeared in Murder, She Wrote. She has also jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and hitchhiked around Ireland by herself. She loves to read and cook, and she has a frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky. This is her second French Bistro mystery.

Editorial Reviews

05/28/2018
In Agatha-winner Gerber’s lively sequel to 2017’s A Deadly Éclair, the residents of the small, unincorporated Napa Valley enclave of Nouvelle Vie are celebrating harvest time. Tourists flock to the area to participate in crush week—when the newly picked grapes are pressed. Along with the usual “hoedowns, hayrides, and farm tours,” this year Mimi Rousseau’s inn, Maison Rousseau, will be the venue for the Sweet Treats Festival, a week-long food fair complete with baking contests. When festival organizer Renee Wells is murdered, her sister, Camille Chabot, is included in the list of suspects. Unfortunately for Mimi, who owns Bistro Rousseau, Camille happens to be the bistro’s head chef. The only way for Mimi to get her business back on track is to find the murderer. Gerber ticks all the boxes for a successful cozy: a capable protagonist, intelligent dialogue, a fine sense of place, eccentric yet plausible suspects, and clues galore. Rounding out the volume are 14 recipes, including, of course, one for Soufflé au Chocolat. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for A Souffle of Suspicion:
“Gerber ticks all the boxes for a successful cozy: a capable protagonist, intelligent dialogue, a fine sense of place, eccentric yet plausible suspects, and clues galore.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[Gerber] creates colorful, enjoyable characters...One word of warning: her descriptions of the food and wine pairings are so very vivid and realistic that readers should not be hungry when they read this mystery. Happily, [Gerber] includes several of Mimi’s recipes at the end of the book.”
—Booklist

“[An] enjoyable cozy.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A sweet treat with dazzling characters, a sleuth full of charm, and blossoming romance.”
—Seattle Book Review

“Just as delicious as the first...When it comes to the word “appetizing” you automatically think of food. But when it comes to the literary scene, this series is well beyond appetizing. Not only are the foods incredible (make sure to check out the awesome recipes provided), but the characters and plot are equally superb.”
—Suspense Magazine

Praise for A Deadly Eclair:
"A Deadly Éclair is like having dinner with old friends. It has the laughter, the stories, the fun and the good food all in one cozy."
—BB Haywood, NYT bestselling author of the Candy Holliday mysteries

"Daryl Wood Gerber cooks up an intriguing tale of bistro business gone terribly wrong. The Napa Valley setting is perfect for the cast of quirky California characters, and Gerber draws us into the bistro scene with descriptions of mouth-watering meals that will make you want to buy a ticket west. A delectable entree in the French Bistro mysteries."
—Edith Maxwell, Agatha-nominated and national bestselling author of the Local Foods mysteries and the Quaker Midwife mysteries

“A delicious and charming new series by Daryl Wood Gerber, A Deadly Éclair is a sensory trip to the California Coast complete with a whodunit that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. Mimi Rousseau is smart, down-to-earth and relatable, and her sleuthing skills are topped only by the French cuisine she whips up with Chef C in her bistro. I can’t wait to sit down with a glass of wine and read the next book in this series.”
—Nancy Coco, national bestselling author of the Candy-Coated mysteries

"Ooh-la-la! French food, Napa Valley wine, a celebrity wedding—and murder. A delectable new cozy series from Daryl Wood Gerber!"
—Lucy Burdette, bestselling author of the Key West Food Critic mysteries

From the Publisher

2018-04-16
When a festival of sweets is imperiled by the murder of its organizer, the owner of the host restaurant investigates to clear her chef of the crime.Mimi Rousseau may have bitten off more than she can chew when she offered Maison Rousseau, her Napa Valley restaurant, as a site for the new Sweet Treats Festival. She's relieved that she can rely on her executive chef, Camille Chabot, known informally as Chef C, to helm the kitchen while Camille's sister, Renee Wells, runs the festival. Though Mimi knows Renee only through Camille, she trusts her chef, and Renee seems to have a real handle on supervising all the goings-on the Sweet Treats Festival entails. The only one who's not so sure about Renee is Allie O'Malley, who regrets selling the festival to Renee and wants a cut of the profits. Renee isn't sympathetic about Allie's bad business decision and isn't afraid to gloat. Allie may get the last laugh, however, after Chef C discovers that someone's killed Renee. The town's shocked to be the scene of yet another murder (A Deadly Éclair, 2018, etc.), and Mimi's determined to clear Chef C of the crime even if her sleuthing implicates Allie or uncovers more enemies of Renee. Concentrating on what happened to Renee is the perfect distraction for Mimi, who's afraid to scrutinize her feelings for Nash Hawke, who may be trying to get closer than she's ready for.Spicing the mix with an impressive 14 recipes, from Autumn Quiche to Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies, Gerber balances a beautiful setting with a predictable but enjoyable cozy plot.

Kirkus Reviews