Thursday, May 13, 2010

Delicious and Suspicious-Riley Adams

Delicious and Suspicious
Riley Adams
Berkley, Jul 6 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425235539

Aunt Pat’s barbeque restaurant is a favorite place to eat and hang out. Located in Memphis, the pit is run by Lulu Taylor and her sons Seb the baby of the family and the more responsible Ben. The Cooking Channel is considering a spot there. Rebecca Adrian arrives to decide, but must also visit Lulu’s rival Lurlene at Hog Heaven.

Rebecca does not do anything to ingratiate herself with the people she meets whether they are friendly or needing her help or wanting to assist her; in fact she goes out of her way to be be nasty. She tells Lulu’s daughter-in-law that her art work is horrific and not good enough for a shoeing. After that she informs Lulu’s friend Mildred her writing is pathetic and she tries to blackmail Jeb by threatening to reveal his prison record. Lulu goes to see Rebecca at her hotel, only to find her dead. To clear the restaurant of culpability and to insure her family is not accused of a homicide, Lulu investigates not trusting the cops, but is unprepared with what she uncovers.

This entertaining regional amateur sleuth gives the audience a taste of living in Nashville, especially owning a restaurant in a tourist attraction city. Rebecca was so mean and malicious to anyone who dared enter her sphere; she is over the top of Clingman's Dome. However, Lulu though she has personal reasons to investigate also feels she didn’t deserve murder; obviously someone else did. With a strong fully seasoned support cast who enhances the whodunit, Delicious and Suspicious is truly scrumptious.

Harriet Klausner

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