Revenge of the Barbeque Queens

Heaven Lee #2

by Lou Jane Temple

When Heaven Lee is judging the barbeque contest, trouble seems to stick to her apron.

Although she's Kansas City's premier restaurateur and a helluva barbeque queen, this time around Heaven Lee is just a judge at the Barbeque World Series. But that doesn't stop her from getting in the soup.

And that's just where Heaven finds herself when she discovers the upended body of champion barbeque cooker and giant pain Pigpen Hopkins sticking out of a potent pot of his extra-special secret barbeque sauce. Unfortunately, Heaven has had problems with the law before, and even though she came out clean, this is one sticky mess that's hard to explain.

With the town up to its ears in high-rolling barbeque experts, the prize money is enough to send anyone gunning for the top spot. But when someone takes a shot at Heaven in the dark of night and then aims for a celebrated cookbook author, the competition is more than tough-it's murder.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

217 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1997

About the author

LOU JANE TEMPLE, the former owner of Cafe Lulu in Kansas City, wrote about food and entertaining for Kansas City Magazine, and was the author of the Heaven Lee mysteries, a series of culinary thrillers.

Lou Jane moved to Kansas City in the late 1960s and was a 50-year resident of Kansas City, Mo., and a creative force in the city.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun cozy mystery - even better in summer. BBQ is no little meal and in this book they are at the world series of Barbeque and there seems to be a little trouble, people are dying all in the name of wonderful sauce.

Fast read mystery with flavor to make you want more, both the authors stories and barbeque. Now where did the recipe go . . .

[Katie Hilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute murder mystery based in Kansas City. It's a big barbeque contest, and competition gets proves dangerous for some contestants.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars
It's been a while since I have read this series and unfortunately it wasn't as good as I remembered it. It may have just been this book, but there were a lot of characters in the story so it was hard to keep track of them. In addition, even though it is a culinary mystery with plenty of recipes, it is not what I would call a cozy. Although nothing is graphic, the language and humor is a little too salty to be called "cozy", and some of the humor didn't age well from the 90s. The good points of the book are the BBQ contest, the relationship between the main character, restaurant owner Heaven Lee and her boyfriend, as well as the way Heaven and her friends work together to solve the crimes. It wasn't my favorite, but was fine for a light weekend read.

[Tabby Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kansas City's premier restaurateur, Heaven Lee, accidentally finds the upended body of champion barbecue cooker and giant pain Pigpen Hopkins sticking out of a potent pot of his extra-special secret barbecue sauce. Unfortunately, Heaven has had problems with the law before, and even though she came out clean, this is one sticky mess that's hard to explain.

[Piepie | The Napping Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yum! I read this book on a scorching hot summer's day, and I could feel the heat from the barbecued meats all around me. I love reading the descriptions of the food Heaven and the other characters conjure up.

My favorite characters (besides Heaven and Hank, because I'm a sucker for romance) are Murray and Jumpin' Jack. Jack, especially, is very important to this story!

[Drew- Pickleball Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought of barbeque being something special as far as food goes until I read this book. In addition to being an exciting mystery, I learned a lot about barbeque techniques and barbeque contests.

[Mary Z : ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by Lou Jane. It was good, but there were so many characters I had a hard time remembering who was who. That made it more difficult to try to identify the killer myself, and less satisfying when it was revealed.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sort of remember this book. I don't remember the plot much, except that I think there was a barbeque cook-off, and that I didn't like the characters.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book with tasty recipes!

[Shannon Coonfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It had a quick pace and a lot of humor. I enjoy a good mystery with a little bit of humor thrown in. This is definitely a book worth reading!

[Baseemah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just completed this book. It suggested to me by my supervisor. She said it was a oldie but goodie. It definitely was a goodie to read.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contest where they grill meat.
Not your simple chili cookoff but similar.
Good.
Heaven owns a restaurant in Kansas City.

[Pam Bales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Kansas City, Missouri, this is a good mystery series.

[Catsalive · Rating 1 out of 5]

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