Death al Dente

Gourmet Detective #4

by Peter King

In Italy to locate the "best chef" in the entire country, the Gourmet Detective's delectible task is quickly interrupted by the murder of a friendly agricultural magnate. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Italy, Mystery Thriller, Media Tie In, Culinary

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Peter King is an English born author of mystery fiction, a Cordon Bleu trained chef and a retired metallurgist and aerospace scientist. Before writing full time, he operated a tungsten mine, prospected worldwide and worked on rocket engines for NASA Apollo missions. After retiring in 1991, he began writing fiction and is best known for the Gourmet Detective series and the Jack London historical mysteries. His work blends culinary detail, historical research and classic whodunit storytelling.

Reviews

[Friedrich Huth]

Very suitable for people who like food, italy and crime stories. The detailed meal describtions started to take me out of it a bit towards the end. I'll try another of his food mysteries

[Cornerofmadness]

I've had this on the shelf forever and having an Italian setting prompt made me pull it off the shelf. I had seen the Gourmet detective on some mystery channel or another and it was based on this. Apparently very loosely because this was...bad.

Okay so it was published in 1999 but even for that the misogyny in this was awful. It opens with the Gourmet Detective going to Italy to scout out locations and chefs for some celebrity back in the UK. He is met by an Italian guide and her boss told her to introduce herself as a prostitute and she does to prank him (shudders) and within a few pages, he's shocked that she, a woman, can work a computer (yeah he says that's bad of him to think that but my god....)

He is instantly annoyed that every chef he encounters knows why he's there but they're not supposed to (meanwhile he's in a luxury car rolling up like he owns the joint) and then murder attempts happen until one succeeds. And it just keeps going downhill, like a crop duster going after them.

Even the ending was a let down. It's all around disappointing.

[Eugene]

OK. Read one of these a good number of years ago (likely the 1st, The Gourmet Detective) but didn’t find it of enough interest to read more of them. I picked up this fourth of the eight books in a used book shop recently, and while it’s not earth-shaking it was good enough that I’ll seek out some of the others.
Here the Gourmet Detective (never mentioned by name) is in Italy at the behest of well known actor and restauranteur Desmond Lansdown who has commissioned him to find a chef for an Italian resto he wants to open in London. It seems pretty straightforward until someone decides to remove the dective from the “case,” permanently.
The books seem to provide King with an opportunity to drop his knowledge of food and dining, and drop it he does, almost getting in the way of the story. There is just a whiff of pedantry here, but if you can get past that, the book is a fairly entertaining read.

[Joyce]

Gunshots, multiple dead bodies, also multiple murder attempts on our hero ... and yet the story seemed rather light. Not dark or gritty ... I guess it helped that Henry was so appreciative and knowledgeable about all the dishes he enjoyed during his sleuthing.

And he still managed to complete the assignment that brought him to Italy in the first place. And he got the girl ... even if only temporarily. 😂

I shall continue with the series ... skipping around by reading the ones that Hallmark adapted first. 🤪

[Carole]

The Gourmet Detective is on the case again, this time in Italy. HIs mission is to determine which top tiered chef will be offered the job as chef in the new "best Italian restaurant in London". Certainly not a dangerous assignment until the murders. I am thoroughly enjoying this mystery series. What is not to love, culinary trivia, tantalizing descriptions of food, wry humor and murder in interesting places. I highly recommend this to take one away from (to quote Wordsworth) "the dreary intercourse of daily life".

[Roxie Klinksiek]

The gourmet detective travels to Italy to interview three potential chefs for a new restaurant opening in London. While there, he deals with a chef with a volatile temperament, the speed at which his secret search has reached the rumor mill, and his beautiful guide. The other two chefs are less temperamental, but each has a secret of his own. Fast-paced, this was a quick and entertaining read.

[Neely Powell]

The Gourmet Detective goes to Italy to check out three chefs. This chef will be at the helm of London’s best Italian restaurant, according to GD’s client. Sounds fairly easy but of course it isn’t. Another lively and entertaining read.

[Linda]

A nice cozy mystery, easy to read, and focusing on Italian cuisine.

[Stacy]

This is the second one I have read and the best of the two.
Good cozy mystery with a mature twist

[Dan]

Okay, hmm... I've read the whole series now. I'm not going to do individual book reviews, some of them are better than others, but they're all enjoyable, quick reads. Then again, throw gourmet food and wine into anything and I'm likely to add some points to it in my mind. Bizarrely, though, given that I gave all the books three stars, I don't know that I recommend them. Had they been written fifty years ago, I'd give them some more slack, but here are my issues with, well, all of them:

The gourmet detective himself, our protagonist, is an unlikable twit. He's a middle aged, pretentious white man, with delusions of self importance. He fancies himself a ladies man and, of course, manages to get one or another into bed (trailed off, never portrayed, just make sure we know it happened, wink, wink) in all or almost all the books. He's misogynistic, racist, and classist. He fancies himself a connoisseur of all things food and wine, and throws about names and terms, most of which the average reader will not have heard of, and will probably just move past without much thought. The problem is, he's pretty much clueless and the mistakes in his descriptions of various ingredients, dishes, and bottles of fermented grape juice are legion.

In short, and yes, I realize I'm generalizing and could be accused of bias myself, he's the sort of detective that a 70+ year old retired upper middle class British metallurgical engineer (who apparently at some point went to the Cordon Bleu cooking school to be trained as a chef, though my bet is he just took a few cooking classes for home cooks, then again, who knows, but it seems he did it after retiring at some point in his 70s) would reimagine himself to be if he were to become a food detective. In short, a sort of Walter Mitty alter ego.

[Jeannine]

First, do not read this book if you are hungry or on Weight Watchers, as I am. I think it took me so long to read because I had to keep putting it down to maintain willpower. The plot evolves around The Gourmet Detective who is hired to go to Italy to find an Italian chef for a London actor and restaurant owner for his new restaurant. I started reading this book because I love to cook and I love mysteries, however, every meal and snack is described in tremendous detail including every wine in the region for every course while the mystery plot is an afterthought and not believable. And the ending is so anticlimactic that I had to go back and read it again to make sure I didn't miss anything.
If you want to read a book about Italian cooking, food specialties and wines, this is the book. If you are looking for a plot, skip it.

[Johnice]

I like the TV version much better. at least they have no milking bison stampedes.

[Allan]

I ran across this series in the library while I was picking up "O Jerusalem" and thought I'd try it. I remember "Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe" from some years ago and hoped this would be better than that book or the movie...I was wrong. I lumbered through this thing, soreley disappointed by the mystery side of things and extremely bored by the pandering digressions into food, food history, wine, wine history, etc. I did finish the book. I must be a gourmand for punishment.

I will say this for the author. It's the first time I've ever read a mystery where the police SOLVE THE CRIME while the detective stands around and watches. That was a bit unusual. In fact, the chief of police was a much more interesting character than the protagonist. I fear the author grew bored with his central guy as well.

I will not be snacking on any of the other books in this series.

[Rogue Reader]

Not sure why I enjoy these pedantic cozies by Peter King, but I do. There's always something unusual, and in Death al Dente, the Gourmet Detective is off to Bologna to determine which of three chefs will be most suited to a new London restaurant. Wonderful treatment of regional Italian cuisines and wines, the personalities of chefs and their restaurants and Italian women too.

--Ashland Mystery

[Marcella]

The Gourmet Detective is absolutely one of my favorite mystery series and this particular book certainly did not disappoint. What could be better than reading about delicious Italian dishes while traveling through Bologna, Italy, with the Gourmet Detective on his search for the best Italian chef. The book did present an ending twist on who done it after providing much incriminating evidence that could have convicted many of the characters.

[Mary Corso]

I read this one on the plane to Italy ... and then passed it on to everyone I was traveling with. I liked it much better than did my sisters. I have read a few of his books and think this one is my favorite so far.

[Desiree]

a "tasty" read, mainly because of the descriptions of Italian meals and wines, while the plot was far-fetched and flimsy to say the least. I read it mainly because I go to Bologna in a couple of weeks. well, an extra star for the food descriptions.

[Mike]

A nice romp through Bologna and Italian wines and foods.

[Margaret]

A light, entertaining mystery full of descriptions of Italian dishes and wines - made me think that I would really enjoy a culinary tour of Italy some day!

[Alex]

So boring, I could not finish.

[Chris George]

A fast read. One of 'the Gourmet Detective' series. Set in Bologna, Italy. Any foodie will love this book!

[Richard]

Fun, light read. It's a "culinary mystery". Do not read while hungry!!!

[Lynn]

Ok, but really not that entertaining.