Dying for Dinner

A Cooking Class Mystery #4

by Miranda Bliss

When Annie leaves the safety of her old bank job to become the full-time manager of her boyfriend's restaurant, what's meant to be the first day of the rest of her life might be the last day of someone else's.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cooking, Culinary, Romance, Chick Lit

250 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 2008

About the author

Also writes as Casey Daniels, Zoe Daniels, Connie Deka, Mimi Granger, Anastasia Hastings, Connie Lane, Connie Laux, Constance Laux, Kylie Logan, Lucy Ness.

Casey Daniels, it can now be revealed, is also Miranda Bliss. As Casey, she once applied for a job as a tour guide at a historic cemetery. She didn't get the job, but she did get the idea for the Pepper Martin Mystery Series about a cemetery tour guide who finds she can communicate with the permanent residents. The fifth in the series, Dead Man Talking, came out earlier this year. As Miranda Bliss, she is the author of five books that feature best friends Annie and Eve who give cooking classes. Most recent is Murder Has a Sweet Tooth. Casey learned to love mysteries early thanks to her dad, a Cleveland Police detective, who enjoyed Sherlock Holmes stories and spent his days off searching for stolen cars--with Casey along for the ride. Casey has a degree in English and a background in journalism and teaching. Casey lives in northeast Ohio.

Reviews

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a pretty good mystery ... but the romantic triangles were a bit much for me. And the culinary part was a little too "ritzy" food for my taste.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

It has been a long time since I've read something in this series. I'm not sure if my tastes have changed or if this is the outlier of the bunch, but this whole thing was miss after miss.

First, Annie is a lot dumber than I remember. She spends the entire book missing that she's being tailed, lamenting that she can't make progress, and proclaiming that she is a good detective but doing nothing legitimate to make herself one. If you're that sure the job is of interest to you maybe start taking courses or try to get a license so you're not just arm-chairing it and lucking into a resolution.

Then there's the way she treats basically everyone except Jim, who btw is a bland character with no personality beyond his accent and his worry for her. Everyone else in the book is treated with some level of judgment from her. It's especially egregious with Eve, the woman who is supposed to be her best friend, and apparently needs to be reminded of her terrible track record with Tyler and men in general at every opportunity. Friends try to look out for each other and yes, there's often times they hold grudges against SOs longer than the actual person in the relationship, but this was to another level and it made Annie seem incredibly petty.

Also, there's obviously a reason for her to be judgmental of Jacques/Norman, but I have to say the extreme criticism about Vavoom is too much. Is it false advertising? Sure, to a degree. But it's also not the end of the world, salt + other herbs is a legitimate spice mix, there are many on the market, and the idea that it's some massive con because he's branded it as his own is really absurd.

Finally, the Mindy/Mandy situation. I hate when books do this. There is no way that Annie doesn't know the name of the woman her ex-husband cheated on her with and subsequently married. The idea that she actually says this as the woman's name, out loud, to her ex made me cringe. It makes the character look childish and is regressive in general. Just all the no.

There's only one left in the series but I think I'll pass.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. When Annie quits her job as a bank teller to concentrate on her work at Bellywashers, she thinks she'll finally have plenty of time to do just the one job... until she ends up working at Tres Bonne Cuisine as well, and investigating both a murder and a missing person.

I haven't read the other books in the series, but this was easy enough to get into. I may look at the others to fill in the backstory more. My only quibble: I really can't see a professional chef, or someone training students, using the gazillion gadgets mentioned!

Ideal beach or holiday read.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this series and it's cast of characters. Annie did quite a bit of investigating and had lots of help from her friends. I like how supportive everyone is. The mystery was good. #readforkimberly

[Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just didn't really do anything for me. There were too many times that the storyline could have been better. Annie is supposed to be so smart but yet she isn't so much of the time. Eve was just too much of a simple mind. I never engaged with the characters. Annie's dialogue with herself is way too long so many times during the book. This was the first book I read in this series and the last. Cozy mysteries are my thing but this one, this series, isn't going to get another chance. I've read so many books that I have enjoyed so much more than this one to give it another chance.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Greg is murdered at Tres Bonne Cuisine the gourmet cooking shop that Monsieur Lavoie owns Annie wants to find out what happened. And with Monsieur Lavoie missing everyone is worried. And finding him leads to a whole other can of worms.

[Mindy Scroggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

First for me in this series . I like the writing style .

[Jackie Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the mystery. I'll definitely read another book by Miranda Bliss.

[Paschalis]

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[Starfish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of a series that combines cooking and death! Two great tastes that go great together.

This was light, enjoyable fluff, but I felt cheated by the fact that the mystery aspect led to a guy that we'd never even heard of -- lots of people we'd never heard of. I guess it feels like cheating when the solution is something that is entirely out of the reader's ability to predict -- Chandler's a bit that way, but at least with Chandler you get given the likely suspects introduced to you and you can guess who is playing tricks.

There was almost as much romance and relationship analysis as there was cooking/Annie's daily life and the mystery, which I enjoyed. It had recipes at the end. Parts of it didn't add up to me, such as Tyler and the police in general. On the one hand, it's sort of nice to know that you can relax a bit and that maybe I don't need to agonise as much as I am over my fic. On the other hand, well, I can see how it adds up to a book that is nothing more than a few hours light entertainment.

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth in the Cooking Class Series ... I finished the first one on Sunday. You don't need to have read the others to know what's going on ... things from the other books are mentioned but not in great deal so as to not give too much away.

As in the first book, I still don't understand why she and her friend, Eve, are encouraged to investigate murder. Annie is a teller turned office manager of a restaurant and Eve worked in a department store and is now the hostess of the restaurant. They have no experience or background ... they are just told over and over (and over!) that they are good at investigating.

Other than that, I don't mind this series. The books are light and I enjoyed the writing style.

Some characters from the first book are expanded (like Annie's ex-husband, Peter, and Chef Lavoie ... I don't know how big their roles were in the last two books since I haven't read them).

I found the storyline believeable and I bought the ending.

Blog review: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2012/01...

[Thirumagal · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an okay read. Too many culinary instruments which most people barely know was mentioned. Although everyone was touting Annie to be this big shot, bright, sharp detective it was never proved anywhere in the book. First of all if she had already solved 3 murders she would have been quicker on the uptake about the SUV following her. All i have ever done is read mystery novels and even I knew that was dodgy. And how stupid can you be to leave your car all night in front of a store, with the SUV parked nearby and believe no one would follow Norman. I continuously found the protagonist very dimwitted and slow and frankly frustratingly stupid. I cannot see how in this novel she proved herself to be a good detective seeing as even though she had enough reason to be suspicious of anyone being killed suddenly at the show that Norman is performing in and yet could not even relate it. Honestly it was a very painful read.. Painful because of the painfully dimwitted so called detective protagonist.

[Leeankh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I figured out who the bad guy was very early on, I didn't know his motive or other very important details until much later. I feel bad for Jacques because that character has been squeezed for more story lines than I would have thought possible. Yet, I still like the series. I really like Annie, Jim, and Eve overall. I was a little disappointed with how Eve was portrayed during one scene at the end, but it wasn't enough to affect my overall impression. If I could talk to the author, however, I would encourage her to be a little more careful with Eve in the future. Otherwise, the stories have all been quite good and I'm loving the progression. Keep it up and I'll keep reading! :)

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

4th in the series about Annie & Eve, best friends that solve mysteries in their spare time..well, sometimes it gets in the way of their jobs. This installment finds Annie working at the Bellywasher's full time after deciding to quit her job at the bank. Her ex shows up (turns out he is divorcing the woman he left her for and might want to rekindle something) and Jacques who create Vavoom! has gone missing when his employee Greg was killed in the shop.

I wasn't sure when I read the first book in this series, but I have enjoyed the last 3 books and they are worth reading.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another great book in this series. The 4th book. I so look forward to the 5th book. I love Annie's character because she is so easy for many woman to relate to. I also like her friend Eve she is funny. The regular characters are all likable. This was a nice mystery. Not too complicated not too simple either. I would recommend this to any lover of cozy mysteries.

[Brigette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annie was a little clueless in this one (really, how long did that black sedan have to follow her around?) but it's a good stepping stone in this series. A decent cozy, although I'd like to see Jim fleshed out a little more.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It has a mystery within a mystery and that truly drives the action of the book. I was pleased with the ending as well.

I'm new to this series but I won't be a stranger from now on.

A good murder mystery.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent mystery with a main character who likes to investigate on her own. The only problem- series name is "Cooking Class Mystery" but really the story has very little to do with a cooking class.

[Tabby Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Cindi Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh la la! This one is all about Monsieur and the life he lived before he became a chef. Let's just say Annie figures it all out. Good mystery and light fluffy romance to boot.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Annie and Eve! This series just gets better with each book!

[Karil Watkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't bother.

[Robin Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, quick read

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had a very good story and I LOVED the end!! I look forward to the next one.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good, quick read. I was shocked at what Jacques was doing with his product- sneaky. Things are progressing with Annie and Jim.

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun cozy cooking mystery. I wish they'd go back to calling Jacques by that name rather than Norman, though. They switched much, much too easily!

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of fun, mostly improbable, but what the heck? Think I'll have to find Dead Men Don't Get the Munchies. :)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Belinda Curatolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Endearing characters, and loved the Scottish nod!

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute entry into the Cooking Class Mystery series by Miranda Bliss.