
Narrator: Sebastian Humphreys
Series: Chef Paul Delamare Mystery #1
Published by RB Media on December 24, 2024
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 8 hrs 58 mins
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
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The Maid meets Knives Out with a dash of Top Chef in the debut locked room culinary mystery set in a London cooking school by MasterChef semi-finalist and cookbook writer Orlando Murrin.
“Some people are natural dancers, others marvelous in bed, but—not wishing to boast—I’m good with a knife. Most chefs are.”
The Chester Square Cookery School in the heart of London offers students a refined setting in which to master the fine art of choux pastry and hone their hollandaise. True, the ornate mansion doesn’t quite sparkle the way it used to—a feeling chef Paul Delamare is familiar with these days. Worn out and newly broke, he’d be tempted to turn down the request to fill in as teacher for a week-long residential course, if anyone other than Christian Wagner were asking.
Christian is one of Paul’s oldest friends, as well as the former recipient of two Michelin stars and host of Pass the Gravy! Thanks to a broken arm, he’s unable to teach the upcoming session himself, and recruits Paul as stand-in. The students are a motley crew, most of whom seem more interested in ogling the surroundings (including handsome Christian) than learning the best ways to temper chocolate.
Yet despite his misgivings, Paul starts to enjoy imparting his extensive knowledge to the recruits—until someone turns up dead, murdered with a cleaver Paul used earlier that day to prep a pair of squabs. Did one of his students take the lesson on knife techniques too much to heart, or was this the result of a long-simmering grudge? In between clearing his own name and teaching his class how to perfectly poach a chicken, he’ll have to figure out who’s the killer, and avoid being the next one to get butchered . . .
Paul, still grieving after the loss of his partner and not in a steady job, takes over a cookery class from his old friend, Christian, who has broken his arm. It’s a residential cooking school held in an old mansion in Belgravia, just a short walk from Paul’s own house. Paul is not thrilled with the situation, not only because he has no idea what he’ll be paid, but all of the students are major Christian fans and are disappointed that Paul has taken his place. And then he discovers Christian’s body, clearly murdered, and Paul becomes one of the main suspects.
The mystery’s good enough. Each of the students and even the cooking school owner have secrets and possible motives for wanting Christian dead. We have several clues and a few red herrings. It’s a bit like a house party mystery, especially when Paul ends up having to stay there too. The suspects are limited to those in the house at the time and all the individuals are only loosely connected. I like Paul. He was funny and real. I also liked his best friend, Julie, who works for a lifestyle magazine and sends him daily horoscope texts. The other characters are appropriately quirky.
This is a culinary mystery, so you might pick up some skills, bits or trivia or even a recipe you want to try out. Paul finds Christian’s diary and the entries contain details about his life and several of his recipes. It’s a good way to get to know Christian better and gives a bit of variety to the narrative.
Towards the end, it did go off the rails a bit. And the wrap up, with Paul telling Julie everything that happened was sooo long and detailed. I was listening to the audio – the narrator does an excellent job – and the book ended up finishing at 106% so that might have thrown off my expectations too.
I think this is the first in the series. I will definitely pick up the second when it come out.
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