Simmer Down

Chloe Carter is a first year grad student interning at the Boston Organization Against Sexual and Other Harassment in the Workplace. She is unenthusiastic in her pursuit of her social work degree since she is prompted to do so merely to complete a graduate program in order to receive an inheritance. Nonetheless, she is aware of the good that this program does and has even grown fond of her touchy feely new-age boss, Naomi.

Fortunately, her life has improved with the addition of a wonderful sexy chef boyfriend. Said BF, Josh Driscoll, has been hired by Gavin Seymour and will be helming a new fine dining restaurant in a hot location. Simmer will open on New Year’s Eve and final touches for venue and menu are currently in the works.

Annual charity event Food for Thought pairs social service agencies with local restaurants and is held in Newbury Street galleries. The respective workplaces of our couple are paired at the same gallery for the evening. This will be a great preview for the food of the new restaurant.

All is going smashingly during the evening. There are only the minor hiccups of the arrivals of Josh’s ex-girlfriend, the Full Moon Group owners who had been outbid for Simmer’s location, Chloe’s family and Chloe’s ex-boyfriend as brought to the event by her meddling sister. That is a seeming idyll when compared to the later event of the night, when Oliver Kipper, one of the Full Moon Group owners is discovered bludgeoned to death with Josh’s industrial sized food processor as the murder weapon.

Readers will find this to be a light but appetizing mystery with murder on the menu and a distinctively fun chick lit flavor permeating throughout.

Our heroine is twenty-something and self-absorbed but manages to keep sympathy from readers by simply being good at heart. Chloe’s quirky thoughts and actions are fairly amusing to behold and truth be told, some of her lesser attitudes may occasionally hit close to home with people who have ever felt put upon, like they were marking time in a position, or insecure in a relationship.

Readers with any interest in restaurants and the culinary in general will thoroughly enjoy the insider bits to the industry and the kitchen. These things really make this story shine. It is clear that Jessica Conant-Park has had access to a good source of research in her executive chef husband Bill. He is also credited as the source for almost every one of the tempting recipes that are included in the end section of the book.

The mystery itself isn’t taken too seriously. It is a component to the whole but the suppositions, the suspicions and the investigation don’t feel like the main course. Indeed, our heroine’s motives for wanting to find the answers to the mystery are vague.

Fans of cozy culinary mysteries, chick lit, and humorous romance will not want to miss the second book in the Gourmet Girl Mystery series, SIMMER DOWN. In fact, after having read this book the idea of looking for the first one and getting Steamed has never sounded so good. Be sure to have some good food and drink at hand because the descriptions of menus and various dishes are mouthwatering.

May 2007