Murder on the Menu by Alex Coombes

 Murder on the Menu

 by Alex Coombes


Murder on the Menu by Alex Coombes was published on 7th December 2023 by No Exit Press.
My thanks to the author and the publisher for sending me a copy to review and to 
Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour.




Overview


Chef Charlie Hunter’s arrival in the beautiful Chilterns is the fulfilment of a long-held dream: to open her own restaurant in an idyllic countryside location. The Old Forge sits on the village green (complete with duck pond and flint-faced houses) and seems just the place for the high-quality cooking she wants to be known for. But instead of rural peace and a chance to lick her wounds, Charlie finds something ugly stirring under the chocolate box perfection. When a prominent local builder is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Charlie the outsider becomes a suspect. And the only way to clear her name seems to be to find out who the real killer is. Luckily she has allies: her student waitress, a kitchen porter making up in muscles what he lacks in brain and a briskly efficient clairvoyant. Using all the craft Charlie’s learned in kitchens – discipline, timing, preparation and grim determination – she will be as relentless in her quest to bring a murderer to justice as she is in creating the perfect meal.




My Review

This is a light- hearted , very unbelievable cosy murder mystery that makes Midsomer Murders look realistic.

You really need to take a very tongue in cheek approach to the plot and its characters whilst relaxing on a cold winter's evening snuggled up somewhere warm.

Alex introduces the characters at intervals throughout the storyline, a lot of whom appear to have a hatred towards Charlie for no apparent reason , other than that she is a newcomer !!!.

For me the storyline was actually missing some normal people to ground it and I have to be honest I guessed who the instigator behind it all was from the moment Charlie came across them so consequently it didn't keep me hooked waiting to find out the ending.

However, if you like a cosy murder mystery that will keep you occupied for a few hours then this will meet the criteria.


About the Author



Alex Coombs was born in Lambeth in South London and studied Arabic at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities. Murder on the Menu is the first in a new series: the Old Forge Café Mysteries. Alex lives in the Chilterns. 

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