The Accidental Alchemist

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian; 350 pages

Zoe Faust is hundreds of years old, having somehow (I'm still a little murky on the details) sort of accidentally used the Elixir of Life for herself rather than someone else she had tried to save. She has Guilt. So she's moved around quite a bit and has landed in Portland, Oregon because she's decided to get back in the business of being an alchemist. Again, I'm not exactly sure why. I'm not trying to be too snarky about this because there were some fun parts to this book, particularly the character of Dorian Robert-Houdin, a gargoyle who has come to life and who is relying on Zoe to save him (he's turning back into stone), due to her past skills as an alchemist. She tries to study more about what could have happened to Dorian in between slugging gallons of different types of reviving teas along with restorative smoothies and then going to a tea shop to drink even more tea. I don't know. It was hard to follow, I'm not going to lie. And she also befriends a 14 year old boy with a neglectful mother who discovers that Dorian is a living gargoyle. And she's also caught up in (and is possibly a suspect for) a couple of murders and she has a major crush on the detective working the case for reasons unknown because there isn't much to his character.

My favorite things about this book really were the scenes with Dorian. His character was delightful. But Zoe's actions and choices were strange. In one scene she bolts from a place in paralyzing but difficult to explain terror, but never bothers to check back on the people in the place who were in some sort of supernatural danger, and just goes about the day, probably after making herself a calming smoothie or cup of tea or both. In a couple of scenes she gives compromised people a concoction of her own making because she evidently knows more than the doctors treating the people and never worries about what her concoctions might do to the person, just worries about getting caught. It was a trial to finish this and I won't continue the series. But hey, you gotta try something new once in a while! And just because I didn't like it doesn't mean there aren't redeeming qualities. It just wasn't my cup of herbal tea. 

Charms and Chocolate Chips

Charms and Chocolate Chips by Bailey Cates                Paperback Book:  393 pages                     

Fun story with a coven of young wiccans,  a few crones, a family bakery and a murder!     There are Druids involved, too, and a scary swamp with a mystical huge cypress tree that just so happens to be growing above leylines.      Throw in a local Wildlife Organization, fundraising and strange accidents occurring to wiccans here and there.    Loved all the familiars which has enticed me to read more of the books by Bailey Cates.    The wiccans are fun characters, too, as are their relatives and love interests.     No one is really who you think they are and the murder suspect list grows throughout.   Not every nice person is nice and not every suspicious one well, come to think of it the suspicious ones remain suspicious.    Good twists and outcomes.    I really liked this story – grab a piece of cake or a few cookies while you are reading it – all the pastries and beverages will make you want to join in.    Gives a lot of touristy info on Savannah, Georgia where the story is set.    Good one.  

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake by Sarah Graves    282 pages

Jake and Ellie have a longstanding friendship, so when they decide to open a chocolate-themed bakery in their small town, they figure it'll be easy. Things are going well, and they've agreed to make several chocolate cherry cheesecakes for an upcoming event. However, their luck changes when retired health inspector Matt Muldoon is found face-down in a pot of melted chocolate.  The fact that Ellie never liked Matt doesn't mean that she killed him; Matt wasn't popular with a lot of people.

However, Ellie doesn't have an alibi for the night of the murder, so Jake is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and find Matt's killer.

This, of course, leads to many adventures for Jake and Ellie, along with a bunch of other characters. I had read a review of this book and thought I'd try it . . . although I think it'll be my last try of a cozy culinary mystery. They're just not my thing.  I read a lot of thrillers and psychological suspense, so I had thought this would be a refreshing read. However, I just never quite warmed up to the characters and I lost interest in the mystery, other than a mild sense of curiosity about who actually killed Matt Muldoon.  I don't think it's the book that's failing; it's just not my kind of book.

Too Many Cooks

Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout, 179 pages

Another book I read to go along with my research on culinary mysteries, this is the first Rex Stout I've ever read. I know many consider him to be one of the best mystery writers to have picked up a pen. This is chosen by some to be the first true culinary mystery.
Nero and his "Watson", Archie, are in West Virginia(?!) for a gathering of some of the best chefs in the world, who will be cooking but will also be exposed to some of the best cuisine America has to offer. Nero will lecture them about America's contributions to fine cuisine. Of course, a chef gets murdered during the activities and Nero is called upon to discover the murderer, much to his reluctance. He just wants to eat and drink.
I found it interesting that the story was told from Archie's perspective, and his descriptions of Nero present him as quite an odd character.
The best line in the book is from Nero, sleep-deprived and hungry,
when he asks Archie, "Do you realize that that fool is going to let that fool make a fool of him again?", referring to one of the chefs getting involved with his adulterous ex-wife again.

            

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, 312 pages  

I'm doing a book talk as a tie-in to our culinary programming this month and it's about culinary mysteries. I hadn't actually read a culinary mystery, though, so I figured that might be a good idea! Joanne Fluke is a prominent author in the culinary mystery world so I picked the first in her Hannah Swensen series. Hannah is in her late 20s, single, and lives with her cat Moishe in a small Minnesota town. She has a bakery/coffee shop called The Cookie Jar. Her brother-in-law is the town deputy sheriff. There's a murder and she discovers the body, with one of her cookies still in the dead man's hand! She vows to help her brother-in-law solve the crime, which will help him get promoted to sheriff. Her cookies play a prominent role in the book, being brought to various functions and being used as bribes to get people to talk to her. There is also a side story happening as Hannah's mother desperately wants her to get married and attempts to set her up with any available man around.

This book is a light, easy read and would definitely be classified as a cozy mystery. The younger age of the female protagonist gave it more appeal, at least to me, than some other cozy series. It's fast paced and you get to know a lot of the characters fairly intimately. It also includes recipes for the 7 types of cookies that are mentioned in the book.