This book was okay, the writing was fine and i found it an easy read but i can't say it really blew me away. The characters felt a little flat and could have been more developed. I didn't appreciate the hinting at certain characters still to make an appearance and feel like they could've been omitted to develop the actual characters present in the story. This would be fine for a beach read as it's quick, does what it says on the tin, easy to read and doesn't leave a strong impression after you finish.

A good read, easy and a clever cozy mystery. It was unusual but very readable. Murder and cooking a funny combination. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A food centric cozy mystery with a likable MC and a solid plot that kept me interested to the end.

I did feel the story suffered by a large cast of underdeveloped characters which meant I was always questioning who our narrator was talking about.

The plus side for all those characters meant there was plenty of plot twists throughout the story and overall, a fun easy read.

I fell for the title of this book and I’m very happy I did because it made me laugh out loud sometimes. When Paul, still grieving after the loss of his husband and therefore not in a steady job, somehow ends up taking over a cookery class from his old friend Christian, you know you’re in for some surprises.
And yes, there are surprises galore! The cookery class takes place in a grand old mansion in a posh part of London but sadly it transpires the owner of the school is desperate for money. She charges and arm and a leg from mainly rich people who have not so much interest in learning how to cook fancy food, as being able to say they went to this expensive course. All characters are rather quirky, not to say quite strange but Paul tries to give them a good experience and actually teaches them something.
After a dead body is found on the premises, the whole story changes. The owner of the school and the students insist Paul stays to finish the course – after all, they are staying in the mansion during the whole course too. And so he does.
This was a very skilfully written story, with lots of surprises and engaging characters. I think it would be a good book to make a film out of (Netflix, pay attention please!). And of course, the recipes woven in between the story look all very enticing.
I hope we may soon see a second book in this series!
Thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for this review copy.

When Chef Paul Delamare is asked by his friend Christian to stand in for him at a cookery school course Paul is not keen, but money is tight & Christian is an old friend & won't be able to take the course with his arm in plaster, so he reluctantly agrees. Paul knows he's going to struggle a bit. Christian is, after all a famous TV chef & those on the course would be expecting him. However the pay is good. Next day when there is no sign of Christian , Paul goes to his flat & finds him dead- & being first on the scene cast suspicion on him. Paul now has more worries than discontented would-be cooks!

I do not watch TV cooking shows & must admit that I'd never heard of Orlando Murrin. However he wrote a very entertaining cosy mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed (I skipped the recipes- enjoyed working out the emojis!) I do hope we meet again. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. After two disappointing reads, this was a breath of fresh air!

A fun, but at times grisly, culinary murder mystery that had me gripped and hungry throughout. I loved our main character who was arm twisted into helping out at a culinary school for a week only to find himself embroiled in a murder with a house full of suspects and some heavy personal issues too.

The characterisations were brilliant and I didn't have a clue who the killer was. The recipes scattered throughout the story were brilliant too.

I can't wait to get back to this series when book 2 is published.

The cover and title of the book was very tempting and promised of a new cozy crime series, of which I feel there can never be too many in such a great genre.

Paul is a talented chef who has withdrawn from the world of cooking and in general after the loss of his beloved husband. Tempted out by old friend and fellow chef, Christian, Paul agrees to host a culinary school class when Christian has broken an arm. When Paul arrives he finds more than he was expecting, none more shocking than the body of his old friend and a class determined to carry on cheffing!

Well written and great for the debut novel by this talented chef. Interspersed with some delicious looking recipes and tips for home cooks, this is sure to be the start of a much loved series.
I found that I enjoyed the inner monologue of Paul and his musings trying to solve the murder and enjoyed the cast of characters in the cooking school immensely.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

An entertaining story that keeps the reader engaged throughout. There are plenty of clues but also plenty of suspects when a celebrity chef is murdered.
The characters are well drawn and the pace of the book is good and doesn’t falter.
A good read that I would happily recommend to my friends.

Good food and a gory murder - what more could you want in this cosy murder mystery! When a close friend of Paul Delamare asks him to help out at a Belgravia cookery school after he has had an ‘accident’ little does Paul know what he’s letting himself in for. In the frame for the murder Paul needs to prove his innocence and he needs to find the culprit quickly before there are other victims. This novel was a quick fun read which kept me guessing until the end. Not many of the characters were likable, but there is a murderer on the loose. I would definitely pick up another book by this author but a cookery school. I’m not sure. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the AOC of this novel in return for an honest review.

First of all a big thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

I was so excited to start this book. The blurb and the fact that this is set in a culinary school made me want to jump into this.

I’m not sure why but I just couldn’t get into this. I didn’t enjoy the characters or the plot.

I’m torn with this one. For the longest time - a good 75% of the book in fact - it was a really enjoyable, twisty turny cosy mystery. And then it’s like a switch flipped, and it all went a bit preposterous. Paul roaming around the house in the middle of the night, and someone leaving their bedroom door open (who would do that, in what is effectively a boutique hotel?) so he can then rifle through their handbag for clues. Or the student who admits playing footsie under the table with what seems like half the guests. And as for the big finale show down… it was wham bam no thank you ma’am, done and dusted in a few pages.

I agree with other people’s comments about Paul’s slightly off putting highbrow way of speaking/writing, and Julie’s annoying emojis in texts (I gave up even trying to decipher them - they were minute on my phone’s Kindle app, and the message got explained by Paul anyway… all this served was to pull me out of the story each time). And what was with the dangling of Jonny as the big bad stepson, that fizzled out?

The first 75% was a fairly solid 4 stars, and a meritable debut by the author. The last 25% really let it down for me, sadly. I do hope there are more books to come though, and would definitely give the next one a go.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

soo i had been looking to get into reading more cosy murder mysteries after thoroughly enjoying vera wong's unsolicited advice for murderers, so when i came across this book on NetGalley i decided to give it a go. unfortunately, i had given this a few short reading sessions, each time losing interest fairly quickly until one day i realised my access through NetGalley had expired. which in honesty, i wasn't too mad about as it took the burden of finishing it off of me.

the book wasn't awful but even by the time the actual murder had occurred, it had done nothing to grip me. all the characters were very bland, including the main character, and the writing was such that you could definitely tell it was written by (and probably for) an older adult. even though i read a lot of young adult literature, i love a good adult story, however this one felt quite inaccessible to me (being in my mid-20s) and out of touch (especially the character who communicated almost exclusively using emojis...)

although i could definitely tell it wasn't for me, i will leave it unrated as it's probably unfair to give a rating based on approx. 70 pages (for NetGalley requirements i have given it 2*. massive thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this one, I loved the food talk and the POV from a kitchen as a chef, it was intense and a rollercoaster at times and it had me gripped and couldnt wait to find out what happened and who the killer was.

Thanks to netgalley and the Author for an advanced copy

3 stars

A good cozy crime mystery featuring chef, Paul Delamare helping his friend out at a cookery school and turning sleuth when his friend is found dead shortly after. A mixture of mystery, cooking, recipes and fun. Lovely to read.

Paul Delamare has lived a fairly retiring life since the death of his partner. He has a lifetime lease on a lovely cottage in Belgravia but little else apart from a vengeful stepson. When an old friend, the celebrity chaf Christian Wagner, asks him to run a week's cookery school as a favour Paul is railroaded into agreeing. However on the first night Christian is murdered and Paul is suddenly suspect number one - can he solve the crime before he is locked away?
This is a debut novel by an acclaimed food writer and it fits neatly into a fairly cosy crime setting. The plot is fairly obvious and the characters rather cliched but it works. There is a love of the finer things in life running through the novel (wine, perfume, watches etc) as well as a couple of recipes and the mix makes a quick and quite fun read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Part whodunnit, part cookery book. Really enjoyed this and might even try out a few of of the recipes.

The problem I encountered with reading this book was that the characters stayed very much two dimensional and I just didn't care what happened to any of them throughout the story. None of them were rounded/fleshed out that much to create people that could mater in any way. We were given brief descriptions of who/what they are and then their reactions to the events but little more which I found rather disappointing and made the read, at times, a bit of a slog.
However, that being said, it was an interesting story and even with the character issues and that I did guess our villain before half way, it was entertaining to a degree. It was also interesting learning why the person I suspected was the guilty party did what they did.
A particularly nice bit about this book was the inclusion of some of the recipes from the class.

This debut novel is a cosy murder mystery set around a cookery school in London. As you would expect from a master chef semi-finalist and food editor, the cookery detail (and included recipes) are a major feature of the story. There’s a diverse cast of possible murderers in the guise of the students and staff and the plot twists and turns throughout. There’s plenty of red herrings scattered throughout the real details leaving you guessing whodunnit.
Paul Delamare is asked to cover the tutoring of cookery students at an exclusive london residential school, when his old friend, the famous Christian, breaks his arm and can no longer cook. When Christian is found dead the day after, his head lopped off with a cleaver, Paul is looking like a likely suspect.
At times the overly complex and slightly pompous phrases that Paul uses and Julie’s emoji speak detracted a bit from the story, but I’m sure they were carefully considered character quirks.
I enjoyed the story, which had me guessing almost to the end, even though I’d spotted a lot of the clues as to the culprit. I’ve given it 4.5/5 and I’d be more than happy to read any follow up stories. Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC in return for an honest review.

I really liked this. I was hoping it would be good and fun, and it actually exceeded my expectations. And a lot of that is because Paul is a much more interesting character than you expect from the blurb so it makes a change from the usual cozy-crime sleuths. The murder mystery is also good and plenty twisty enough for me. I really liked the recipes too - i know a lot of American mysteries have recipes but they're never ones I actually want to cook, but with these ones I did think "oh that sounds nice". I hope there is a sequel - there was certainly enough left hanging when it comes to Paul's life to sustain another book with him at the centre...

It took me a little while to get into this one and to begin with I got confused thinking it was going to be similar to the TV show The Bear, but it quickly turned into a murder mystery. It was really good cosy mystery and the knowledge of the author about cooking is obvious and I really enjoyed the food and drink descriptions.

There were a lot of suspects which helped keep the reveal for longer but also meant that there were a lot of characters not fleshed out.

Overall I really liked it and look forward to reading more by the author.