I was drawn to this book by the cover as it looks like (and is) a cozy mystery. It took me a while to work out who everyone was as there is a large cast but it turned out to be an easy holiday read. The action takes place in a cookery school, with the main character being the temporary tutor - an easy touch who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were parts where his lack of assertiveness was frustrating but on the whole, a light, quick read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Masterchef so a cosy crime written by a previous semi finalist was always going to appeal to me.

I really enjoyed this. It’s written in the first person and Paul, the narrator has a fabulous chatty voice. I imagine him a bit like Alan Carr in my head! The story is set in a residential cookery school in Belgravia and I liked the whole posh vibe - it reminded me a bit of Jilly Cooper but without the sex and horses.

The plot was clever and moved along quickly. I enjoyed all the cooking references and recipes scattered throughout - I’m definitely going to try and make thunder and lightning cake one day.

I had absolutely no idea who ‘dunnit’ but I did feel like there were plenty of generous clues given and if I were better at remembering who people were and making a note of things maybe I would have worked this one out.

I generally like my crime a little more dark and gritty and my detectives a bit more flawed which is why this isn’t a five star read for me - I think cosy crime fans will find it a great example of the genre.

A very entertaining, light-hearted story, which certainly kept me turning the pages. The characters are good, and I enjoyed the recipes.

For the most part this was a decent enough read, plenty of red herrings and everyone having a reason to kill the first victim, but it is let down by its ending, In the interest of not giving anything away I won’t say what happens but to me it felt as though at least one chapter was missing.

Chef Paul Delamare's old friend Christian asks him for a favour. Christian has run into some trouble, resulting in a broken arm, and needs Paul—also a professional chef—to take over his stint at the posh cookery school where he works. Paul agrees, but when a murder is revealed at the school, he's pulled into a situation full of all kinds of unexpected danger. Against the background of Belgravia and a colourful lot of cookery students, Paul decides to solve the murder himself.

I love that this book contains actual, usable recipes. They add an element of fun. It's very clear that the writer has a serious background in cookery and knows what he's talking about. I enjoyed learning little tidbits about cooking and baking along with the students.

While I very much enjoyed reading a book with a protagonist in his 40s, Paul starts out relatively blank. He's a chef, he's gay, he's mourning his recently deceased husband. He has a sparkly best friend names Julia he also works with. But his personality doesn't really bloom until much later in the story, which made it hard to engage with him at first. As the story progresses and he starts interacting with the police, his sarcastic humour becomes evident and I began liking him, but it took quite a while.

The same goes for the other characters: they begin as ciphers, cartoonish "types": the posh snob, the purple-haired rebel, the animal-print wearing acidic housewife, etc. Over the course of the story, we learn more about them and they gain depth and complexity and this is clearly a choice made by the writer. We're asked to realise that appearances can be deceiving and there's always more to a person than seems obvious on the surface at first. But for the first half or so of the book, I assumed I was reading something with one-dimensional characters. I persevered, but other readers may not.

I would have liked a lot more visual description, especially of the cookery school building itself. 90% of the story took place within its walls, to the extent that it started to feel a bit claustrophobic, and I was never really able to picture the settings. I would have liked the building to feel more like a vivid characters in the novel.

I was frustrated by not understanding or believing a lot of Paul's choices. Why did he put pasta in his pocket? Why did he take it upon himself to solve the murder when the police were on the job? He was friends with the victim, but not close enough that he'd have a real emotional imperative to spend so much time investigating and interrogating the students. He didn't have enough of a personal stake in seeing the murderer brought to justice until the end. I also didn't buy that he'd not be more persistent in finding out how much he was going to be paid for the job or that he'd just shrug it off when he finally found out.

The prose was fine, if a bit broad and spare. There were some fun characters who eventually became more interesting, and Paul was sympathetic enough by the end, but ultimately the story was forgettable. The eventual solution to they mystery and reveal of the killer was irritating and silly. The killers' motivation wasn't believable and the story behind it didn't feel integrated into the larger themes of the story. After persevering through what didn't feel like an deeply engaging narrative, I was disappointed by the ending.

I like books about chefs which include recipes like this book.

I like the structure of the book being days of the week.

The writing style is easy to read. If you like cozy mystery’s give this a try. It wasn’t a brand new story but I enjoyed myself and would read the next in the series.

This was a fun, cosy mystery set in a cooking school, where a celebrity chef gets killed, and it;s up to Paul, a stand in teacher at the school to work out who did it.

There were a large array of characters from Lady B, the aristocratic student and her daughter HArriet, to Rose the eccentric owner of the school to Julia, Paul's journalist friend.

This was a page turner and there was a lot going on. A great autumn read (or a wet summer afternoon).

When celebrity chef Christian Wagner is unable to teach a cookery course at an exclusive cookery school he persuades his friend, Paul Delamare to step in at the last minute. Just as the course begins Christian's mutilated body is discovered and Paul is the prime suspect.

Knife Skills For Beginners by Orlando Murrin has all the elements for a cosy crime mystery. The setting is an exclusive cookery school in a sprawling house in Belgravia, run by a widow who is struggling financially. The cookery course is residential, run by a TV chef apparently loved by all. The attendees are an eccentric group, each one seems to be hiding a secret.

Christian Wagner, the murder victim, is a charmer, able to easily manipulate people. It's his skill as a manipulator that sees his friend, Paul Delamare, take over the reins at the cookery school. This last-minute replacement isn't popular with the owner of the school or the attendees who are all fans of Christian. We quickly realise that Christian is a little flaky, one of those people whose word needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Christian's murder takes place on the property and the body is discovered by Paul, making him the prime suspect. Keen to prove his innocence, Paul believes one of the students must be responsible and begins to investigate. Each of the students seems to be hiding something, but is it a motive for murder?

Although Paul is a little passive he is a likeable character. He's still coming to terms with the recent death of his partner and is being hounded by the son of his partner. This stalking element adds an extra dimension to the story, I feel that it could have been used to greater effect to stir up more problems for Paul.

The setting is ideal, very English, which adds an "Upstairs, Downstairs" feel to the story. An eclectic group of students studying together and sharing meals gives quite a gossipy feel to the interactions and there are quite a few funny moments. Added to this is the authenticity from the author's background as a chef and food writer.

After an engaging start, the story stuttered a bit in the middle where nothing much happened. Things did pick up again towards the end where we discovered the secrets each individual was hiding and a particularly funny scene in the kitchen.

Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin

I originally picked this book up as the premise seemed so unique and intriguing, that I knew I must read it. Richard Osman meets Masterchef - I mean who wouldn’t be interested in that! I must say, I was not disappointed as this book really delivered on everything it promised.

This book is what you may consider a cosy murder mystery, even if the murder was itself quite gruesome. The plot was incredibly well conceived and the author did a great job at dropping subtle hints throughout the book yet also keeping enough crucial information back so that the reader was kept guessing. This book is packed full of suspense, which meant I flew through it, as I just had to know what happened next. I found the ending, with the big reveal of the murderer, to be enjoyable and, although I had been analysing every movement from every character, I still didn’t know who the perpetrator was until the very end.

The characters were amazing, each having their own unique qualities so that when they were put together in a group setting the personalities blended together in a funny and interesting way. Although this book did contain a lot of characters, I think the author did a great job at writing them all to be completely different and giving them each their own voices, mannerisms etc. This helped distinguish each character from the rest as, with so many characters, the reader can often get lost and feel that they all merge into one, but that was not the case here. Our main character, Paul, was a great choice and I really enjoyed reading this book from his POV. The way he was trying to prove his innocence but instead kept making matters worse for himself had me giggling and I just really enjoyed seeing the drama unfold from his eyes.

The writing style is witty and fast-paced. The author has a really great style of writing which allows the reader to become fully enveloped in the world they are creating and I really liked this. It’s safe to say that if a sequel comes out, or the author chooses to write more books, I will definitely be hopping on the bandwagon.

Overall I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars. I would highly recommend this to fans of The Thursday Murder Club or anyone looking for an enjoyable, light-hearted murder mystery which is packed full of drama and suspense. Thank you to Netgalley and Orlando Murrin for the ARC.

Knife Skills for Beginners is an amusing, cosy mystery from food critic Orlando Murrin.
Our protoganist is Paul Delamare (not Delawere as he frequently reiterates), and he has worked successfully as a chef until a recent bereavement. However, Paul finds himself back in the spotlight when he agrees to teach a basic cookery course to help out a friend.
Teaching a course should be straightforward for Paul but once he meets the rather divisive group that forms his class, he realises that the situation will be more complex than he had expected. And then the murder occurs!
I struggled to warm to the character of Paul but I did enjoy his backstory and the amusing scenes when he tried to be helpful in his interviews. The rest of the characters are a mixed group with minor royalty, an influencer, housewife etc rounding out the cast. And I was taken back by the ending which I had not expected at all.

Brilliant! I really enjoyed this book - great characters, great story. I liked the culinary descriptions and setting made the story a bit different from others out there. I thought the murder mystery was cleverly plotted and I was surprised by the end - but it was believable. Interesting characters and overall good fun.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a book I enjoyed, it felt a little,slow and didn’t feel much for the characters

Celebrity chef Christian asks his friend Paul to step in to help run a posh cookery school, due to Christian having had an accident which resulted in his arm being in plaster. Paul is not keen, but is railroaded into the job, convincing himself that it’s only for a week, what can possibly go wrong?

With apologies to the author, this is not a book for me. So stereotypical with a flamboyant chef, obnoxious rich folk, drippy daughter, etc., and very twee, all been done before.

The ending, when it finally arrived, was very long winded, not a joy to read. Flat and predictable, all very obvious.

I’m sorry for such a negative review for a debut book, I am obviously not the right audience, but was asked to give honest feedback.

Thank you NetGalley.

Ummm I am not sure about this book. I felt it was quite hard to get into but on the other hand I needed to know the ending and as far as that is concerned I did not guess who “did it” which is a good thing. Paul was asked to fill in for a friend (Christian) at a cookery school in Belgravia as he had broken his arm. Paul was not keen on this gig but to help out he decided a week would go quickly. Christian was found dead in his apartment and, of course, under suspicious circumstances. The story then begins albeit slowly. The group are a mixed bunch and I did not take to any of the characters particularly. The week progresses, dramas happen and as I mentioned above I did not guess who committed the crime although the Police are convinced that Paul was their man and had him arrested a couple of times much to his annoyance as he felt that they had found a scapegoat and took their eye off the ball. Eventually the crime is solved by Paul himself – maybe he could have got there quicker. This is a book which will have mixed reviews which will be interesting. I did not dislike the book at all but it is not one of my favourites

This is a very clever murder mystery set in an exclusive London residential cookery school. Celebrity TV chef, Christian the school’s residential chef, has had an accident and is unable to deliver the next course. He calls on an old friend and fellow chef, Paul Delaware, to take his place.

The first day of the course quickly arrives and Paul is introduced to the school’s proprietor, staff and an eclectic group of students. As the characters meet each other there are hints of past secrets and relationships are not quite what they seem. There is murder on the first night and Paul becomes the prime suspect.

As a debut novel it is brilliant. It is engaging from the very first page with twists and turns to bring further interest. The story is interspersed with culinary tips and recipes, which I will definitely try. The characters are developed with great care and attention to detail. The main story centres on the school but there are subplots running in parallel which adds further intrigue. Overall, a very enjoyable read and I would hope that Paul has future adventures.

I had high hopes for this one but alas it wasn’t meant to be.

I like cooking shows and love murder mystery but I don’t think the blend is for me.

I’m still happy I tried it and I can see the appeal this book will have for the intended audience

I enjoyed the cooking tips and recipes but sadly the story didn’t keep my interest. The characters were flat and frankly I didn’t care who killed Christian. There were one or two funny scenes but I found it all too slow and wordy.

I started this book with such excitement, knowing of the author from his BBC Good Food editor days. Sadly I was disappointed. I see some other readers also feel that something is missing either in the characters or the plot.
I hope Orlando didn’t model Paul on himself; because surely that would have been a more interesting character.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley & I am writing a voluntary honest review.

I couldn't wait to read this, it sounded so interesting!

I actually really enjoyed it, I love a good murder mystery and this was a lot of fun!

The story had quite a few twists! Some I guessed and some I did not, the writing was addictive

Oh and the recipes were a lovely added bonus!

I struggled with the amount of characters at times, which did take away from the story a little as I kept having to pause to think about who they were and their relationships with others.


Overall, a decent cosy crime novel that I would recommend to others

There are loads of positives in this new cozy mystery. The setting (contemporary London portrayed with accuracy and delight). The storyline without being totally original is not devoid of interest and, above all, the narrator's voice is from time to time truly funny - it is a pity that the tone is not sustained throughout but I really enjoyed his quirky, self-deprecating yet impatient tone... The actual recipes were a bonus and I am tempted to prepare some of them.
So, here I was quite enjoying this unpretentiously entertaining novel with its variedly successful cast of characters, and believable (of course up to a point!) contemporary setting (all good), when disaster struck... The denouement was a decided letdown - too long and unconvincing in one particular aspect, yet not enough detail in what should have mattered.
All in all not a totally satisfying read although there are clear positive aspects.