Blog Tour: Death in Nonna’s Kitchen – Alex Coombs

When famous TV chef Matteo McLeish turns up at the Old Forge Café and
offers chef Charlie Hunter a place in his kitchen for the duration of Hampden
Green’s local opera festival, she thinks it’s because he rates her cooking skills. In
fact it’s because he’s heard she’s good in a crisis. The wholesome star of Nonna’s
Kitchen is being blackmailed by one of his team.
Tempted by an improbably large pay cheque and the boost to to her CV, Charlie
accepts his offer. Does the threat lie close to home, or back in Italy with
Matteo’s culinary roots? And can Charlie find the blackmailer before she’s
swept up in an avalanche of death and scandal?

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

My thoughts: this was a fun murder mystery set in the world of quality chefs and restaurants. Matteo McLeish is a TV chef with a well known back story, and a problem. He tells fellow chef, and amateur detective, Charlie Hunter (our protagonist and narrator) that he’s being blackmailed about his wife’s dodgy history, but when the bodies start piling up, it’s clear there’s more going on, and he won’t go to the police.

Charlie is trying to make the most of working with Matteo, but he’s hardly around and for the most part she likes his team, none of them seem to be blackmailer material. She’s starting to suspect something else is going on.

Throw in an enraged female Hell’s Angel, a creepy maitre’d, a handsome ex, a very efficient front of house manager, lots of delicious food and a lot of opera too. This is lots of fun, and really enjoyable. I liked Charlie a lot, I haven’t read book one in this series, but I will do now and eagerly await the next one!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.