From Publishers Weekly
Mary Ryan, feisty pastry chef at American Fare, a trendy San Francisco restaurant, finds murder on the menu in Johnson's delicious debut, which mixes an unglamorized, behind-the-scenes view of the upscale restaurant trade with a plot replete with well-timed shocks. Horrified to discover the battered body of one of her El Salvadoran employees stuffed in a laundry bag on arriving for work early one morning, Mary debates whether to call her ex-husband, Jim, a homicide detective with SFPD. As it turns out, Jim's former partner, Inspector O'Connor, takes on the case. Lonely and emotionally fragile in the wake of Jim's leaving her, Mary comes to rely on the tough, bullying O'Connor, whose job is on the line, as more than just a friend, while innate curiosity and love of justice propel her to investigate the crime and into grave danger. The down-to-earth Mary, with her keen sense of humor, casts a sharp eye on the novel's flashier characters: American Fare's showman of an owner, an egotistical chef, the suave maitre 'd in charge of the wine, the designer-clad, social-climbing manager. Assorted wives and mistresses, immigrants and a high-profile lawyer fill out the bill of fare. The restaurant business-its food, financing and philosophy-is here in all its complexity for discriminating mystery palates.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"...a delicious culinary mystery that shouldn't be eaten on an empty stomach because the food descriptions will make the reader ravenously hungry. Despite being upset about her divorce, the audience will take the heroine into their hearts because she is really vulnerable and in "kneed" of kindness....Claire M. Johnson shows a lot of writing talent as she bakes a mystery epicure's delight." -Harriet Klausner
"Claire M. Johnson’s Beat Until Stiff deserves enthusiastic mention as a very special title which offers an unusually frank view of the cooking and restaurant scene in San Francisco. Herself a professional and experienced pastry chef, Claire Johnson presents the reader with a lively style that mixes autobiography with culinary and social insights. Highly recommended!" -Midwest Book Review
“Beat Until Stiff is a wonderful debut novel. Claire M. Johnson’s prose is original, crisp—Tupperware fresh.” —Crimestalker Casebook
“Mary Ryan, pastry chef in a celebrity San Francisco restaurant, finds the body of an employee. Meg has spent most of her life at the American Fare since her divorce. When she steps on a laundry bag holding a body, she begins investigating the celebrity restaurant business. The celebrity chef and owner of American Fare is found dead, and Mary finds herself a suspect.
You’ll love the lore of the restaurant business. But even more the excellent rendering of a young woman devastated when her husband leaves her for another woman.” –The Snooper
Two Poisoned Pen Press books recently made the Book Sense Mystery Top Ten list. Betty Webb’s Desert Wives (2003, $2495) features Utah P.I. Lena Jones in a search for the killer of polygamist Prophet Solomon Royal. Jones discovers secrets from her own past when she infiltrates the Prophet’s desert compound. Clarie M. Johnson won the 1999 Malice Domestic Writer’s Grant for Beat Until Stiff (2003, $24.95). Pastry chef Mary Ryan finds a dead body in the pantry of a California restaurant. While cooperating with her ex-husband’s policeman partner in the investigation, she discovers a link between the murder and forged wine receipts. Although Lena Jones is certainly the more troubled of the two protagonist, Webb’s character bears a strikingly similarity to Johnson’s Mary Ryan. Both are emotionally scarred women who rise above past traumas to confront uncertain futures. Desert Wives and Beat Until Stiff are excellent character driven novels, but they also feature tightly scripted plots that are sure to please fans of a good puzzle.
--Mystery Scene
"BEAT UNTIL STIFF is a delicious culinary mystery that shouldn't be eaten on an empty stomach because the food descriptions will make the reader ravenously hungry....Claire M. Johnson shows a lot of writing talent as she bakes a mystery epicure's delight."--Harriet Klausner
"Mary Ryan, feisty pastry chef at American Fare, a trendy San Francisco restaurant, finds murder on the menu in Johnson's delicious debut, which mixes an unglamorized, behind-the-scenes view of the upscale restaurant trade with a plot replete with well-timed shocks. Horrified to discover the battered body of one of her El Salvadoran employees stuffed in a laundry bag on arriving for work early one morning, Mary debates whether to call her ex-husband, Jim, a homicide detective with SFPD. As it turns out, Jim's former partner, Inspector O'Connor, takes on the case. Lonely and emotionally fragile in the wake of Jim's leaving her, Mary comes to rely on the tough, bullying O'Connor, whose job is on the line, as more than just a friend, while innate curiosity and love of justice propel her to investigate the crime and into grave danger. The down-to-earth Mary, with her keen sense of humor, casts a sharp eye on the novel's flashier characters: American Fare's showman of an owner, an egotistical chef, the suave maitre 'd in charge of the wine, the designer-clad, social-climbing manager. Assorted wives and mistresses, immigrants and a high-profile lawyer fill out the bill of fare. The restaurant business--its food, financing and philosophy--is here in all its complexity for discriminating mystery palates."--Publishers Weekly
