Customer Reviews

The Body in the Bonfire (Faith Fairchild Mysteries)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first visit to the world of Catering Capers with Faith Fairchild and I found it very enjoyable. The book opens in the middle of January when no one is in the mood for social affairs, which in turn makes Faith's catering business less than bustling. So she agrees to go undercover (in the guise of teaching a Cooking For Idiots class) at a boys' prep school to investigate some racist attacks against the school's sole African-American student.

Unfortunately, the only thing her class cooks up is theft and multiple murders - one being that of her prime suspect in the racist attack who turns up well done in a school rally bonfire. But we know all the incidents have to be connected someway. And Faith will figure it all out in the end with some surprising results.

Faith is a very likable heroine - her adventures make for fun reading and her recipes at the end of the book are quite tasty. The Smothered Pork Chops were first rate, but her Peanut Butter Cookies couldn't compare to the ones my mother used to make.

This latest installment in this series has a lot going for it. It is centered in a New England boarding school peopled with interesting characters, many of whom the author does a better than usual job of portraying. Our intrepid heroine gets lots of opportunities to be intrepid, including engaging in some conduct that is moderately indefensible (such as wholesale room searches). The plot is a bit on the unconvincing side, given that it depends on the confluence of two (and, depending on how you count, maybe three) entirely independent sets of events.

The editing job on this book is also better than usual, with the exception of a couple of name mistakes. (Thomas Moser cherry furniture is fabulous, but the book unhappily corrupts the name to Thomas Mosher, an entity of whom I have never heard.)

The primary down side to this book is that I bought it in hardback and read it in a couple of hours. I would be happier about spending the money for the hardback if the book had supplied a longer period of absorption.

As I said, not a great book, but a pleasant one.

"The Body in the Bonfire" once again features the indomitable sleuth, Faith Fairchild, minister's wife and suburban Boston caterer by day, Nancy Drew by night.
In this installment, Faith teaches a cooking class at a second or third tier boarding school in her New England town. She has a secret assignment, which is to find out who is sending racial slur messages to the one black student. The school is filled with a cast of colorful characters: a way too preppy good boy/bad boy student, the Russian wife of the headmaster, an intense guru like professor and so on. The plot thickens when someone shows up dead in the school's annual bonfire.
I always enjoy these books. However, I have found-particularly in this one-Hall throws out a lot of cliches. She does not offer much depth in her characters or in her story. For example, most private schools in New England today (even second and third tier ones) have more than one black student (many whose parents pay) as well as a number of Asian, Hispanic and other ethnic and religious minorities. Her depiction of Aleford,the boarding school, does not ring true in the early 00's. In addition, she loves to poke fun at the down-to-earth, Yankee frugality and sensibilities of her neighbors. Yes, her observations were true about 25 years ago. However, most New England towns are filled with a more diverse and sophisticated population in the early 00's than in her books. Finally, while she seems ever so concerned about political correctness throughout the novel vis a vis ethnic and religious minorities, she is beyond condescending to the blue collar female police officer. At the end of the book, Faith offers to help her with her makeup. Please, talk about noblesse oblige.
Still, this book is an enjoyable read. Plus, you get some very good recipes at the end.
I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy cozy mysteries and previous Page books. I wouldn't recommend this book to those who require too much depth in their mysteries (a la Elizabeth George) or books.

Faith Fairchild is asked by her friend Patsy, to teach a course called "Cooking for Idiots" at Mansfield, a local private school. There is an alterior motive, an African American student has been the victim of an anonymous harrassment campaign, that is getting progressively more sinister. The main suspect is an apparently perfect senior named Sloane. Sloane ends up as kindling for the annual bonfire and the harrassed student, Darryl, is the main suspect. Pix is also having problems with her youngest son Danny, and Tom's parents are having marital problems.

I was looking forward to this novel, and was not disappointed. The characters of Aleford are as colorful as usual and Mansfield provides many new ones. The red herrings obscure the solution, adding to the fun.

I borrowed this book from my father who has read most of the Faith Fairchild mysteries. It had a good premise, good character interaction, excellent story line and nice character analysis. The whole book was well written and had some very nice twists that I was not expecting. This is the first Faith Fairchild novel I have read and I am most definitley going to be reading the other ones.

Faith Fairchild, intrepid caterer, mother of two, and wife of a minister, is asked by her friend Patsy to teach a cooking class to a group of boys at the local prep school. The real purpose of her time on campus, however, will be for her to investigate some hateful e-mail and veiled threats again a young African-American student. Faith agrees and is thrust into the middle of campus intrigue and political maneuverings among students and faculty. Just as her investigation begins to bear fruit, Faith is horrified by the death of one of her suspects at the campus bonfire. Another death follows, and Faith has even more of a mystery to untangle. Gradually the guilty parties are identified and the loose ends of the plot are neatly tied up by Page. Added to this are two sub-plots about Faith's in-laws and her neighbor's son, and her cooking tips and recipes included in the book. It all adds up to an entertaining package and one I hearily recommend!

Book was received in pristine condition and on time. Wonderful service from the independent vendor. Will definitely order from this vendor again..

THE BODY IN THE BONFIRE by Katherine Hall Page has Faith Fairchild at loose ends of the catering business in January with no parties in the offering. She takes a job as a cooking teacher to discover who is harassing the school's lone African-American student.
The bonfire of a mid-year project yields the remains of her prime suspect and the students have less to say about the matter than the adults flounder in suspense.
Good read for the series.
Nash Black, author of QUALIFYING LAPS.

I discovered this author this spring when she appeared on a Boston TV station plugging her newest Faith Fairchild mystery, #17 in the series. I had never heard of her and started from the beginning reading what I can find. This is my seventh book.

I enjoy the references to things in small town New England as that is the way it is. I also enjoy the recipes. Smothered pork chops will be made this week and am really tempted to try the fudge cake that was in one book.

This is the first time I've read a detective story where the detective had small children. She always manages to find a sitter whenever she needs one which isn't the way it goes in real life.

I intend to read all of the series as really enjoy the author's style! Have got my sister hooked on this author, too!

This was my first Fath Fairchild, and I wasn't very sure about it. But after finishing the book and looking back upon it I found it quite enjoyable, and look forward to reading the entire series, hopefully before the newest comes out! If you love food, mystery, and intellectual women, then you've got to Have Faith!!