French Fried (Culinary Mysteries with Recipes, No. 10) [Mass Market Paperback]

Nancy Fairbanks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2006

Dip into the bestselling Culinary mystery series.

Carolyn Blue and her husband Jason are in Paris for his lecture tour-and she plans to enjoy the city's culinary delights. But delight turns deadly when a poisonous recipe appears on the local menus.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A confident and witty detective. -- Earlene Fowler

A wonderful addition to the ranks of amateur detectives. -- El Paso Times

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (December 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425213080
• ISBN-13: 978-0425213087
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,133,466 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deceptive Title Doesn't Mar Delightful Mystery, October 9, 2010

By 

Patricia A. Rockwell "Author of "Sounds o... (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: French Fried (Culinary Mysteries with Recipes, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

Yes, food critic Carolyn Blue and her academic husband Jason are in France for a chemical conference (how exciting!). Their hosts (more academics) are determined to make the conference a pleasant and educational experience for them both and see to it that Carolyn is entertained while Jason is presenting papers. Nothing, however, can keep Carolyn from forgetting her welcome to her hotel room--a dead man sprawled across her bed. Turns out, said man had succumbed to poisoned pate left (obviously) for Carolyn and her husband. Who could want the couple dead? Carolyn decides to investigate--between sampling local cuisine, staying out of the hospital, keeping her husband out of the clutches of a flirtatious graduate student, and avoiding being attached by various pet pooches. There's a lot to like in this book, and a lot of humor--primarily from Carolyn's various accidents which land her in French hospitals unable to express her needs to non-English speaking nurses. The ending seems a little tacked on, just to accomplish the title, but it didn't prevent me from enjoying Carolyn's adventure.

Patricia Rockwell
author--"Sounds of Murder"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars annoying and error-filled, November 24, 2008

By 

D. K. Stokes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: French Fried (Culinary Mysteries with Recipes, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is, if I'm not mistaken, the 9th mystery featuring culinary writer Carolyn Blue. I've read 4 others. I'll recap my objections to the series as a whole: 1) I really don't like mysteries with gimmicks. These seem like the story is secondary to the recipes. 2) More than one first-person voice (in this case, three of them), and they all sound identical.

This time, Carolyn and her husband Jason are in France so he can attend a chemistry conference. When they arrive, Jason heads off to the university while Carolyn checks into their room, only to find a man dying on their bed after eating a gift of pate that had been left for them.

A series of near-misses occur, and it becomes obvious to Carolyn, at least, that someone is trying to kill her or Jason or both of them. The mystery worked fairly well, with enough clues so that the solution didn't come out of left field, but not so many that it was obvious from the beginning.

However, the Blues, Carolyn in particular, got on my last nerve. Part of that might be attributed to the inaccuracy of French details.

At one point, for example, Carolyn exchanges dollars for French franc at the hotel. This book was released in 2006. They've been using the Euro in France since 2000.

And Carolyn cannot figure out the traffic lights, so she jaywalks. Traffic lights are pretty well universal. The pedestrian light looks exactly the same in France as it does in the U.S. It made Carolyn look like a moron.

Mostly, though, she's a caricature of the obnoxious American tourist, complaining about everything that's not identical to her hometown--something that I admit is one of my personal hot buttons.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Annoying Heroine, May 28, 2007

By 

BookFan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: French Fried (Culinary Mysteries with Recipes, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

While French Fried has its moments (and if you love animals, you will enjoy those moments), I found Ms. Blue to be an annoying, often whiny, little twit who sees a different suspect around every corner. As a matter of fact, most of the characters are annoying. Her husband is dense, and except for one or two acquaintances, the rest are supercilious. The included recipes are very French and I'm sure, if one had the time to prepare them, very delicious.