A Healthy Place to Die: A Gourmet Detective Mystery [Hardcover]

Peter King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

How could any self-respecting gourmet turn down a few weeks in a luxurious Swiss health spa?After all, this is no dieter`s boot camp, but an exclusive hideaway for weary elites seeking a few stolen moments for relaxation, self-indulgence-and maybe a slight reduction in their fat intakes.And who`d ever believe that a healthy meal could sound so appetizing?Zuger Kirschtorte: a rich, saffron-colored cake soaked in cherry schnapps? Duck with sliced prosciutto, wild rice, dried apricots, pistachio nuts?When not gorging themselves, guilt-free, the exclusive spa`s wealthy patrons lounge in soothing mud baths and splash around in natural springs.No aficionado of the Good Life can pass up an opportunity like this.And few boast a better understanding of good living than the world-famous Gourmet Detective.When he`s needed to fill in for a friend-sampling and evaluating the spa`s rich delicacies-the discerning sleuth can hardly say no.Every one of his assignments, consulting on menus for the world`s premiere restauranteurs, seems to end up with someone dead and someone else trying to kill him.But here, at last, is a chance to relax in the very lap of luxury.Or so the Gourmet Detective thinks...When he arrives at the resort`s seaweed massage room for a rendezvous with one of the many attractive, leggy, blonde staff members, he finds her passed out from the heat.As he reaches for her pulse, someone bludgeons him from behind.While he`s unconscious, her body disappears, along with any hope of a peaceful vacation. Then two more women-both editors at lifestyle magazines-go missing.And a lawyer shows up to inquire about the stories they were writing.The Gourmet Detective suspects they had uncovered more than the tastiest recipes.Now, as a menu specializing in relaxation turns into a recipe for disaster, the Gourmet Detective may have to sniff out a killer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An intriguing element of the Gourmet Detective series (Spiced to Death, etc.) is the identity of the otherwise nameless sleuth. In this fifth feast of a food mystery, he agrees to fill in for his colleague, Carver Armitage, at the sumptuous Swiss Alpine Springs Spa, where he will demonstrate the preparation of a variety of exotic dishes, including duck, lobster and cheesecake. The night of his arrival, however, a planned tryst with a food columnist, Kathleen Evans, goes awry. Just as he's about to embrace her naked body, someone knocks him out. When he revives, Kathleen is gone. Things begin to look even more suspicious when the detective is almost simmered in a mud bath. Has he been mistaken for Armitage, or is someone out for the detective's hide? His own sous-detective may have arrived in the form of Elaine Dunbar, a young attorney collecting information on the use of food in crime. When the Gourmet Detective arranges a rendezvous with Elaine, he again loses consciousness and once more the woman is later not to be found. These disappearances, combined with the secrecy surrounding Elaine and the spa kitchens, indicate that all may not be so healthy at the spa. Action and suspense are ingredients used sparingly by King, but he positively stuffs the book with useful tips on food and cookery techniques. While the author provides no specific recipes, thought for food and food for thought are abundant. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"This appealing detective serves up nuggets of culinary trivia and wry foodie humor."--People

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312242697
• ISBN-13: 978-0312242695
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,855,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another unsavory mystery by Mr. King, July 4, 2001

By 

Karina A. Suarez "Karina A. Fogliani-Ahmed" (Walt Disney World, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Healthy Place to Die (Gourmet Detective Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Reading this book is like reading a transcript from a cooking conference. It might just as well be, since this time our flat Gourmet Detective (a.k.a. The Unnamed One) takes the place of an absent friend at a Swiss spa to teach culinary secrets in a conference that lasts a week (too long). This novel develops really slow, and it only picks up the pace of a mystery in the last four chapters. Unluckily for us readers, the book comprises thirty two of them.

I found this novel in particular the one which has the most flat, underdeveloped characters of this whole series. Nothing means anything. Sure, if you read it as a cookbook or as a compilation of suggestions from a very good chef, it is an interesting piece of advice; even witty. However, this book claims to be a mystery story; and a good mystery story must have an identifiable plot, which has to be twisted and interesting at the same time. Well, I cannot really identify a good plot here.

I can certainly tell that Mr. King has travelled extensively throughout Europe and certainly knows a lot of the idiosyncrases of the different nationalities. He is also a very good expert in his field, which is that of cooking methods, ingredients, rare foods and all the other qualities that make an excellent chef. He is not, however, a good writer. Unfortunately this last part is what it takes to produce a good fiction story, be it a mystery or any other genre.

5.0 out of 5 stars Always Fun!, May 28, 2009

By 

Book Lover (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Healthy Place to Die (Gourmet Detective Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Peter King's Gourmet Detective series is always entertaining and a very enjoyable read. Have read them all the thoroughly enjoy his character.
I would highly recommend trying his mysteries.