Customer Reviews

Immaculate Reception: A Madeline Bean Catering Mystery (Madeline Bean Mysteries)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title of this book caught my eye and I am glad it did. This is a fun, engaging mystery that involves a wonderful main character, Madeline Bean, and her friends. Madeline has been asked by her long ago former boyfriend, now a priest, to handle the catering for the Pope's upcoming visit to Los Angeles. As if that's not enough... she is also dealing with a on-off boyfriend, a murder of a priest at her sometime boyfriend's TV show set and a very interesting police detective who is interested in Madeline.

It is a well written story, one that you are sure to enjoy. I finished it and went looking for the others in this series. I hope to follow Ms. Bean's adventures for a long time. They are most fun.

What do you get when you toss in the Pope, two Jesuits and Mad Bean Catering? A fun, sophisticated and well-written second mystery from the author of SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. Maddy and friends are back and this time they tangle with priests, murders and mayhem as they organize the catering event of their lives - for the Pope. If you like contemporary mysteries and haven't discovered Jerrilyn Farmer - hurry up and buy her books!

For the past few months, the life of former Hollywood Caterer Madeline Bean has stayed quiet. Since selling her business, Madeline has opened up a new one, "Mad Bean Events". Jesuit Brother Xavier Jones provides Maddie with her first assignment, serving breakfast to the people of Los Angeles honoring the Pope. Maddie loved Xavier, but bears the mental scars of her feelings because he chose a different path.

The catering goes smooth, but other events make Maddie realize that something sinister is occurring. A document from the time of the rise of the Nazis appears to have become the catalyst for the killing of two clerics whom she just met. Maddie places herself in danger by investigating the homicides.

Jerrilyn Farmer proves she is no one-hit wonder (see the superb SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL) with her second Madeline Bean amateur detective tale, IMMACULATE RECEPTION, which has nothing to do with the catch. The protagonist is an everyday person, struggling to make a good life for herself. The who-done-it is entertaining and enhanced by learning why Maddie keeps males at arm's length. Fans of amateur sleuth stories will enjoy reading this novel and its prequel.

Harriet Klausner

I was afraid I wouldn't like this book from the back synopsis. But, after a friend encouraged me to try it, I'm glad I did! The story was very different from the first book of the series but equally engaging. Ms. Farmer is very knowledgeable about her subject matter and the story is very, very fascinating as well as believeable! Thanks, Ms. Farmer, for a great read!

I liked the first Madeline Bean mystery, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL, very much. The second is even better. I especially liked how Madeline's past and present, and personal and professional lives intersect in intriguing and sometimes very funny ways.

Madeline operates a catering/party planning business with her friends Wes and Holly. Each is a distinct, likeable, fun character and they play off each other delightfully. Their witty banter is great.

Madeline's company is responsible for throwing a massive breakfast in honor of the Pope's visit to Los Angeles. In SYMPATHY, Madeline threw a big party at the beginning; the rest of the book spirals off from a murder there. In a nice for-a-change twist, IMMACULATE RECEPTION's story builds up to the Pope's Breakfast, which occurs during the last part of the book.

Leading up to the Pope's arrival in L.A., Madeline confronts some unusual problems. She's on a Hollywood TV show set with a young Jesuit brother and minutes later, the brother is found murdered...in the star's trailer...in her bed. The flighty star doesn't shed as much light as she does clothes -- she's naked at the time.

Meanwhile, Madeline's borrowed a very old Jesuit recipe book, which just happens to contain part of an apparent murder confession. But who wrote it? And when? Madeline delves into church history for answers to those questions.

Rare is the mystery that lets you learn so much interesting info about both the history of the Catholic Church *and* showbiz. The mystery plots themselves are nicely twisty and unpredictible, but never at the expense of the characters. Even the minor characters are well fleshed-out -- from a lesbian rock singer, to the elderly sister of a Jesuit Monsignor. There are also some nifty comic scenes and funny lines.

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL is also a great book, but IMMACULATE RECEPTION is a little smoother, and it more deeply explores Madeline's emotional baggage. I liked the way questions were raised about Madeline's romantic life/history without pat answers being given. I should also mention that although Madeline is developing as a character, I think it's fine to read this book first, and then read SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL afterward. Some events from SYMPATHY are alluded to in IMMACULATE, but too much is not given away. This helps make IMMACULATE a great gift for people with a sense of humor -- you can introduce others to a terrific series without "spoiling" the first book.

I wish every book I read was as entertaining and well-written as IMMACULATE RECEPTION!

Madeline Bean has just been given the event of the year to cater - the official Los Angeles welcome breakfast for the Pope's visit. Still, this is the least of her worries. First, she's struggling with her feelings for ex-fiancé Xavier Jones who left her to become a Jesuit Brother. Then there's the old letter she finds that seems to be a confession to murder. But who's confessing, when, and why? Then a priest, a friend of Xavier's, is murdered in a TV star's trailer, and things really start to heat up. Madeline is going to have to dig up some old secrets to figure this out before the Pope must cancel his visit to LA.

This is a thoroughly entertaining read from start to finish. The characters are charming and easy to like. The plot flows well with just the right mix of mystery and humor culminating in a perfectly logical and surprising ending.

I can't recommend this series highly enough. Start with the first, Sympathy for the Devil. You will enjoy this entertaining mystery series immensely.

This is the second of the Madeline Bean Culinary Mystery series, and this one is just as engaging as the first. Madeline and her colleagues have been slated to prepare a 2000-person breakfast for the pontiff, but they are nothing if not ambitious, managing to take on a murderer, an exhibitionist star, a parchment that may be a confession to murder, and even go out on the town a few times! The characters are very entertaining -- problem-solving Madeline, her omniscient partner Wes, their goofy employee Holly and her Donald (who has just written a successful screenplay), and Maddie's part-time beau Arlo. There is a lot of activity here, a bit of Hollywood name-dropping, colorful portraits of the star lifestyle we love to ridicule, and even a decent mystery. Do yourself a favor and check out this delightful series by talented author Jerrilyn Farmer.

When I see 5 stars for a book like this, I always wonder if the author's friends and family have taken to writing reviews!! I loved the first book in this series -- this second one left me feeling a little like I wasted the time reading it. To start, the editing was really awful (this is not something you notice unless it is not well done!). There were times you weren't sure if she was talking in the present or past. There were meetings she had with people that lasted two pages and took an hour an and half according to the main character -- yet, and this was the biggest disappointment -- the denouement lasted over 30 pages (granted on a Kindle but small type). This was after the main character requested police back-up and they were already on the same premises. That would take minutes, yet for thirty pages the suspect yammered on and on. I suspect it was because the "mystery" was SO convoluted. It was as though the author was determined to write a Nazi-related mystery, even if it didn't fit in with the kind of series this is. On the plus side, I liked the development of the main character, especially relating to the handsome detective and to the changes in her business. I'll try another one and hope for a book more like the first.

After an unexpected windfall at the end of the first book in the series, Madeline Bean and her partners have branched out from catering to complete event management. With the reappearance of Madeline's old flame, now a Jesuit brother, they have the ultimate plum assignment: catering breakfast for the Pope and 2000 of LA's movers and shakers. A mysterious note found tucked into an old cookbook, the inexplicable murders of first one and then another seemingly unconnected members of the clergy, and threats of bodily harm all distract Madeline from the business at hand, however. The deeper she delves into these troubling events, the more sinister the secrets become.

Once again, this second installment in the series is outstanding. The writing is brisk and sharp, and laced with humor. The characters are well-developed and quirky. The heroine is bright, determined, spunky and funny, and the added information about her history is interesting and well-handled by the author. There is a good sense of place; perhaps the geography is a bit less developed than in the first book, but the culture of Hollywood is almost another character here.

So why only 4 stars? There is one major, blatant clue in the first murder that Madeline overlooks, and even later when it occurs to her she neglects to give it the consideration and attention it obviously merits. The progression through Maddy's investigation to the ultimate solution is just slightly and vaguely less satisfying than in the previous book. Ultimately, the balance here has tipped from the mystery to the personalities involved. Nevertheless, it is overall an engaging book, well written and well worth reading.

Continuing with my Madeline Bean theme of late, I read Jerrilyn Farmer's second book Immaculate Reception. This was an excellent follow-up to her first installment with Madeline Bean...

Now that Mad Bean Events has recovered from the poisoning episode of book #1 and have all the money they'd ever need, there's more of a focus on creating events instead of just catering. And they've hit the big time with their first event... they've been asked to do breakfast for 2000 people and the Pope. While there's no problem setting up the event, there are some major issues surrounding it. Brother Xavier, who is doing preparation for the event, was at one time engaged to Madeline before leaving her for his religion. While doing some planning, they find part of a letter in an old cookbook that points to a murder confession involving the Catholic church. The deeper they dig, the more the story points to a major cover-up of an event that happened during World War 2. And when a fellow Brother of Xavier is murdered and Mad is threatened, the breakfast event might just be their last.

As usual, Farmer does a great job with her writing. You find out more about Madeline's background, as well as why her relationships are what they are. 20/20 hindsight (reading this book after some of the later ones), you also get the stage set for some of the material that shows up later. Wes is still somewhat of a mystery, but you get a bit more clarification of his personality here. And I'm impressed how Farmer was able to weave a bit of historical fiction into the storyline.

Great job, and another great read...