Customer Reviews

Killer Mousse (Wheeler Large Print Cozy Mystery)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book and meant to save it for the weekend, but I started it and couldn't stop reading. It's a good mystery, but I liked the characters even more, especially the central one, Della Carmichael. I related to her problems. Also, her reactions to things that happened in the story seemed real, not "fiction-fake." Briefly: Della runs a cooking school in Santa Monica, California, but she's in debt. When she's hired to be on a cable TV cooking show, she thinks her bad luck has changed. Then somebody dies during her first TV show. Last night I made one of the recipes in the back, "Funeral Salad." Delicious. (Like this book.)

This is the first book in a new series about Della Carmichael, owner of a Cooking School and the new TV cooking star of the Better Living Channel.
Her first live program ends suddenly when the former Cooking Diva of the Better Living Channel dies after taste testing Della's Chocolate Mousse.
Della then has to try and prove her innocence and along the way expose
some secrets about the others at the Better Living Channel.

I enjoyed Killer Mousse and can't wait for the next book in the series.
Did anyone else catch the connection between this book and the first book in this author's last series?

I have to confess that, as much as I love mysteries (especially cozies) I've never been a great fan of the culinary type books. The recipes seem to be so complicated, or not even really essential to the story. I'm a convert now, though, at least to this first of a new series by Melinda Wells.

Her characterizations are absolutely tops! All of the people in this book are so real! And most of them are the type of person you'd like to have for a friend. Della Carmichael, the main cook here, is a down-to-earth woman of 47. WOW! 47!!! She's capable. And she can still walk and talk and make love and do all kinds of things. Compared to Hollywood's fascination with `twinkies' that's truly incredible. She has a delicious sense of self to go along with her wry sense of humor, and these blend excellently well with her abundance of common sense. She's a woman after my own heart.

She's now a widow, and freely admits to a few imperfections, but she's not a quitter, and truly when life handed her lemons, she proceeded to make marvelous tangy lemonade. I've not yet tried any of the recipes in the book, but they read easy, so maybe they'll make easy, too. We'll see.

The premise is a dandy, too, for who among us hasn't hoped to be a TV star, even if only for five minutes? As a cable cooking diva, she shares a studio with a car mechanic, a crafter and a guy who specializes in rescuing and re-creating `stuff'. Seems reasonable to me. They're all just a wee bit loony, but great fun, and eminently believable. So is her dog, Tuffy, and rescued cat, Emma. And there's NDM. Scrumptious!

But in the meantime, I can only hope for the speedy arrival of her next book, with all these marvelous characters we've just met, to see what sort of troubles Ms. Wells can stir up for them.
Or they stir up for her. Whichever.

Della Carmichael owns a small cooking school in Santa Monica, California, and is just beginning a new cable cooking show on the Better Living channel. Della is different from most people she knows. Her late husband, Mack, was a LAPD detective (died two years ago), her mother and sisters are all accountants, her close family friend, John O'Hara, is LAPD and his wife, Shannon, has mental problems... You get the idea. The only friend Della has who could possibly understand her love of the culinary arts is Eileen O'Hara. Eileen is John's daughter and is not only Della's houseguest, but also her cooking school assistant.

Now that Della has a cooking show she is surrounded by many more people, but not all of them are nice. Mimi Bond's cooking show has been canceled and Della's cooking show is the one replacing it. Needless-to-say, Mimi is NOT a fan of Della's. Still, Mimi is the one chosen to be the taster at the end of Della's first show, which goes out live! Mimi ends up dying after taste testing Della's mousse, in front of a national audience.

Detective Emil Hall has Della listed high on his suspect list. John is pulled in to work with Hall and cannot guarantee Della that she will not end up in prison. Phil Logan, head of publicity for the Better Living Channel, has Della spending a week with a crime reporter for the Chronicle named Nicholas D'Marino "NDM", who will (hopefully) help Della solve the crime. A second person soon ends up dead and Della is, once more, the main suspect.

Della must get through several unrehearsed show tapings and solve the two murders quickly - or her next show may be from behind bars.

**** This is the first of the Della Cooks mysteries. The author did a terrific job introducing all the characters that will often appear in the series and none of them came across to me as false. That is not an easy thing for an author to accomplish. BRAVA! A few continuously running sub-plots have been planted as well. It will be interesting to see where they lead. For readers who enjoy the culinary arts, the recipes used in the book are written out in the back. That makes this book even more than worth the money. Engaging characters, an intriguing mystery, and suspects galore make this title a winner! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

What a great new mystery! I can honestly say I really enjoyed this book! How refreshing! I am always looking for new culinary mysteries. This is a great one! I enjoyed it so much, I gave it to my best friend and asked for her opinion too. She said, "Wow", it was a great book!" So, Kudos to this new author!.
I have just one request..............
MORE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This series is decently written in terms of characters and plot. Della is a relatively likeable character if a bit too much of a milquetoast at times. My problem with this book in particular, and really the series in general (my review includes Killer Mousse, The Proof is in the Pudding, and Della Takes the Cake), is that the writer seems to have the emotional maturity of a 13-year old boy deep in the throws of puberty. On this point I have two main criticisms:
1. For me, reading a mystery novel should not feel like reading a romance novel. My beachreading tastes run towards mayhem and impossible escapes by recently divorced small business owning women from domestic murderers; not groping and fondeling by vigorous oiled studs (see NDP - in all three books). Unfortuantely, in this book there is far too much of the latter. I am sure it is just me,(perhaps my having missed the sexual revolution is the cause) but I am not at all interested in reading about anyone's sexual encounters. I don't want to know about breasts being gently rubbed or a "post-coital glow" which is interrupted by "a slight stirring against her thighs." Nor, do I want to imagine the "release" of anything that is unconnected from getting out of prison (and all of this by page 22 - Della Takes the Cake). Frankly, there are just too many references to "explosions" (that have nothing to do with dynamite) to make any further reading of this series possible for me.
2. The references are not only sexual but oddly juvenile. Consider this excerpt: "Frankly...I got so hot imagining what you and the Sicilian were doing that I jumped John as soon as we got home...John rose to the occassion so to speak." I don't think I have heard anyone refer to sex as "jumping" since I was in the 7th grade. Does anyone talk like this? Do any women really call their friends to tell them that imagining their friend's sex life has led them to jump their husband? However, it is not merely the word choice, which sounds like a boy's lockerroom it is the proliferation of such, as I have titled my review, sexual tripe. In another example, Della, the heroine, is picking up her dog's droppings. An action which inexplicably leads her boyfriend/lover to say "Don't be half safe. That's like using a condom when you're on the pill." Even the removal of a dog's defecation reminds him of sexual activity?

If you like your mayhem mixed with a a little fondeling, this may be right for you, otherwise I would find something else that deals with the inevitable cozy heroine relationship with a little more maturity.

The publisher's back-cover blurb sets the stage for this first in the DELLA COOKS series. Wells develops a good story filled with believable people and animal characters, Tuffy, named after her real-life black standard poodle, and Emma, an adopted kitten. To me, a good cozy becomes a better cozy when it includes a cat and a dog!

Following is a sample of Wells' writing style showing her ability to describe characters and to do it with humor. Ed Gardner is Della's insurance agent and the author says: "I heard the unctuous smile in his voice and remembered I had described him to Liddy (Della's best friend) as resembling a self-satisfied lizard with a stomach full of flies. . . . I'd read that the Mafia forced people to buy 'protection.' If they'd sold insurance, they could have stayed out of jail and they'd probably have made just as much money." (pages 186-187).

There are recipes in the book, of course. They sound great. But I have two 'minus-comments' regarding them: (1)some mentioned in the text are not included in the recipe section. (2)one recipe asks for "half-cup of Russian dressing" (page 19) but three-fourths of a cup is listed in the recipe itself. But, even in the recipes, Wells' humor shines when listing her KILLER MOUSSE : "It's not quite as good as sex, but if you aren't in love, this dish could make you forget about it for awhile." (page 448).

I love being entertained but I also appreciate learning new things. Did you know cactus is a wood? And I applaude Wells for approaching the topic of paranoid-schizophrenia.

Oops: I said the publisher's blurb set the stage and then I forgot to include it! It should be included to make the review more complete. So here it is at the end instead of where it belongs because I would probably lose the entire review AGAIN.

"Meet Della Carmichael, owner of a cooking school in Santa Monica, California, and star of a brand-new cable cooking show. The first live airing of IN THE KITCHEN WITH DELLA opens like other cooking shows, with a chef surrounded by bowls of ingredients in a shiny studio kitchen. But it ends like a crime-scene detective show. Della's KILLER MOUSSE lives up to its name when her predecessor, Mimi Bond, taste tests it and winds up dead on the floor.".

Della Carmichael is starting a new job as the host of the TV show "In the Kitchen with Della" on the Better Living Network. In this one hour live show, she will be demonstrating simple but delicious recipes.

At the end of her first show, she asks for a volunteer to taste that night's recipes. Mimi Bond, the woman who was just fired from Della's job, is quick to volunteer. Della just tries to grin and bear it, until Mimi falls on the floor dead after tasting some of Della's signature Killer Mousse.

Even though Della had just met Mimi that night, the police detective assigned to the case immediately seems to zero in on her as the suspect. But having met Mimi, Della is convinced that there were lots of motives from people who actually knew her. Can Della sift through all the suspects and come up with the killer?

This book was a decided mixed bag. The mystery was mostly good, although it did get sidetracked by some pointless detours at times. I liked the characters, so spending time with them was pleasant. And I got a kick out of the Los Angeles setting. The ending was suspenseful but a little weaker then I normally like. There are 10 delicious sounding recipes in the back that I just might have to try.

But my big problem was the romantic sub-plot. There was one complication I didn't care for at all. Then there were the parts I found unrealistic. Finally, we've got the "kiss and tell" chapter, which did nothing but make me uncomfortable.

If the book were stronger, I would probably overlook the romantic sub-plot and see what Della cooks up next. As it stands, I will probably pass on further adventures in this series.

Melinda Wells has cooked up a delicious murder mystery in the first book of a new series. As a culinary mystery fan, the recipes are superb--who can resist sampling "Funeral Salad," "Gangster Chicken" and of course, the yummy "Killer Mousse" of the title.
Della Carmichael is a wonderfully warm, sexy heroine who stars as host and chef of a cable cooking show. On her very first day, someone dies on-air after sampling her chocolate mousse. Della is the prime suspect and sets out to find the killer to prove her innocence.
What a welcome change to have a single woman in her 40's who is confident and capable as well as feminine and vulnerable--especially when it comes to juggling the men in her life. One relationship certainly turned up the heat in my kitchen! I don't want to spoil the plot, but suffice it to say KILLER MOUSSE is a fast-paced, tightly woven and witty ride. I couldn't put the book down and can't wait for the next one.

I am trying to find new Cozy Mystery series that will hold my interest. I have run out of British writers so I am into American. This book by Melinda Wells is the best first series book I have read in a l-o-n-g
time. Please make this the first of a series.