Customer Reviews

Mozzarella Most Murderous (Culinary Food Writer)

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

 

 

This series has become one of my favorites; you always know you are looking forward to a few hours of complete enjoyment. The latest addition is no exception.

Carolyn Blue is a forty-something faculty wife, embarking on a second career as a food writer. Her husband's work as a chemist gives her ample opportunity to travel to exotic locations and sample local fare. Needless to say, her passion for food is a running theme throughout the series, and often is the source for much comedy. For readers who cook, recipes are inserted throughout as parts of the columns that Carolyn writes. She is also an amatuer historian, and interesting bits of local (and not so local) history are scattered through the pages.

The latest installment has Carolyn in Sorrento, Italy. Compared to previous books, this one was somewhat light in place desciption; previous books would have delighted not just fans of the genre but fans of the area in which the books have been set. As an Italophile, I didn't find this book as charming as the previous ones, in which I've enjoyed mini-vacations to New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Barcellona, France and El Paso. Perhaps it was my increased familiarity with the place. In any event, this cost half a star in my rating-- Ms. Fairbanks has set very high standards in her previous books indeed, and this one just didn't quite live up to them.

Ms. Fairbanks alternates the narrative between Carolyn and her accomplice for this book, Bianca, a heavily pregnant Italian woman whose husband is attending the same conference as Carolyn's. In less deft hands, this could be distracting, but Ms. Fairbanks handles is beautifully and it adds greatly to the humor of the book. Bianca's pregnancy, as mentioned by a previous reviewer, is a great source of comedy and is well-utilized.

As in her previous books, the cast of characters is entertaining, from the Englishwoman obsessed with botany, to the french poodle obsessed with Carolyn, to the hotel management obsessed with rules that all the guests ignore. Carolyn's husband Jason plays less of a role in this book than in most of the previous books, and I miss the easy, funny, and supportive relationship they had previously. Carolyn does, too, although not as much as in the last book. When Jason is stranded in Paris, Carolyn's first day in Sorrento is spent quite enjoyably with Paolina, whom Carolyn then finds dead in the hotel swimming pool the next morning. Carolyn seems to be the only one truly interested in finding out the truth behind her death, and sets about investigating, enlisting Bianca's aid.

Ultimately, this book will charm you, and have you looking for the other books in the series. Do yourself a favor and just pick them all up at once!

This story was fantastic. The recipes sound out of this world and the story is very entertaining and full of fun facts. I loved our herione in the last book but in this book she has a pregnant helper to figure out who killed the woman with whom she had dinner and shopping with the previous day.

Again, however I had issues with the relationship with the husband. It didn't stop me from reading this book though, and I guess it is more like real life where they don't always get along and play kissy face.

This book however I guessed the murderer almost right away, but that is ok. Still a great read!! Bravo!

Nancy Fairbanks always seems to write well researched well written cosy mystery stories. She writes to a consistent high level about a number of locations and subjects. The latest one is no exception.

Food Columnist Carolyn Blue is in Sorrento Italy to enjoy the city while her husband Jason attends a scientific conference sponsored by Ruggiero Ricci, owner of Ricci Chemicals. Carolyn arrives ahead of Jason who is stranded in Paris due to an air-traffic controller's strike and spends the day and evening with Paolina Marchetti who is at loose ends because her lover stood her up.

The next morning Carolyn is having coffee by the pool when she sees a body floating in the water. It is Paolina who turns out to be Ruggiero's lover. Carolyn thinks she was murdered but the police don't want to investigate because of the mob connections of her boss and his wife's noble lineage. Carolyn teams up with Bianca, the wife of a scientist also attending the conference, to prove it was murder and to try to find the killer.

MOZZARELLA MOST MURDEROUS is one of the funniest amateur sleuth mysteries to come along in years. Bianca, who is nine months pregnant, and looks it, finds herself, due to her delicate condition, in strange situations that border on slapstick comedy. While two different sets of police offices waste the taxpayers' money, Carolyn and Bianca are busy finding suspects with possible motives. Nancy Fairbanks has written the best mystery of her career.

Harriet Klausner

After reading Holy Guacomole this past summer, I swore off reading any more CB mysteries. Unfortunately, I downloaded this from my library, not recognizing the author's name. This entry is almost as bad as HG. I found the historical data a bit more interesting (maybe because I love Italy), but it still slowed down the action of the book. Of course, the historical data is filler to take what would be a short story and turn it into a novel. They mystery is extremely light. What should be "AHA" moments, are more like "Oh, yeah, I figured that"...

Carolyn Blue behaves and speaks more like an 80-year-old-woman than someone in her 40s. Her husband can't seem to stand her, and I can't say as I blame him as boring as she is.

Being Italian-American, it rankled me that Bianca, who is actually from Rome, and not an American, refers to her mother-in-law to her children as "Granny". For all the research, the author seems to do for her books, why wouldn't she know that in Italy, a grandmother is "Nonna"? Makes me wonder how accurate her other data is.

Having read all the prior CB mysteries, I can fairly say that Carolyn Blue will not grow on you. She has to be the most annoying and prissy protagonist I have encountered in the cozy genre. She is not endearing, but comes across as an academic, elitist, know-it-all. Or in this case, the professor's wife.

Carolyn spouts food and historical facts throughout the books whether those around her are interested or not. She's comes across as judgmental and all-knowing instead of charming. No wonder Jason is always wanting to attend all day conferences.

The books are written at a high academic level, which I usually prefer and I love the historical research the author does for her books, it's just Carolyn who can set your teeth on edge. I have the whole series, and am not eagerly anticipating the last three books. If you haven't read them and want to, start at the beginning of the series because the backstory continues and the references to the other mysteries will make more sense to the story when she drops in those random references.

By the time the dog, Charles de Gaulle, begins his antics one has a hard time dredging up any empathy/sympathy for Carolyn and her plight because she is just so arrogantly alienating at times.

There are only three other series where I came to despise the protagonist as much as this one and for someone who tracks/reads over 100 authors, that's saying a lot. So, read it for the recipes, history and mystery, but you have to bite your tongue when the POV is Carolyn's.

Thought the character was into eating too much, really didn't get the recipes, just the history, not too much of a plot.

Suspend your disbelief for a while and enjoy the ride.

Carolyn goes to Italy. Of course there's a murder. In the process of solving the mystery, we are introduced to the delightful Bianca, a young Italian mother with strong opinions of her own.

Sure, some of the situations might be impossible. Who really cares?

This book is terrible! As a fairly new reader of the cozy/hobby mysteries I was exceedingly disappointed with this one. I have read at least a dozen others by various authors which all were enjoyable.
The main character is presented as an obnoxious know-it-all who apparently feels she is the only one in the world with any intelligence. Other characters are presented as unflattering and insulting ethnic caricatures including the one non-human -- the dog! There is no logical pace or progression to actually solving a mystery... just wild theories by Carolyn whenever some connection to the victim is discovered.
I'm glad I didn't begin my reading of cozy mysteries with this one or I would have sworn off the genre for good and missed some truly excellent writing by Laura Childs, Elaine Viets, Monica Ferris and Janet Evanovich.