The Perils of Paella [Paperback]

Nancy Fairbanks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2004

Food writer Carolyn gets to challenge her taste-testing skills once again-this time, in Barcelona. Her first feast is for the eyes-at a modern art museum where her friend Roberta is the resident scholar. There, she catches a performance art piece about death, planted a little too firmly in reality. One of the actors is not acting-she's dead...as well as a dead-ringer for Roberta. And now, Carolyn is in the middle of a new investigation into a very unsavory crime.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A delectable series."
-- The Mystery Reader (UNKNOWN ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042519390X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425193907
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #796,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder in Barcelona, February 14, 2004

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Perils of Paella (Paperback)

Carolyn and Jason Blue are off to Barcelona. She arrives earlier to spend some time with her friend Roberta Hecht (Robbie). Robbie is a resident Miro scholar currently at a modern art museum there.

When Carolyn arrives, the security guard and receptionist won't let her in to the exhibit with her suitcase to wait for her friend. Finally she is able to leave her suitcase at the front desk, pay the exorbitant entrance fee and begin to tour the Tapas Triage exhibit. This was performance art. Each partitioned space contained a hospital bed. Most contained a patient (art student). There were creatures that came into the exhibit. They were representing Life and Death. The Angel of Life and Joy brought tapas. An Englishman tourist determined that the next performer to "die" would be the one that didn't get the tapas. When Carolyn goes to the last patient, she discovers that she resembles her friend Robbie. She thought she was playing a joke on her. Then she realizes that this woman is not Robbie and worse, she is dead.

Inspector Ildefons Pujol I Serra ("Inspector Pujol") is called into head up the investigation. Immediately he suspects Carolyn or Robbie because they are Americans.

Then Robbie discovers that her stepson, Henri Samuel Fauree (Sammie) has gone missing from his American school. Then her husband Hugh tells her that his passport and some money are missing. Robbie contact the consul and finds that Sammie arrived in Barcelona a few days ago. They begin searching for him.

Robbie and Carolyn get into many interesting and dangerous situations in this book. There are many suspects in the death at the museum and they hope to help Inspector Pujol discover the real killer before they are arrested.

I like Carolyn a lot. She is a delightful character and I find the books in this series to be a light and enjoyable read. I must say that at first I had a lot of trouble with the foreign names in this book. Once I stuck with it, I was able to keep everyone straight. I liked the setting of Barcelona but some of the places that Carolyn and/or Robbie went are not places I would want to see.

I highly recommend this book!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not one of the better installments but still enjoyable, January 8, 2004

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perils of Paella (Paperback)

This is the fourth Carolyn Blue culinary mystery. This time, Carolyn is sunny Barcelona hoping to sample more delicious Catalan food (Carolyn's been to Barcelona before), as well as enjoy the historic sights of the magnificent city, but finding herself entangled in yet another murder investigation instead. Unfortunately for me, I didn't find this particualr installment to be as enjoyable as the previous one, "Chocolate Quake."

When Carolyn's scientist husband, Jason, is invited to give a few lectures in Salamanca and Barcelona, Carolyn naturally decides to tag along. This will give her a chance to sample the excellent Catalan fare to be had in Barcelona, and write a few articles about the food and history of the city. And when Carolyn learns that her good friend, Roberta Hecht is in Barcelona, having accepted a 3 month stint at the Espirit de Gaudi i Miro, Carolyn decides to go ahead to Barcelona in order to spend some time with her friend before Jason joins her. The last thing that Carolyn expected when she turns up at the museum feeling extremely jet-lagged and rumpled, is to make the unsettling discovery that there is a dead body in the performance art piece being performed at the museum. And not just any dead body, but that of a young woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to her friend, Roberta. Is someone after Roberta? But why would anyone want to murder Roberta? Carolyn soon learns, however, that in the small and stifling world of the Espirit de Gaudi i Miro, where absurd jealousies and pettiness seems part of the course, everyone seems to believe that Roberta is guilty of the crime. Knowing full well that Roberta is incapable of murdering anyone, Carolyn is determined to help her friend prove her innocence even if it means getting entangled in a murder investigation once again...

While on the whole "The Perils of Paella" was not a bad read, it was not one of Nancy Fairbanks better efforts either. Unlike the previous books in this series, this novel was really quite short on any interesting historical tit-bits, although I rather enjoyed her descriptions of the Gaudi architecture to be seen throughout the city. And the book also seemed to lack that slightly lighthearted and humorous touch that characterized previous installments. Poor Carolyn didn't seem to have all that much fun in Barcelona at all -- but perhaps a lack of real sleep and only frequenting absolute dives might have had something to do with this. Or could it have been the effect of Carolyn's demanding and high maintenance friend, Roberta? I'll admit that Roberta was just got on my nerves, and I really wanted Carolyn to grow a backbone and tell Roberta off more often! Alas this didn't happen frequently enough for me. And aside from Carolyn, the only other main character that was interesting and engaging was the Spanish police inspector in charge of the case, Inspector Pujol. Inspector Pujol's sardonic narratives alone made this book an enjoyable read, and I found myself wishing fervently that the entire novel had been written from Pujol's point of view. So that even though the mystery subplot was so-so and the clues were scarce (although there was a healthy number of suspects -- too bad Nancy Fairbanks didn't do enough with them), I will say that this was an entertaining read because of Carolyn's and Pujol's engaging and entertaining narratives.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best in the series, February 22, 2004

By 

Sharon (Grove City, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perils of Paella (Paperback)

I did not enjoy the Perils of Paella as much as the previous Carolyn Blue books. I thought the missing Jason created a void. I also had a hard time keeping all the Spanish names straight at first. The inspector's perspective was a welcome change but I kept hoping Jason would show up. Interaction between Carolyn, Jason and the inspector would have been interesting. I recommend this delightful series and hope the next installment has Jason featured more. I find the travel descriptions as well as the historical facts very entertaining. Hopefully Carolyn and the inspector's paths will cross somewhere in a future book.