Customer Reviews

Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread (Ellie Bernstein/Lt. Peter Miller Mysteries)

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

 

 

There are several memorable portraits of female characters in this newest entry by Denise Dietz in the Ellie Bernstein/Lt. Peter Miller mystery series. The first, of course, is Ellie herself, now 41 years old and divorced, and after eleven months closer to matrimony with her cop boyfriend, Peter Miller. The second is Sarah Leibowitz, now known to one and all as Sara Lee - the old advertising jingle "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee" kept playing in my head, because that obviously doesn't apply to this Sara Lee, as she is strangled one night with her waitress uniform necktie, her body found in the alley behind the restaurant where she worked. It would appear that the list of those who didn't like Sara Lee is not a short one. The case is assigned to Lt. Miller, and Ellie does her usual thing of conducting her own investigation. [She reasons that she has been solving fictitious mysteries her whole life, so why not?] They both have even more to engage them when another body is found.

Complicating Ellie's quest to find the killer is her temporary dog-sitting job, taken on as a favor to one of her diet-club members, Rachel Lester, ostensibly visiting an ostensibly ill sister in Houston, but who is actually taking a breather from her marriage to a cheating husband in a Pike's Peak cabin not that far from Colorado Springs, where Ellie et al reside.

Animals abound in the book, from Ellie's black Persian cat, Jackie Robinson; Rachel's border collie; a fictional menagerie of seven cats, named for the days of the week; Ellie's mother's six cats, charmingly named Danielle Steele, Victoria Gordon, Nora Roberts, Lorna Ann Jakes, Maggie Osborne and Marty Blue, most of which names should be familiar to readers of the present novel. 'Charming' is one of the best ways to describe the entire novel, which presents an interesting plot, characters and dialogue instantly recognizable, and word coinage which took me aback at first, e.g., "torridity" and "causticity," but which grew on me as the book went on - they may be actual words, for all I know..

Food figures prominently in the book. The narrative is lightly sprinkled with recipes, and many of the characters are of the weight-conscious variety, as might be expected in a series where the female protagonist is the head of a local Weight Winners diet club. [The title is derived from a line by the late Gilda Radner, a worthy muse: "Eating is self-punishment, punish the food instead. Strangle a loaf of Italian bread . . ."] Ya gotta love it.

Ellie Bernstein likes to clip coupons and watch police shows when she isn't doing her things as leader of a local chapter of "weight winners" or reading a complex mystery novel. That is, when she isn't helping out her boyfriend, Lieutenant Peter Miller of the Colorado Springs Police Dept. These days find her also babysitting a dog for one of her diet club members.

Rachel Lester has to be out of town and Ellie is in charge of the dog named "Scout." While the dog and Ellie's own cat are getting along despite her initial concern, Ellie is a bit bored. September has been very slow on the crime action front and she wants something to happen so that Peter has to consult with her. She'd also like the coach of the Broncos to consult with her on why they just lost to the Chicago Bears.

She soon gets her wish, at least on the murder front, when waitress Sara Lee is found dead in the alley behind "Uncle Vinnie's Gourmet Italian Restaurant." Peter tells her some details and admits to not having a suspect. It certainly isn't for want of trying to find one.

"Everybody liked Sara Lee. And that's all I am going to tell you." (Page 31)

Clearly, someone didn't. Clearly, Peter needs help whether he knows it or not. Before long, in between thinking about food and how to link movie star Kevin Bacon to anything and everyone, Ellie gets to poking around the case. Her methods aren't always orthodox, but are always highly entertaining as she solves more than one case bugging the Colorado Springs Police Dept.

This is the fourth installment of a highly entertaining series. It features not only Ellie and Peter, but the other characters familiar to readers such as Ellie's brother Tab and her overbearing mother. The various storylines weave together slowly with the main focus being on food in various delectable forms. Ingredients and recipes are described in the text with an additional recipe at the end. Like some series, at least one ongoing storyline is left hanging wide open at the end to entice readers into picking up the next book. Despite that, the overall read is enjoyable with plenty of fun characters, romance, and murder to keep almost any reader who likes the cozy style of murder mystery entertained.


Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2009

The question begs, who doesn't like Sara Lee?

Someone doesn't, that's for sure. She was strangled with her own Daffy Duck necktie--and tossed in a dumpster. Community theater will never be the same.

Ellie Bernstein's inquiring mind is now engaged, and she's on the case. Much to the chagrin of her significant other, homicide detective Peter Miller.

And then of course, there's that thing she's doing to her black Persian cat, Jackie Robinson. What was she thinking agreeing to doggie sit for a border collie? The nerve.

Old friend's of Ellie's will delight in her newest adventure in STRANGLE A LOAF OF ITALIAN BREAD.

Dietz has such a command of characterization that I feel like I've made a new friend. If my phone were to ring right now, and the caller say, "Hi, It's Ellie." I'd smile and ask her, "What's up?"

If you're looking for a fun, light, energizing read (or a new friend), get your hands on a copy of STRANGLE A LOAF OF ITALIAN BREAD. I promise, it won't blow your diet.

In Colorado Springs, Weight Winners diet club leader fortyish Ellie Bernstein is dog-sitting while a member Rachel Lester visits her ailing sister in Houston. Ellie is with her boyfriend Homicide Detective Lieutenant Peter Miller when he receives a call that someone has strangled Sara Lee using a Daffy Duck necktie.

Pete warns Ellie to stay out of it, but she vows to learn who killed the Barbra Streisand voice alike and tossed her corpse in the dumpster behind Uncle Vinnie's Gourmet Italian Restaurant. The obvious suspect her volatile husband former NFL player Trent Zachariah has an alibi. Soon afterward someone kills Rachel's martinet husband Matthew. Ellie tries to reach Rachel in Houston, but learns she is not there as the sister is healthy. As she interviews people at the strip mall where the restaurant is located, Ellie finds a link to her brother and the community theatre auditioning for Hello Dolly.

Although the story line never quite gels into a full meal because the subplots never merge until the final denouement, readers will enjoy this amateur sleuth mystery with a smidgen of a police procedural due to the eccentric cast starting with the heroine who has never found a mystery she can ignore. Ellie loves to sleuth almost as much as she used to love to nosh. The secondary characters are an entertaining group with differing personalities who make Ellie's investigation fun to follow as she analyzes the mean and opportunity considering even a very tall thin female potentially possessing the strength to choke out small Sara and even lift a dead man.

Harriet Klausner

Ellie Bernstein, diet-club leader and amateur sleuth, hunts down clues in a pair of murders while trying to find a missing friend, caring for that friend's dog, dealing with family issues, bolstering self-esteem, and even auditioning for a community theater musical production. Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread by Denise Dietz has it all: humor, revenge, romance, redemption, and even a few low-fat recipes.