Customer Reviews

Toast Mortem (A Hemlock Falls Mystery)

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

 

 

The nice quiet village of Hemlock Falls has been intruded on by "The Grouchiest Chef in the World" Bernard LeVasque and his multimillion dollar cooking school just across the gorge from the Inn at Hemlock Falls. While the Inn in fully booked, the restaurant in almost empty and that has Chef Meg Quillian ready to throw frying pans, 8" saute pans to be exact. To make things worse he plays some awful tricks on the sisters. While both sisters wish he would just go away, they never dreamed he would end up dead.

Just who would want to kill the chef, one of his students, his wife, one of his devoted foodies? Maybe the scrap of paper found in his hand will lead to the killer. It would be a Hemlock Falls Mystery if the sisters weren't investigating and Quill will stop at nothing until she finds out WHO STABBED THE CHEF??

5 STARS LOVED IT!!!

I am so glad I am able to visit The Inn at Hemlock Falls again, it has been too long. This was the first set of cozy mysteries I collected for my keeper shelf after my accident. I searched E-bay, Amazon and many other online bookstores to complete the set, even buying two online from a bookstore in Canada. As each new book is released I would add it to my wonderful collection. The last one was A Carol for a Corpse was released back in 2007. I was so thrilled to learn about Toast Mortem and am excited to finally have it in my hands.

This book took me back to my old friends Meg and Quill with her 2 year old Jack, Dina is still at the reception desk, and Doreen is more a grandmother to Jack than the Inn's housekeeper. This new plot was original and once I started I couldn't stop reading. The added adventures of Jack's lion made my laugh out loud. If you haven't started this series, it's never too late. The author is a true master when it comes to writing a cozy. Add this one to your Summer Reading Lists, you will not be disappointed.

Be sure to check out Claudia's web page [...] to learn more about the books and the other series she writes the Dr. McKenzie Mysteries and follow her over to her other site to learn about the paranormal series she writes as Mary Stanton [...]








Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from The Berkley Publishing Group a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

When her husband Myles the investigator went somewhere in the Middle East on a government assignment, his wife Sarah "Quill" Quilliam-McHale returns to her rooms at the Inn at Hemlock Falls. She is the owner and manager with her half-sister Meg who is also the chef. It is Meg who is upset due to her gourmet meals being ignored as everyone is dining at the La Bonne Goute Cuklinary Arts Academy whose owner Bernard Le Vasque wrote the bestselling cookbook Brilliance in the Kitchen and had a five year run on TV as a master chef.

Bernard is an arrogant peacock who believes he can get away with anything he desires. He asks Meg to work for him, but she in a rage throws a sharp meat cleaver at the pompous chef. Meg is arrested, but get's out on bail. The sisters steal their rival's pastry chef Clarissa Sparrow to work at the Inn. Levesque gets even by arranging dirty tricks to drive the innkeepers crazy. When Qull goes the Academy, she finds his murdered corpse. The police find evidence to arrest Clarissa, but her sibling employers believe she is innocent so set out to prove so; even dodging bullets to achieve their goal.

The latest Inn at Hemlock Falls mystery is a fun tale that has a sort of throwback feel to when Quill was not married as Myles is away for most of the exciting purebred amateur sleuth story line. The victim is vile so much so that seemingly everyone at his Academy, even his bookkeeping wife, loathes him; thus suspects abound. Series fans will appreciate the antics of the mom and the chef as they set out to find a killer.

Harriet Klausner

I won't retell the story since others have done that so well. I'll just say that this is the best of the series. Earlier in the series I had felt that the books had bogged down into just rehashing the same relationships, arguments, and actions and was getting tired of Claudia Bishop's books. The last couple of books, however, have moved along and we no longer seem the very same situations from book to book. This one seemed fresh, even with the same people. The addition of the baby helped a lot, and even the characters seemed to move out of the tight molds they were in. I liked it very much and think the school near their Inn is probably going to be the source of lots of new material for future books. This is really a book worth reading

have read all the hemlock falls mystery books. they just keep getting better and better. totally addicted to them. claudia bishop is one of my favorite authors. you will really enjoy this one.

This was my first read of this author and I found her work fast moving and a genuine good story

When I tell others about a book I have enjoyed, I usually don't tell the plot, or details. Just that I really liked, disliked, or hated the book. The other reviewers can do all that. I enjoyed reading the book at first. It's not the first one of this series I have read. Then, about three-quarters of the way through, I completely lost any enjoyment. The author has a character saying that someone spent money "like drunken Indians". With all the words available in the English language, I find it difficult to understand why anyone, especially an author who uses words for a living, would use a racial slur in place of any other simile. It might even be easier to understand if the words had be spoken by one of the "bad guys". They weren't. They were uttered by a "good gal". Odd how just a few words can ruin a book.

I was quite excited to find a new Hemlock Falls Mystery. I was under the impression the series had ended. I hope there will be many more.

Meg and Quill are at it again. I love their sisterly banter and the many characters who work at the Inn. Plus now Quill has a young son. And with the multimillion dollar cooking school in town and the obnoxious head chef, things are a bit dicey. As always, she has a couple of stories intertwined and does a great job of having them coexist but not be disruptive to the other.

I like how her bringing in the cooking school brings in new characters and opportunities for future books. I do hope this means the series has a bright future. I highly recommend this book and the entire series.