Customer Reviews

Too Many Cooks: An Angie Amalfi Mystery (Angie Amalfi Mysteries)

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

 

 

This is the second book in the Angie Amalfi series and I loved it as much as I did the first. Granted, Angie is a spoiled rich girl, but she is so loving and caring and loves Paavo so much that I really enjoy her. The combination of mystery and romance is wonderful. The mystery kept me guessing right up to the end. When I finish one of these books, I have a fulfilled feeling because all of the loose ends are tied up neatly, but there is a desire to continue reading. So, I purchased all of the rest of the books in the series so I can catch up with everything happening in Angie's life.

Too many cooks do indeed spoil the broth (and a few other things) in this second mystery in the Angie Amalfi series.
Angie is as naive, spoiled, annoying and hopelessly in love as ever, which for some odd reason I haven't figured out yet, turns her into an extremely endearing and likable character. Paavo and his closet full of childhood hangups is starting to get on my nerves - but let's face it - is there a woman in the world that can't sympathize with Angie in the rollercoaster romance department? While the actual crime investigation plays second fiddle in this book, you just have to read on to find out how the relationship between the two "love birds" develops.
All in all a fun, fast-paced book that is hard to put down. Highly recommended to cozy mystery fans!

Joanne Pence has created some wonderful characters in her Angie and Paavo series. I hope she keeps them coming because each one gets better than the previous one. The first one was a #10 and each book after that has not disappointed. I would highly recommend this series.

This is better then the first book, Something's Cooking, in that she does attempt to develop Angie a bit more. Unfortunately, this book and the next, Cooking Up Trouble, is probably the best Angie is going to get: after this she just gets downright annoying because she can't see past her own viewpoint. In this one though, you can somewhat accept Angie's ditziness as inexperience in the real world and her outgoing manner... too bad as the series progresses she doesn't seem to learn anything from what she encounters. The next book is Cooking Up Trouble.

Before I purchased TOO MANY COOKS I was drawn to its description and title, hoping for a generous portion of good grit on grits. I thought, if a chef radio show is featured, and if a restauranteur is poisoned, as the back cover blurbed, my culinary cravings would be at least addressed, if not advanced to the "third degree."

In the first paragrpah I was easily captured by Angie's anxious vulnerability in her new job as a consultant to a radio personality, an ego-puffed, egghead chef. The scene of getting herself hired was endearing and fun as well. Vulnerability (even insecurity) backed up by eternal spunk always wins the race to my reading reasons.

As I read through a variety of smoothly transition-ed vignettes, I continued to feel that this set of culinary mysteries with a romance subplot seemed more like a mainstream novel than a genre offering (though it would take both ribbons). The complex, smooth plotting and natural pacing; the strong and varied relationships which are given depth with deft, simple touches seemed to congeal into the rich wholeness of a mystery done well enough to be termed a novel instead of a "mystery" or "crime fiction" or "romantic suspense" (though I enjoy all those genres).

TOO MANY COOKS had a Sidney Sheldon feel, rising from Pence's shifting from scene to scene, each with a different character as central focus in his own world. After Angie, fretful and feisty, somewhat settled into her job with the egghead, Chef "Ahnree" (Henry La Tour), the scene shifted to Paavo's first day's return to his homicide department. The darker ambiance there was contrasted dramatically, with literary flair, to Angie's spritzy spunk.

Riding through continued crafty writing style shifts and swanky mood swings, as soon as I was solidly into Paavo's world and cohorts, and bonded satisfyingly with Paavo's new partner, the scene cut to a murder in progress, which felt realistically ... Just. Like. That.

By this time in the kaleidoscopic plot machinations, I was so far into the games, you couldn't have lifted me out of them except by a ceiling cave. And, in that case I wouldn't have been lifted. Of course I'd have been smashed. I could have only hoped I wouldn't have known what hit me.

The ending of TOO MANY COOKS produces a labyrinth of mangy machinations, giving enough mystery complexity for even the most convoluted brains. Pence is a master juggler of weaving subplots.

But, is Angie an amateur sleuth, a romance heroine, a comedienne, or a well-fleshed player in a mainstream NOVEL. The problem is she's all of these, so I haven't been able to peg her cozily into one slot. Do I care?

If I can't peg what Angie is; I can peg what her author has done to this reader. She's hooked me absolutely into this series to the point that I slipped right through COOKING UP TROUBLE without being able to make myself take time to write a review after finishing TOO MANY COOKS. I have a couple more Amalfi books ready to go, and am including in my nightly prayers a thank you that several more Angie & Paavo stories are available. Yum!

I'm really intrigued to see where this author goes next, not only in plot deviations and character development, but in expansion of her multi-faceted talent as a novelist.

I met Joanne at the Murder in the Grove writer's conference in Boise a couple weeks ago. She's a warm-hearted, nurturing, non-assuming, gracious lady; I'll be enduringly grateful for her easy friendship and encouragement of my career. She's not just "About Joanne," yet she spoke beautifully and interestingly about motivations for her books and Angie's contrast to Joanne. Warmth of soul, spontaneity of generosity, and courage for risk run along the same path for both the author and her character.

Envisioning the cover on Pence's RED HOT MURDER, coming out in February, 2006 (See my Listmania on Pence's series), I'm hoping it'll be glossed over a glowing jacket for a hardcover offering. As the 13th book in a successful series from a dedicated author who unfailingly delivers high quality, it's about time!

If RED HOT MURDER doesn't come out in hardback, the planet needs to tilt its axis a few degrees in the Amalfi direction!!

(This review was originally posted on 6/27/05 under the title, PINK GINGHAM SETS A TABLE FOR NOVEL TREASURES.)

Yes!
Linda G. Shelnutt

The book was ok, but a little draggy. I read several mysteries where the main character is involved in cooking, and Angie is just not as exciting a character as the others.