St. Martin's, Sept 2002, 23.95, 288 pp.
ISBN 0312301227
The plaza, a shopping center in Kansas City, is festive dining the holiday season and Foster's Chocolates blimp just adds to the glittery atmosphere. Chef Heaven Lee and her friend Stephanie are eating at a restaurant in the plaza when they hear gun shots. Somebody shot at the blimp and killed the man operating it.
Foster's Chocolates is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary in business when a man trying to destroy them is murdered on the property. Heaven, always interested in solving a murder case, does a little snooping. She discovers that the Foster family is divided against itself and everyone had a motive to kill the man. Things turn really weird when Foster's Chocolates and Stephanie's Chocolates shop are vandalized, but Heaven is incensed when somebody trashes her restaurant too. She's very determined to find out who the perp is and bring that individual down.
This culinary mystery should come with a calorie warning: Do not read when hungry. The recipes, mostly chocolate, are easy to follow and taste delicious (don't say a word). The who-done-it is excellent because there's seems as many legit suspects as the number of carbo grams in any of the recipes. Lou Jane Temple has written another tasty amateur sleuth novel.
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 10% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Special suspect?
- relative
Murder of certain profession?
- businessmen
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- food/cooking
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- chef
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- bulging muscles
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Midwest
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 2
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
