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| Plot Summary of Beat Until Stiff |
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Poisoned Pen Press, Dec 2002, 24.95, 214 pp.
ISBN 1590580400
Pastry chef Mary Ryan graduated from the Ecole d'Epicure cooking school and found a great job working at American Fare, the top restaurant on the west coast and considered by gourmands to be one of the top three restaurants in the country. She should be very happy since she loves to cook but her divorce turned her into an acrimonious, emotionally upset person.
Her attitude goes downhill when she arrives early for work only to find the corpse of pastry assistant Carlos Perez stuffed in a laundry bag. Besides the shock of discovery, Mary has no clue why anyone would kill him. When the owner of the restaurant also turns up dead, the victim of a homicide, Mary starts asking questions to see if the two deaths are connected and almost winds up as victim number three.
BEAT UNTIL STIFF is a delicious culinary mystery that shouldn't be eaten on an empty stomach because the food descriptions will make the reader ravenously hungry. Despite being upset about her divorce, the audience will take the heroine into their hearts because she is really vulnerable and in “kneed” of kindness. Though why she turned sleuth chef even to insure her own safety seems questionable, Claire M. Johnson shows a lot of writing talent as she bakes a mystery epicure's delight.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Beat Until Stiff |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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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?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
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:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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