The Gourmet Detective (A Gourmet Detective Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: A few ingredients short
Review: Following the lead of my old economics professor William Breit -- who, as one half of the pseudonymous writing team Marshall Jevons gave us a murder-solving economist in 'The Fatal Equilibrium' and other titles -- more and more writers have served up murder mysteries in which someone uses the particular skills of his line of work to unravel a whodunit and bring the killers to justice. Peter King makes a noble attempt in this first entry in his by-now-long-running series. But while parts of the story were quite good, as a murder mystery, it was ultimately unsatisfying.

Like the Continental Op, our hero is unnamed. But he (like his creator, clearly) is a fan of detective fiction. Much of the book has an oddly self-aware quality, therefore -- especially when the hero and his Scotland Yard counterpart compare their interactions to those of famous fictional detectives and policemen. It's amusing at first to see the detective asking himself how Peter Wimsey or Charlie Chan would handle a certain situation, but even that begins to grow old after a while. Similarly, though it's refreshing that the author rejects the convention of the omnicompetent and almost omniscient sleuth -- the hero frequently complains that Holmes would have done a better job understanding a clue, or Travis McGee a difficult situation -- the solution to the crime, when it comes, struck me as in many ways unrelated to what our hero had been doing for the last 200 pages. Had I been following the wrong character around London?

Still, this is a fascinating concept, and not too bad for a first book. Certainly, the author knows his food (or at least, can snow an amateur foodie like me). I'm going to give some of the later titles in the series a try, and see if maybe things don't improve a bit over time.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent gourmet book, as for a mystery...
Review: I must admit I have savored this book very much. The Gourmet Detective is definitely a "gourmet"; as for being a detective...well, even himself doesn't use the term. I find the story a bit flat, the characters are not fleshed out at all, and the cute Sergeant Winnie seems a bit chauvinist, like dragged from nowhere into the story just to satisfy our protagonist's necessity for a link between him and the Police, while at the same time fullfilling his manly ego. I want to say I'm not a feminist, but the book suggests it that way. It's too obvious.

Another cause for dissappointment is that we never know the real identity of the protagonist. We just know he is the Gourmet Detective. Minor detail, I know, but still exasparating.

The volume is, however, extremely informative, even creative, as a food manual. Peter King is definitely not an amateur in this area. But then again, he probably should have written a cookbook. All this vast information about food and the appropiate wine to go with it would make a marvellous gourmet-reference book; but for a mystery, more of a storyline is needed; without cliches, and definitely not sexist.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent gourmet book, as for a mystery...
Review: I must admit I have savored this book very much. The Gourmet Detective is definitely a "gourmet"; as for being a detective...well, even himself doesn't use the term. I find the story a bit flat, the characters are not fleshed out at all, and the cute Sergeant Winnie seems a bit chauvinist, like dragged from nowhere into the story just to satisfy our protagonist's necessity for a link between him and the Police, while at the same time fullfilling his manly ego. I want to say I'm not a feminist, but the book suggests it that way. It's too obvious.

Another cause for dissappointment is that we never know the real identity of the protagonist. We just know he is the Gourmet Detective. Minor detail, I know, but still exasparating.

The volume is, however, extremely informative, even creative, as a food manual. Peter King is definitely not an amateur in this area. But then again, he probably should have written a cookbook. All this vast information about food and the appropiate wine to go with it would make a marvellous gourmet-reference book; but for a mystery, more of a storyline is needed; without cliches, and definitely not sexist.

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable, unique and novel theme, well researched
Review: I really wanted to eat this book up, but found the style to be half baked and the plot reminiscent of separated mayonnaise. ( If I wanted bad cooking I would have stayed in my OWN kitchen!)

But most annoying was the waxed fruit basket of women that stirred the attentions our Gourmet Detective. Silky Syllabub or stodgy Bread and Butter Pudding depending on the breast size and/or leg length. Save it for the chickens.

I shall not be Spiced to Death.

Rating:
Summary: Could have used some more time in the oven
Review: The detail about the food and food triva gets it an extra star, but I'm not foodie enough to overlook the thin characters, incomprehensible plot, or meandering narrative style. If you really are that into gourmet cooking, there are many non-fiction books that will provide the research without forcing you to wade through a so-called detective story. Skip this one.