Roux Morgue
A Mary
Ryan Mystery
Claire
M. Johnson
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-487-2 (1590584872)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-487-3 (9781590584873)
Publication Date: April 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): San Francisco pastry chef Mary Ryan is back at her old
alma mater. Initially ecstatic to be teaching, Mary finds herself
trying to straddle both worlds, caught between her original mentors and
her contemporaries.
To make matters worse, Homicide Detective O’Connor has enrolled
as a student, claiming to be on disability from the San Francisco
Police Department.
In the middle of this turf war, Mary is confronted by the dean Robert
Benson. Mary must either force Coolie Martin to leave the school or
lose her job. Why would Coolie’s father, a member of the Board of
Directors, allow this to happen? But when faculty and staff begin
dying, Mary thinks that Coolie’s forced exit might only be part
of a larger, more sinister plot.
Acting on a hint from O’Connor, Mary contacts the only person who
can help her: nemesis Thom Woods. Will Mary and Thom uncover the truth
before another chef bakes his last pie?
Review: Claire
M. Johnson's second Mary Ryan mystery, Roux Morgue, has the San Francisco
pastry chef joining the faculty of the Ecole d'Epicure (School of
Cooking) and finding herself in the midst of all sorts of mischief and
mayhem.
A battle royale is raging at the school between the "old" chefs who
believe traditional European cooking should be taught, and the "new"
chefs who want to embrace of more inventive, modern, and healthy
methods of food preparation. If that weren't enough, the dean of the
school gives Mary an ultimatum regarding the status of a student, one
with which Mary not only doesn't understand, she doesn't agree. And
what is homicide detective O'Connor doing enrolled at the school? When
a student dies after eating shellfish (an item conspicuously missing
from the menu), it's assumed to be a tragic accident. But when another
death follows, suspicions are aroused. Is all this conflict connected
in some way, and if so, how?
Roux MorgueRoux Morgue
is not a culinary mystery in the generic sense of the genre's
definition. The mystery happens to be set at a school of cooking, and
Mary is a pastry chef by profession, but there is very little in the
way of culinary arts going on here. Mary isn't the most pleasant of
characters, a sort of vulgar Nancy Drew. She seems to bounce from one
mystery to another (and there are several more not covered here) and
it's never quite clear how her involvement furthers the investigation
of any of them. There are attempts to inject humor into the story, to
lighten up the sometimes dour mood, but they generally fall flat.
Roux Morgue is all the
more disappointing since the elements (ingredients, if you will) for a
good mystery are all present. It's just that they never come together.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Roux Morgue and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Roux Morgue? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Beat Until Stiff
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), December 2002
ISBN-10: 1-59058-040-0 (1590580400)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-040-0 (9781590580400)
Roux Morgue
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), April 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-487-2 (1590584872)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-487-3 (9781590584873)
Omnimystery keywords for Roux Morgue ...
Location(s) referenced: San
Francisco,
California.
