Monday, May 17, 2010

Review: English Trifle by Josi Kilpack


A delectable culinary cosy mystery!

What begins as a holiday trip for amateur sleuth and cooking aficionado Sadie Hoffmiller and her daughter Breanna, turns into a bizarre mystery when they discover a dead body in the sitting room of an English manor. Breanna's boyfriend, Liam, is heir to the family title and estate, where everyone seems to have a secret.....or two. When the body disappears, Sadie and Breanna are stranded at the estate until the police can clear them to leave.
Armed with a jogging whistle, her personal recipe collection, and an unfailing sense of American justice, Sadie begins her own investigation. As she uncovers layer after layer of misdirection, secrets and outright lies she wonders if anyone is telling the truth.

This is a delightfully fun read. Take two Americans and place them right in the middle of the traditional British whodunnit setting complete with stately home, aristocratic owners and heirs, butler, cook and maids and let the drama begin. Sadie suffers from what her daughter describes as 'detectivitus' which is a nice way of saying she's a nosey parker who likes to get to the bottom of what's going on and her Miss Marple exploits often have unexpected and unwanted results.

It's very funny in parts and the mystery plot has enough twists and turns to keep one guessing. And of course what would a culinary mystery be without the scrumptious recipes. All very English from the trifle to the scones, the sausage rolls to the lemon cookies and sure to appeal to those who love to cook.

The perfect book for those times when you want to put your feet up, relax and be entertained. I enjoyed it immensely.

English Trifle is the second in the Sadie Hoffmiller culinary mystery series - the first is called Lemon Tart and the third Devil's Food Cake.
For more info on the author and her books you can visit her website or her blog.


A review copy of the book was provided by the author through Pump Up Your Book Promotions.

4 comments:

  1. Fantastic! I love cozies, especially when they're about food. I've got to rea this!

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  2. This one sounds so good! The mentions of food just adds some good spice to the book!

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  3. Lol, these books sounds fun. love the titles, makes me hungry

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