Not Mushroom for Death by Helen Golden

TV Chef Luca Mazza Dies After Collapse at Food Show on the King’s Private Estate

Luca Mazza (38), who was taken ill during a food demonstration at the Fenn House Food and Wine Festival two days ago, is now known to have ingested poison. Lady Beatrice (36), the king’s niece, who is working on a refurbishment project at Fenn House with her business partner Perry Juke (34), is believed to be comforting Luca’s boss and close friend Sebastiano Marchetti (38), who she began dating last month.

Is he crazy? Why else would Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam suggest that Sebastiano poisoned Luca without any evidence? So now, with the help of her little dog Daisy and her best friends Perry and Simon, Lady Beatrice will have to prove to Mr Know-it-all Fitzwilliam that Seb is innocent. But with so many people having access to the food preparation area at the show how will she find out who did murder Luca before Fitzwilliam lets his personal dislike get the better of him and arrests Seb?

 

My review

 

The witty title gives you a good idea of what this book will be like i.e. a clever novel with touches of humour. I always enjoys books by this author since you can rely on larger-than-life characters, intrigue and plot twists galore, and some furry friends getting involved along the way.

We’ve met Lady Beatrice before in ‘For Richer, For Deader’, and though this book works fine as a standalone, if you’ve read that particular novel you get an added layer of richness. You’ll spot some character development taking place.

The novel is very much set in the present day, and plays to the current fascination engendered in ordinary people by celebs and the aristocracy, whether merited or not. These fabulous fictional characters definitely deserve, and demand, our attention and we get a glimpse of how the other half probably live from this author, which is fun.

Poisoning may be a little predictable in murder mysteries, but it offers so much scope to a whodunit as so many people could have dunit! And it goes so well with cookery and culinary shows, something we all love to watch these days.

So in summary, another splendid, lively and wickedly entertaining book from this talented author.

 

Purchase Links

Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BFBMT9BP (UK) and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFBMT9BP (US)

 

Author bio

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Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in small village in Lincolnshire in the UK with my husband, my step-daughter, her two cats, our two dogs, sometimes my step-son, and our tortoise.

I used to work in senior management, but after my recent job came to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing. It’s very early in my life as an author, but so far I’m loving it.

It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes

 

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