Death Dines In

Meg Langslow #5.7 - The Birthday Dinner

by Claudia Bishop, Dean James (Editor)

Food, wine and good mysteries make for an unbeatable combination as shown in this anthology of 16 short stories, mostly by established pros, including the two editors.

Bishop (co-editor of 2002's Death Dines at 8:30) serves up a delightful romp set at the Inn at Hemlock Falls, "Waiting for Gateaux," while James (Decorated to Death, the most recent entry in his Simon Kirby-Jones series) offers a cast of quirky and greedy characters in "All in the Family."

In Donna Andrews's amusing "The Birthday Dinner," her series heroine, Meg Langslow, must attend a birthday dinner hosted by her Aunt Millicent, who "hasn't poisoned anyone in years."

Molly Murphy, Rhys Bowen's Irish sleuth, spends her first Christmas Eve as a maid in the home of renowned political leader Sam Wilcox and finds herself involved in murder in "Proof of the Pudding."

In "Sing a Song of Sixpence," Anne Perry introduces English Victorian detective Theolonius Quade and the remarkable Lady Vespasia, who discover a Christmas pudding containing more than the usual surprises.

Brief author interviews and intriguing recipes at the end of each tale enhance a volume certain to delight any palate, but since poison is the weapon of choice, readers may need to let the stories digest before trying the recipes.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Anthologies, Adult Fiction, Cozy

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Claudia Bishop is the nom de plume of mystery & fantasy author Mary Stanton.

Reviews

[Marilyn Fontane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Death Dines In ed. by Claudia Bishop and Dean James is a collection of 16 SS with culinary connections as well as recipes and brief author interviews for each story. My ratings for the stories are extremely mixed. "Sing a Song of Sixpence" by Anne Perry, the best story, features Great Aunt Vespasia Cummings-Gould (from the Pitt series) when she was younger (than most of the series) in 1864 who saves her friend Cicely from being charged with murder of her husband, who had pretended to be poisoned to torture his wife, but who in fact was poisoned and died. Another excellent story was "Waiting for Gateau" by Claudia Bishop, an extremely humorous story about a couple taking a vacation at the Inn at Hemlock Falls who run into a murder at the Inn. Other interesting stories were "Café Con Leche" by Marcos Donnelly set in the Spanish barrios of Los Angles mixing religions and Hispanic culture; "All in the Famiy" by Dean James, with a surprise ending; "The Birthday Dinner" by Donna Andrews, about Meg's aunt Millicent, a seldom mentioned relative in the "bird" series who is known as a poisoner; "Where the Wildflowers Bloom" by Nick DiChario, a sad, but interesting slice of life story; and "License to Koi" by Carole Nelson Douglas with Midnight Louie, a cat, as both narrator and solver of a death at a fugu (poisonous puffer fish) dinner. The remaining nine stories vary from mediocre to awful.
Choose your stories well!

[Gillian Paulus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a perfectly fine short story. I'm just not that into short stories. Like most of them that are set in a series, it didn't add anything to the overall plot. It was fine to read once (borrowed from the library) but I wouldn't personally pay for it or read it again. It's mostly Meg and four other relatives eating dinner at her Aunt Millicent's house. Aunt Millicent has been convicted of murder via poisoning twice. Everyone is scared of her.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of short mysteries that has encouraged me to now research the varied writers and read more if their work. Lots of fun!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of culinary-themed stories. There were a couple I didn't care for, but there are some real gems, too. Overall, a nice collection for mystery lovers.

[Anelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun. Nice variety of stories. Especially enjoyed the one where a cat was the detective.

[Edie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An anthology of stories dealing with food and murder, some good, some mediocre.

[Boweavil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay for the beach.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good anthology, only one story was bad and seemed out of place.


Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Jeannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I chose this book by genre. I tend to become completely engrossed in a book once I start, and I thought I would give the short stories a try since time is very limited right now. But, I didn't find the short stories nearly as interesting, believable, or fulfilling. I only read the first four, and gave it up. Haven't read any of these authors before, and all have written books in addition to short stories. I can say confidently that I will not read anything by one of the authors I read, but the others I might read if I came across one of the books - but no more short stories!

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like food-related mysteries, these 16 short stories are for you. By and large, the stories are both short and entertaining. Most are not using the author's main characters which means that you don't have to know the author's work to enjoy the stories. The recipes associated with each story range from easy to complex and while none truly appealed to me, it's a clever idea. Most of the recipes had a connection to the story.

[Mark Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly fun collection of food related murder by a wide variety of authors. A few of the mysteries were rushed at the end, but for a most part they worked. However, there was one story that was disturbing and I didn't care for at all.

My full review at Carstairs Considers.

[❂ Murder by Death · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An anthology of short mysteries focussed on the culinary, with a recipe contributed by each author. I couldn't care less about the recipes; none of them interested me, but the mysteries were all very well-written and edited.

Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/129214...

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short mystery stories revolving around food or poisoning. I didn't find any stories that I just loved, but the one by Donna Andrews was good, as was the first one by Parnell Hall. Disappointing, really.

[Laurel Lafrance · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kept putting the book down. Could not get into it, very slow and boring. The stories were too short and you did not have time to get into it. (If you wanted to) which was more of a relief that it ended unfortunately. Sorry

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy reading these collections of short mysteries -- they make for a light quick read between other heaview things. This one had stories by some of my favorites, including Donna Andrews and Anne Perry, as well as some debut mysteries from writers from other genres. All in all, enjoyable.

[Clara Smith]

Read "The Birthday Dinner" by Donna Andrews; "The Proof of the Pudding" by Rhys Bowen; "Sing for your Supper ny Don Bruns; "License to Koi" by Carole Nelson Douglas; "Sing a Song of Sixpence" by Anne Perry

[Jessica Haider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short story mysteries all have the common thread of food/meals running through them. The stories didn't capture my interest as much as I had hoped that they would.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a couple of short stories in here that were awful but the rest were pretty good. I found a couple of authors that I hadn't read before.

[Ange · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to confess I only read the last mystery by Anne Perry and glanced at a few of the receipes.

[Shaunesay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Midnight Louie story the best, but I knew that would be the case going in, since I'm a Carole Nelson Douglas Fan!

[Soozy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of a mixed collection. I think my favorite was the crossword puzzle story, and that largely because of the joke about Feed the Children Inc.

[Shay lowery · Rating 4 out of 5]

love this book. very funny stories .

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read by accident, but a happy one. Variable as are all anthologies. This one tended toward more stories that I liked than most.

[Elizabeth Draper · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love quick, quirky mysteries then this is just what you are looking for. Sometimes its nice to wrap up a murder mystery over a lunch break.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sixteen culinary complexities! "Where the Wildflowers Bloom" is written by Nick DiChario of Rochester's Writers Books. My favorite is "The Birthday Dinner" by Donna Andrews.

[Victoria Grusing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read a few new, for me, authors.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm never overeager to sample a recipe that I find in a murder-mystery book. I do, however, savor a really good mystery, and there were a few in this book worth savoring.

[Mona Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea...

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent mystery anthology, with the added bonus of a couple of recipes that sounded intriguing. I mainly picked this one up for the Donna Andrews contribution (which I enjoyed), but all the others were at least okay. Another entry that stood out: Dean James' "All in the Family."