To Catch a Cook

Angie Amalfi #8

by Joanne Pence

A Nasty Stew Between her latest "sure–fire" foray into the food industry—video restaurant reviews—and her concern over boyfriend Homicide Detective Paavo Smith‘s depressed state, Angie Amalfi‘s plate is full to overflowing. Paavo has never come to terms with the fact that his mother abandoned him when he was four, leaving vehind only an antique brooch to remember her by. But when the bauble vanishes, the jeweler who was repairing it is murdered, and Paavo‘s surrogate father is critically wounded by a would–be burglar, Paavo decides it‘s time to discover the truth about his errant parent‘s life and mysterious disappearance. Gourmet chef and eager sleuth Angie Smells a tasty mystery cooking. But what‘s bubbling in this pot is a lethal goulash of intrigues, betrayals, FBI deceptions, and murderous Russian mafia mayhem—an old family recipe for disaster for Angie and her policeman beau.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Joanne Pence is a USA Today best-selling and award winning author of two mystery series, contemporary and historical romance, fantasy and thrillers. She is the author of the Angie Amalfi culinary mystery series, which is still in print after twenty years, and now has 15 books (the latest, COOKING SPIRITS was an April 2013 release), and a novella (Cook's Christmas Capers, Dec. 2013). She has just begun a new series, the Rebecca Mayfield mysteries. ONE O'CLOCK HUSTLE is the first full-length novel, and THE THIRTEENTH SANTA is a novella which shows how the two main characters met.

Joanne's books have won many awards and honors, including RWA's Golden Heart and Rita Award nominations, the Independent Book Seller's Golden Quill, the Daphne du Maurier award, the Willa Cather Literary Award in Historical Fiction (for DANCE WITH A GUNFIGHTER), and the Idaho Top Fiction Award for ANCIENT ECHOES.

Joanne was born and raised in San Francisco and now makes her home in the foothills of Boise. She has been president of the Boise chapter of Sisters in Crime, a founder and board member of the Popular Fiction Association of Idaho, and founding member and current board member of the Idaho Writers Guild. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a master's degree in journalism, Joanne has written for magazines, worked for the federal government, and taught school in Japan.

Reviews

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this exciting entry into the Angie Amalfi mystery series, Angie and her boyfriend Paavo find themselves being chased by Russian mobsters with no idea why. After several break-ins, attacks, murders of other people, they determine that it has something to do with an antique brooch that Angie has taken to a jeweler to get repaired. That does have something to do with the whole mystery, but there is much more and it is much, much more complicated and serious than they ever thought. When things start to intersect with old secrets from Paavo's past, he is not sure he really wants to find out what is going on. Both he and Angie press on, though, and Angie almost loses her life before they know exactly what is going on and who the killer is. This is definitely a page-turner and a very good entry in this series.

[Deb Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first cooking mystery series that I started reading. And I have to say it is one of my fave series,it is funny and exciting.The main character is so FuNnY.

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good mystery set in San Francisco. Although this is the 8th in the series, it is the first one I’ve read….I had no problem following the story . I didn’t really understand workings of the Soviet “mafia” in San Francisco, but decided not to worry about it… just accepted it as part of the novel. In this book Angie, a rich but frustrated woman who would like to be known for doing something in her life, is living with SF Homicide Inspector Paavro Smith. Smith was still having dreams about his family, all of whom had died. He had no living relatives, but he did have an elderly friend who had raised him. At Christmas, Paavro gave Angie an old cameo pin that his sister had owned. (She died when she was 19 years old) Angie loved the pin, but when the setting became loose she took it to a jeweler to be repaired. There she found out that the pin was a very valuable Russian antique cameo. Before the jeweler could repair the cameo, he was murdered and the pin went missing. Soon both her apartment and Parvo’s flat were broken into and damaged. Someone was looking for something… but what??
……The only thing that really bothered me was that I saw no connection between the story and the title of the book. Angie did attempt to create a video restaurant guide, but that was about it.

[Gail Gallant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Joanne Pence book. It had a very good plot that didn't reveal all the answers and also had personal and relationship stories to follow. It kept the two lead characters in the dark as to why they were targets. There were questions about past events that put them in this situation. All in all a good read.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - Good

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas gift to Angie is a broach that belong to Paavo's Mother. While Angie was cleaning; the cameo portion falls. She takes to a jeweler for repair. There she learns that it is Russian & the diamonds real. As Paavo's past starts to unravel their characters grow. The ending is unusual. All of this series are great; this one the best.

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this installment of the series, we find out about Paavo's mysterious past and family. There are always a million reasons for people's actions and this time they're really incredible!our feckless heroine never gives up and always seems to get herself in trouble -- this time is no exception! Good recipes in the back of the book, too :)

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the best Angie Amalfi mystery I've read so far! I really enjoyed the story and getting to learn more of Paavo's history. I did find that the story was kind of complicated and there were a lot of characters to keep track of but I still found it really enjoyable.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angie gets involved in her boyfriend's case.

[Sue Pinkerton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery solced

Love this series. Great characters, stay true to themselves, and builds on the previous. Find out the big stumbling block!