Courting Disaster

Angie Amalfi #12

by Joanne Pence

This twelfth culinary mystery from Joanne Pence has everything a mystery reader could ever romance, intrigue and, of course, murder. Loveable amateur sleuth and budding chef Angie Amalfi continues her adventures in this exciting addition to a popular series. Dilettante chef and amateur sleuth Angie Amalfi is at it again, in another culinary mystery in this successful series. Angie has reluctantly agreed to let her mother plan the party to celebrate her engagement to Paavo, her hunky detective beau. But as she frets over whether her mom will pull it off, a new situation surfaces––Stan, her next door neighbour, falls for a mysterious pregnant woman, and gets in over his head. With stalkers, baby–smuggling, and, of course, murder in the days leading up to the party, Angie must concentrate on solving a complicated crime, and reluctantly leave the party planning to mom. o Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich and mystery readers who love stories with a dash of romance. o Each instalment in the series features several delicious recipes from the kitchen of Angie Amalfi.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 30, 2004

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

[Barbara ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book 12 in the series and the first I've read. Had I started at the beginning I might have enjoyed this more. As it is, cry-baby Stan got on my ever lovin' nerves and the whole engagement party plot was incredibly irritating. And what's with the ending where the location isn't revealed. WTH? I did like the smuggling plot and was totally surprised by the leader so that part was well-written but the characters leave a lot to be desired. At this time, I'm not sure if I'll be reading any other book in this series.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some sense of loyalty I have to this series which keeps me coming back, though I find them less enjoyable than I did in the beginning. As time goes on, Angie Amalfi, the lead character, becomes more and more like the stereotypical spoiled, youngest child in a wealthy family. Though it was clear form the start that she didn't have to work, if she didn't want to, she was determined to find her own way and find a career.

However, ever since she got engaged to the second lead, homicide detective Paavo Smith, her less admirable traits seem to be coming out more and dominating the character. She is just so wrapped up in her engagement and in this book, her engagement party, that she can't seem to think of anything else any longer. She briefly thinks about her "career" again, but is consumed by the engagement party that she let her mother plan and her mother is keeping everything except the date and time from her.

She didn't seem so shallow in the beginning, but as the series goes on, she does seem to become more shallow and a spoiled rich heiress that makes you wonder why Paavo stays with her. Oh well, I got invested in the series somewhere down the line, so I'm sure I'll continue, even though I'm enjoying them a bit less than I did in the beginning.

[T.L. Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Courting Disaster: An Angie Amalfi Mystery by Joanne Pence stays true to the cozy mystery format giving Angie a mystery to solve while obsessing and stressing over the details of the engagement party her mother is planning without Angie's input. Her fear over the party not being perfect leads her to try to find out what's happening with the party creating as much a mystery for the reader as the connection between the murder that takes place, the mother and baby who find their way into her neighbor's, and therefore her, life, and the criminal behavior they uncover putting them all in danger. Courting Disaster mixes humor, food, mystery, and a set of unfortunate circumstances to keep the reader intrigued.

[Laura Ruetz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story far better than I liked the characters. I almost put this in the DNF pile because I disliked Angie so much on paper but eventually the author balanced out good traits with the bad enough that I stuck with it. I really liked the story so that makes this a book worth reading at least.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an older book that's been in my To-be-read boxes for a while. It's set in the San Francisco area and features a young woman who "helps" her detective fiancé. Her fussy, wealthy neighbor is annoying but, in the end, OK. The story was gripping in that you wanted to find out the "who did it" but it was implausible. I'm not sure whether I'll read others in the series or not.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angie's engagement party plans are driving her crazy, all because no one will tell her where it is or what the decor is. Then her neighbor Stan gets involved with a pregnant kitchen helper. As usual everything gets twisted and entwined and Angie somehow is in the middle of the mess.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - Good

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angie is her delightful self in this tale. After her engagement to Paarvo she is,worried about her engagement party. Her Mother is planning it and the location is a secret much to her dismay.
Stan, her neighbor, is depressed and becomes interested with a waitress. Hannah and her baby moved into Stan's apartment. Her Father, Sal has a Anproblem and asked Paavo for help. Paavo is working on a case where the victim is pulled from the water. Ms Pence weaves all the threads together to form adventure involving smugglers and the FBI.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character, Angie Amalfi, ranged from funny to stupid in some of her actions and thoughts/words. A few times I thought about stopping reading the book but I continued all turned out ok in the end.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good entry in the series. Stan was in this a lot more than normal getting involved accidently with the mystery that Angie is involved in. I like seeing how Angie and Paavo's relationship is ever evolving as well.

[Deb Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, well worth reading again :)