Murder Makes an Entree

Auguste Didier #5

by Amy Myers

A sumptuous dinner turns deadly in this Edwardian mystery introducing master chef and amateur detective Auguste Didier - and featuring the charismatic Prince of Wales himself.
Only a dinner of first-class excellence can tempt the Prince of Wales to endure the ordeal of being president of the Society of Literary Lionizers. And he ensures this by insisting that the year's highlight, the banquet at Broadstairs, will be cooked by master chef Auguste Didier.
Broadstairs is famed not only as a seaside resort but also as the holiday haunt of Charles Dickens - the author the society has chosen to lionize for the year of the prince's presidency. The banquet, attended by six Peggotys, two Betsy Trotwoods, a couple of Little Dorrits, a Scrooge, and a Mr. Pickwick - not to mention a highly emotional Miss Havisham - goes well, but the readings that follow do not. In the middle of the murder scene from Oliver Twist, the reader, Sir Thomas Throgmorton, collapses and dies.
Throgmorton has been poisoned, and Inspector Naseby of the local constabulary believes Didier's banquet is to blame. Luckily, the irrepressible Didier joins forces with inspector Egbert Rose of Scotland Yard to clear his name and uncover the real culprit.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy

279 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1996

About the author

aka Laura Daniels, Harriet Hudson

Amy Myers was born in Kent, where she still lives, although she has now ventured to the far side of the Medway. For many years a director of a London publishing company, she is now a full-time writer. Married to an American, she lived for some years in Paris, where, surrounded by food, she first dreamed up her Victorian chef detective Auguste Didier. Currently she is writing her contemporary crime series starring Jack Colby, car detective, and in between his adventures continuing her Marsh & Daughter series and her Victorian chimnney sweep Tom Wasp novels.

Series:
* Peter and Georgia March
* Auguste Didier
* Tom Wasp

Anthologies edited:
* After Midnight Stories

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the Auguste Didier series and I for the most part enjoyed it. Auguste is a French chef who now lives in England and occasionally solves crimes. In Murder Makes an Entree Auguste is in charge of cooking a formal dinner for a club that is celebrating Charles Dickens. Unfortunately, one of the guests ends up dying from being poisoned and Auguste and his students are being blamed so Chef Didier decides to help his old friend Inspector Rose of Scotland Yard find out whodunnit. Overall, I had a fun time with this story, Auguste is a character and a half, although sometimes I fear he strays into being more of a stereotype, than a real person. The mystery was an interesting one and I loved the setting of an English seaside vacation. I would read more in this series.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, not great. The writing was a bit choppy but the overall plot was interesting.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is the summer of 1899, and dedicated chef Auguste Didier has brought the pupils of his cooking school to the seaside resort of Broadstairs for a fortnight of cooking fish. He has also reluctantly agreed to cook for a banquet of the Literary Lionisers, in Broadstairs to celebrate the life and works of Charles Dickens. Naturally, it isn't long before a murder occurs, and Auguste once more finds himself in the role of reluctant detective. Fortunately, his old friend Inspector Rose of Scotland Yard just happens to be on holiday in nearby Ramsgate, and comes to the aid of Auguste in solving the crime.

This is one of my favourites of this entertaining series. The author conjures up a convincing portrayal of the Victorian seaside, there are some intersting characters, and Auguste and Egbert Rose as always make an amusing and unusual team of detectives.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, while well-written, was not to my taste. It is about a chef who solves mysteries in Victorian England. The chef is french and always thinking about sleeping with one or another of the women/girls he meets when he isn't thinking about the dishes he will make. The chef has been forced to prepare a meal for the Prince of Wales at a small seaside town where the Prince has been inveigled to come to attend the meeting of a very carping, petty Society of Literary Lionizers. At the meal, the president of the Lionizers, a thoroughly nasty person, keels over, and the chef (and his more or less loyal assistants) are each under suspicion. The setup is a good one, but I didn't really enjoy the characters very much.

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always enjoyable to read a book that understands the power of cuisine. A fascinating mystery & I confess I did NOT guess who did it - sigh.