Death on a Silver Platter

Cook and Inspector Mysteries #1

by Joanne Pence

A TV cooking show murder— Angelina Amalfi, a gourmet cook who is also the assistant to a famous chef with his own television show, finds life a tasty treat. But her treat sours when her mentor's last supper turns deadly and he’s poisoned in his own kitchen. Soon, Angie becomes the target of a ruthless assassin with his own hunger for violence.

San Francisco Homicide Inspector, Paavo Smith, who Angie considers a delectable dish, is given the case. But as the body count rises like dough on a hot day, Angie struggles to avoid becoming the main entrée on the killer's plate. Angie and Paavo need to act fast. Can the two find some means to serve up justice, or will both end up skewered in this high-stakes culinary clash?

The main characters in this story appear in an early mystery series by the author which is being completely reimagined and updated.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Ebooks, Amazon, Cozy Mystery

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 28, 2023

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

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series. The main character is Angelina . When her boss is murdered and a bomb is sent to where she , she thought nothing of it. But then when the bomb came she had no idea that her boss was already dead. Then her strange guy who gave her breakfast recipes is found murdered as well. But no one seems to make any connections. Then the inspector assigned her case loses his partner also investigating the same cases things start to fall into place. The major problem no one saw coming was when Angelina started to fall for the inspector. The inspector seems to be falling as well but knows there is no hope for a rich girl and a cop. Only she seems to pay no attention. They seem to be making some head way in the case but can they figure this out before one of them is dead?

[Valeri Sullivan (vsulvn29) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until he smiled.

I love this series now as much as I did when it originally came out over thirty years ago! This reimagined and updated book retains the amazing characters and intriguing story while giving it a freshening up by weaving in new technology - The original predated cell phones and Uber!

[Valorie Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!!!

I like the start of this series!!!!
Angie is an assistant to a TV chef, that is arguably arrogant, mean, and wants things his way or the highway, but someone didn't like his attitude about him being a better chef.
Angie started getting these weird recipes for Robbie to put on his show and couldn't figure out why, then things started happening that no one could explain.
Then Angie got a call about Robbie dead in his home after eating something only a experience chef could make. WHO? WHY?
Then bodies start to add up and then a bomb at the cooking show kitchen where Angie was to meet her boss.
Now the homicide inspector Paavo Smith is assigned to her because of her family to keep her safe.
Boy, do they go through alot to find out what is going, when the feds get involved.
Now you have to get this book to find the answers, I spend late nights finding out!!!!!

[Jerry Jares · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is an unexpected pleasure; the characters are well-drawn, and the plot moves quickly. Angelina Amalfi picks up a ticking package and brings it into her workplace, which is a television kitchen (where her boss runs a TV cooking class locally). After it explodes, Inspector Paavo Smith arrives with a team of police. He is unimpressed with Angie's deluxe manner and political connections. When she tells him that her boss is missing, they find that the TV chef has been poisoned at home.

This story was so surprising for its charm and interesting action. The story is not what the reader expects, which makes it all the more entertaining. This is the start of a new series. Overall score = 4.5 stars.


Cook and Inspector Mysteries
** 1. Death on a Silver Platter (2023)
2. A Quiche Before Dying (2024)
3. The Marinara Murders (2024)
4. Close Encounters of the Deadly Kind (2024)

[Karen Keyte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, the first in a reworking and updating of the Angie Amalfi series from the 1990s, is an amalgamation of straight up romance, romantic suspense and police heavy mystery. The writing is fair, not spectacular but good enough and the plot has the requisite twists and turns.

The first negative for me was that Angie did way, way too much inner monologuing about Paavo. For a mystery, there is a lot of filler in between scenes that move the story forward. Also a minus, to my point of view, was the final uncovering of the villain(s) and the subsequent peril before everything was uncovered. It didn’t feel real. Angie was supposed to be smart but she kept putting herself in danger. I didn’t hate it, it was a decent read and not unnecessarily taxing, but I doubt I will read any more of the series.

[Dale Zweibohmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book of the year and I enjoyed it very much. It is the first book of this reimagined and updated series. Angelina Amalfi is a gourmet cook who is also the assistant to a chef with his own TV show. When her mentor's last supper turns deadly and he's poisoned in his own kitchen. Angie become the target of a ruthless assassin with his own hunger for violence. I liked the characters and enjoyed the plot twists and the tension between them. It is a nice clean cozy mystery. I hope to read more of this series.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sort of 'flashback' novel that recounts the beginning of the Angie-Paavo relationship as they work to solve several murders before the murderer can succeed in killing Angie. It turns into an edge-of-your-seat, turn-the-pages-as-fast-as-you-can-read story by the end. It is definitely a good read.

[Jean Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good murder mystery with romance. I liked the story, although Angelina kind of annoyed me. She acts like a very immature adult, not wanting anyone to tell her what to do and unbelievably thinks it is okay to run around on her own despite more than one attempt to kill her. Sadly I just couldn't get too interested in most of the characters and the storyline.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

Angie's boss, a semi famous chef, is killed and an attempt was made on her life. Enter Inspector Smith who acts like a grump towards her, has to spend a lot of time with her as more attempts on her life are made. Sparks begin to fly between the rich girl Angie and the dour Inspector. I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Jennifer Kovaleski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced mystery

I liked the characters and the premise. The story was fast paced with some scenes that had me on the edge of my seat. Definitely see a future romance with Angie and Paavo. I'm not a huge romance fan but the romance was well balanced with a good mystery and storyline. Plan on continuing to see where it goes

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads as Romance than a Mystery Book

I could not finish this book several chapters could have been shortened. Reads too slow. Dialog was centered more like a romance than a mystery book.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great beginning

This book was a surprise. It's an older series that I had not come across before. I'm so glad I did!! It's very well-written. The mystery was great, and the characters are very believable! I'm going to download the next one right now!!

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Cozy Filled with Twists

A delightfully crafted cozy full of cat-and-mouse games between the detective and amateur sleuth as well as the murderer and the authorities. Just when you think you've got it... you haven't! Fun characters. An enjoyable read.

[Maureen Sloan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twists and Turns

Although the main characters antagonize each other, through it all there is a sweet shmultzy ending. It is a great escape book to read. I enjoyed it.

[Jacque Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death on a Silver Platter

Was a great read. Held my attention. And took its time solving the mystery. Gave it that much more to enjoy.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too predictable and the AI readers were stilted and made the dialogue seem even more simplified and formulaic.

[Kevin Cannon (Monty's Book Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery. I listened to the audio book and although it was AI narrated it was such good quality that I mostly forgot that I wasn't listening to a real person

I would definitely listen to further audio books in this series