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Fiona Silk #2
Too Hot to Handle
Poor Fiona Silk is broke again. Her romance writing career is tanking, her ex-husband's stalling with her divorce settlement and her tiny house may be sold for unpaid taxes. But Fiona's new agent, Lola, has a plan. Fiona can write an erotic cookbook. It's good timing since the TV event, Hot Stuff! En Feu! is being shot in her small town. Producers, staff, and media are about to descend on the village, including two popular and sensuous chefs. This project would be easier if Fiona had a sex life or a working oven. Fiona's still pretty shaky from witnessing the mysterious crash of a Cadillac Escalade and the death of the driver who had treated her to an episode of road rage. Still she wants to cobble the erotic cookbook. If only Fiona could keep her mind off that fatal crash. Soon bad things start to happen to people, but, oddly, only when Fiona is nearby. Before long there's danger at the Hot Stuff En Feu! location, Fiona's tiny home is in flames, and the body count is rising. Will Canada's most reluctant sleuth stop a killer before her own goose is cooked? Recipes are included.
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
2 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Mary Jane Maffini
31 books162 followersAka Victoria Abbott with her daughter Victoria Maffini.
Mary Jane Maffini was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and has her BA (Hons) and MLS from Dalhousie University. After a career in libraries such as The Brewers' Association of Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, and a wonderful ride as a co-owner of Prime Crime Mystery Bookstore, she has settled into a life of crime, surrounded by her two miniature dachshunds, the ghost of her beloved Corgoid Smudge, and her long-suffering husband. She's a former President of Crime Writers of Canada, and a former member of the board of directors of the Canadian Booksellers Association. She's a frequent speaker on writing mysteries and on the importance of Canadian crime fiction. In real life, although she is a member of the Ladies' Killing Circle, she has never killed anyone.
Mary Jane Maffini was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and has her BA (Hons) and MLS from Dalhousie University. After a career in libraries such as The Brewers' Association of Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, and a wonderful ride as a co-owner of Prime Crime Mystery Bookstore, she has settled into a life of crime, surrounded by her two miniature dachshunds, the ghost of her beloved Corgoid Smudge, and her long-suffering husband. She's a former President of Crime Writers of Canada, and a former member of the board of directors of the Canadian Booksellers Association. She's a frequent speaker on writing mysteries and on the importance of Canadian crime fiction. In real life, although she is a member of the Ladies' Killing Circle, she has never killed anyone.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 22, 2015
I love a genuine mystery, a scenario that is puzzling by itself. Even if a crime plays a part, Mary Jane Maffini’s mysteries are infinitely more original. The ‘Fiona Silk’ duology exemplifies that a synopsis is worth ignoring. It didn’t sound as if “Too Hot To Handle” would be as interesting as “Lament For A Lounge Lizard” but I like it better. There are many angles to this story. Famous chefs are filming a show during a cooking festival in town, called ‘En Feu’. Fiona & Josie have reason to visit the film site, to return the producer’s wallet. Her friend Hélène’s husband covets her cottage, which Fiona will not sell but its taxes are due.
Her income options are to receive a divorce settlement from Philip, or accept her agent’s plan for an erotic cookbook; which she feels uncomfortably ill-equipped to create. Additionally, a speeding pair are rude on the highway. When the driver crashes later, police see no trace of the female passenger. Had their jeering been personal, or were they merely jerks? The novel is inundated with inconveniences and catastrophes; so many, I grew uncomfortable. They needn’t have been numerous and excessive. Half of these frustrations would have been sufficient for a down and out mood: a cheque forgotten while she’s at the bank, every friend unable to give her a loan, a car stalling, someone crooked or malicious everywhere she turned....
This and Fiona not seeming to have a strong connection to any motives, are my sole reservations. As usual, my rating still resulted in five stars. No chapter lagged. I read this whole book with such fulfilling eagerness, laughing and wishing the best for every character. This author’s exceptional gift is accomplishing a rainbow of detailing and personal touches, without ever affecting her adventurer’s purpose.
Her income options are to receive a divorce settlement from Philip, or accept her agent’s plan for an erotic cookbook; which she feels uncomfortably ill-equipped to create. Additionally, a speeding pair are rude on the highway. When the driver crashes later, police see no trace of the female passenger. Had their jeering been personal, or were they merely jerks? The novel is inundated with inconveniences and catastrophes; so many, I grew uncomfortable. They needn’t have been numerous and excessive. Half of these frustrations would have been sufficient for a down and out mood: a cheque forgotten while she’s at the bank, every friend unable to give her a loan, a car stalling, someone crooked or malicious everywhere she turned....
This and Fiona not seeming to have a strong connection to any motives, are my sole reservations. As usual, my rating still resulted in five stars. No chapter lagged. I read this whole book with such fulfilling eagerness, laughing and wishing the best for every character. This author’s exceptional gift is accomplishing a rainbow of detailing and personal touches, without ever affecting her adventurer’s purpose.
January 12, 2025
This is a fun read. I felt like her narrator was annoying though.
April 26, 2008
This author came highly recommended to me. I'm not sure why. I won't be reading any more of these. The mystery was pretty good but the protagonist drove me nuts. I love mysteries with strong females that are also not professional sleuths. This fit half the bill, she isn't a professional. She also isn't strong, in fact, she's a total wimp. She's been divorced for three years and still can't get a settlement out of her very wealthy ex-husband lawyer, she allows a 15-year old girl to run her life and can't get her to do something as simple as not walk into her house unannounced, her "best friend" borrows all her furniture and dishes seconds after she tells her no, she can't. Sheesh, I understand someone who lets some people walk all over her but this is ridiculous! The strongest character in the book is 15, followed closely by the cop. Not highly recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2010
This was enjoyable and funny, but not great literature. Maffini has 3 series and I was wondering how this character differs in personality from Charlotte Adams (her 3rd series). But I did enjoy reading it, and I didn't guess the murderer (even though I thought I had). There wasn't much reason given for the murders, other than greed, but I suppose that could be a powerful motive.
April 26, 2010
This book was superb! Recipes and a mystery too hot to handle indeed. I love the characters and the location in this series. The humour is amazing and had me laughing out loud.
Buy it and you will be glad!
Buy it and you will be glad!
Want to read
January 27, 200801/26/08 purchased at MOTB -- Ladies' Killing Circle Signing
February 8, 2009
another great book by Maffini.
November 14, 2013
So much fun!
November 17, 2014
another great read by Mary Jane Maffini. She is a wonderful writer and creates such interesting characters you can immediately identify with.
April 27, 2017
Poor Fiona Silk, the narrator and protagonist in this so-so murder mystery. It's set in rural Quebec I guess to give it a cozy feel: there's the usual cast of offbeat small town characters. Fiona herself goes from one disaster to another right from the beginning of the book: she's almost run off the road by a humongous SUV. Things go down hill from there and even her house gets burned down by an arsonist. Of course she almost gets murdered when she finally figures out who is the killer. It's a jumble.
Fiona is an author and to help her out of her financial problems, her agent gets her a contract to write an "erotic" cookbook. This seems to be the basis for the book to have a recipe for each chapter, but this doesn't seem to add anything to the story.
It may have helped to have read the first book in the series because some of this story was based on what had gone before.
It's OK if you like small town murder mystery stories with flaky protagonists.
Fiona is an author and to help her out of her financial problems, her agent gets her a contract to write an "erotic" cookbook. This seems to be the basis for the book to have a recipe for each chapter, but this doesn't seem to add anything to the story.
It may have helped to have read the first book in the series because some of this story was based on what had gone before.
It's OK if you like small town murder mystery stories with flaky protagonists.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews