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Revenge Cafe
What was supposed to happen: Mandy would land in the Virgin Islands, head to the Revenge Café on St. Thomas, and start living her dream life. She'd begin a new career sharing ownership of the restaurant with her best friend, Chance. She'd break her addiction to therapy cold turkey. And shed let the slow, laid-back pace of island life fix whatever was broken within her. What actually happened: apparently the Revenge Cafe is the "it" place for people dying, let alone dining. While she's dealing with a murder on the premises, Mandy learns Chance had been dabbling in a variety of activities that may or may not have been legal, and that may or may not have set her up to be the next victim. With people from her past refusing to stay there, a ghost in the dining room messing up closing time, and a too sexy police detective vying for her attention, Mandy wants only to bury her head in the sand, or at least drown it in a bottle of rum. But as the list of suspects grows to include an old boyfriend and former members of the VIPD, she realizes her own inner demons can destroy her faster than any living, breathing person. It is only after she gets the courage to face them head on that she finds the real murderers and learns they were the least likely of suspects.
- GenresMysteryCozy Mystery
Audiobook
First published May 28, 2014
29 people are currently reading
363 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Shiroff
13 books17 followersLisa Shiroff writes because she’s not sure what else she can do with herself. Oh sure, she’s a wife, mom of two kids, and manages to walk her dog every day, but as far as careers go, the only thing she knows how to do is write, cook and mix a drink. Chefs and bartenders have to work weekends, though, so she’s sticking to the writing gig. Having lived in several states, she currently resides in south Jersey where she enjoys the local cuisine more than she should.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 3, 2016
Fired from her job as an investigative reporter, Mandy ventures to the Caribbean to join her best friend, Chance, in running a restaurant. When she arrives to find that her pal has been murdered, she uses her skills to investigate the crime. As if that's not enough, many of the locals have been hired by Chance and really need those jobs, so Mandy gamely decides to give running the Revenge Cafe a go. But, she's surrounded by suspicious characters, and plagued by both jumbies (bad spirits) and ghosts from her past. Then there's the handsome detective, who's never far from her mind, not to mention her debilitating fear of being in a car, AND the distinct possibility that she may not survive to see opening weekend.
Is it any wonder she drinks so much rum?
This was a fun book loaded with delightful characters and situations, and spicy as a stuffed jalapeno. Yummy food and drink descriptions, and the lush tropical setting only add to the enjoyment. Just the right read to kick Old Man Winter right in the . . . teeth. Yeah. That's it. Teeth.
Is it any wonder she drinks so much rum?
This was a fun book loaded with delightful characters and situations, and spicy as a stuffed jalapeno. Yummy food and drink descriptions, and the lush tropical setting only add to the enjoyment. Just the right read to kick Old Man Winter right in the . . . teeth. Yeah. That's it. Teeth.
November 14, 2018
Watch out! Mandy Breen is on the road and she has a motoring impairment. Relocating to the Caribbean to run a restaurant, she becomes possibly the worst driver in a place known for bad drivers. Along the way she encounters murder, her ex-boyfriend, a former police officer (fired due to Mandy), a sexy police detective and a ghost. Apparently Mandy picked the wrong time to give up therapy. But there’s plenty of rum and sunshine which helps as she slogs her way through the mystery of the death of her friend and restaurant partner, killed by an unusual, hot, pungent murder weapon.
Told in first person, author Lisa Shiroff does a masterful job with the main character; Mandy is flawed, funny, self-deprecating (“I took my bag, amazed yet again, by the power of boobs. Nothing rivals their ability to make a man overlook truly pathetic qualities, even bizarre phobias, in a woman.”) But the funniest parts for me were the scenes of Mandy driving a car. The thoughts that run through her head as she decelerates down to a crawl and yet still dings her new car at every turn.
Revenge Café kept me laughing, smiling and truly entertained for the entire read; I highly recommend it. If you’re in the mood for mystery, romance and crazy characters set in the tropics, stop in the café for a glass of rum and a plate of revenge.
Told in first person, author Lisa Shiroff does a masterful job with the main character; Mandy is flawed, funny, self-deprecating (“I took my bag, amazed yet again, by the power of boobs. Nothing rivals their ability to make a man overlook truly pathetic qualities, even bizarre phobias, in a woman.”) But the funniest parts for me were the scenes of Mandy driving a car. The thoughts that run through her head as she decelerates down to a crawl and yet still dings her new car at every turn.
Revenge Café kept me laughing, smiling and truly entertained for the entire read; I highly recommend it. If you’re in the mood for mystery, romance and crazy characters set in the tropics, stop in the café for a glass of rum and a plate of revenge.
May 4, 2025
A fun book set in the Virgin Islands. Mandy arrives to meet her friend Chance. They are about to go into business together opening and running Revenge Cafe. Mandy’s fear of riding in a vehicle and driving a vehicle lead to accidental scratches and scrapes on the car.
When she arrives at the restaurant, her friend Chance is dead, and she inherits everything he owned. The cause of Chance’s death is very surprising.
Suspicious characters, people from her past and jumbies (bad spirits) have the restaurant staff afraid to work the weekends. Na chance encounter with Ginger provides Mandy the perfect restaurant manager. The handsome Matt
Piper, local policeman, divorced father of two, and dog lover has to come to Mandy’s rescue quite often.
When she arrives at the restaurant, her friend Chance is dead, and she inherits everything he owned. The cause of Chance’s death is very surprising.
Suspicious characters, people from her past and jumbies (bad spirits) have the restaurant staff afraid to work the weekends. Na chance encounter with Ginger provides Mandy the perfect restaurant manager. The handsome Matt
Piper, local policeman, divorced father of two, and dog lover has to come to Mandy’s rescue quite often.
May 30, 2017
Lisa Shiroff has an uncanny ability for including food, its ingredients and skillful preparation in thoroughly credible murder mysteries. "Revenge Cafe" is no exception. Few other authors have, to my knowledge, truly considered the option of death by pepper before. Which makes Shiroff either extremely creative or a little weird. Since she somehow manages to tie the lethal fruit into the mystery, however, I'll vote for creative. Her main character is part sleuth and part DSM IV poster girl. Fortunately, there are plenty of eccentric islanders and expats to help keep her focused on solving a murder.
April 18, 2023
I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one but about halfway through it picked up more. The main character has some quirks that at times are super entertaining and other times just exhausting to keep reading about. I didn’t expect the ending so I guess that’s good. But so much of the explanation and tying up of loose ends just didn’t make sense to me. There were too many characters and I just got lost too easily at the end. Maybe that’s just me.
April 4, 2023
This was not quite a 2 but not quite a 3 for me either. It was okay and I didn't love it and the whole time I was listening, all I could think about was how this woman had a licence. The main character, that is, not the author. There were some definite lol moments throughout but I guess maybe I just wan't totally invested in the characters or the story.
March 23, 2023
To me, Mandy’s driving impairment was a needless distraction. Otherwise the book was a solid mystery in a wonderful setting.
December 19, 2014
Revenge Cafe
Written by: Lisa Shiroff
Narrated by: Wendy Pitts
Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:10-30-14
Publisher: Tasfil Publishing
Publisher's Summary
What was supposed to happen: Mandy would land in the Virgin Islands, head to the Revenge Café on St. Thomas, and start living her dream life. She'd begin a new career sharing ownership of the restaurant with her best friend, Chance. She'd break her addiction to therapy cold turkey. And shed let the slow, laid-back pace of island life fix whatever was broken within her. What actually happened: apparently the Revenge Cafe is the "it" place for people dying, let alone dining. While she's dealing with a murder on the premises, Mandy learns Chance had been dabbling in a variety of activities that may or may not have been legal, and that may or may not have set her up to be the next victim. With people from her past refusing to stay there, a ghost in the dining room messing up closing time, and a too sexy police detective vying for her attention, Mandy wants only to bury her head in the sand, or at least drown it in a bottle of rum. But as the list of suspects grows to include an old boyfriend and former members of the VIPD, she realizes her own inner demons can destroy her faster than any living, breathing person. It is only after she gets the courage to face them head on that she finds the real murderers and learns they were the least likely of suspects.
©2014 Lisa Shiroff (P)2014 Lisa Shiroff
My review
A thoroughly enjoyable story, it has everything, humour, location, food, fashion and murder! Oh, and a slightly serious side too, Mandy does have issues, however, some of the funnier aspects of the story do arise from Mandy dealing with her demons. Her driving maybe bordering on lunatic, but, my goodness, it's funny, some good writing here.
This book contains some wonderful characters, I would love to meet them again, I'm sure the Revenge Cafe would provide the perfect setting for lots more stories.
The Narration
One thing quickly became obvious to me, I should have read the book, not listened, as a book it deserves 4 stars. I felt Wendy Pitts was completely mis-cast, she came across as a teenager rather than a young woman, as did Ginger, who was older again.
In fact the best characterisation was of the two young girls.
I can't comment on the accent of the islanders as I don't know what they ought to sound like, but, being British, I do know the English accent. I'm so sorry to have to say, but the English accents were bad, truly awful. The narrative did not flow well, some sentences sounded stilted, as though they had been stopped and restarted. There was a lack of realism and of being in the moment, as if not much time had been spent in preparation, all in all, a difficult, uncomfortable listen.
This audiobook was gifted to me by the narrator in return for this, my honest opinion
Written by: Lisa Shiroff
Narrated by: Wendy Pitts
Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:10-30-14
Publisher: Tasfil Publishing
Publisher's Summary
What was supposed to happen: Mandy would land in the Virgin Islands, head to the Revenge Café on St. Thomas, and start living her dream life. She'd begin a new career sharing ownership of the restaurant with her best friend, Chance. She'd break her addiction to therapy cold turkey. And shed let the slow, laid-back pace of island life fix whatever was broken within her. What actually happened: apparently the Revenge Cafe is the "it" place for people dying, let alone dining. While she's dealing with a murder on the premises, Mandy learns Chance had been dabbling in a variety of activities that may or may not have been legal, and that may or may not have set her up to be the next victim. With people from her past refusing to stay there, a ghost in the dining room messing up closing time, and a too sexy police detective vying for her attention, Mandy wants only to bury her head in the sand, or at least drown it in a bottle of rum. But as the list of suspects grows to include an old boyfriend and former members of the VIPD, she realizes her own inner demons can destroy her faster than any living, breathing person. It is only after she gets the courage to face them head on that she finds the real murderers and learns they were the least likely of suspects.
©2014 Lisa Shiroff (P)2014 Lisa Shiroff
My review
A thoroughly enjoyable story, it has everything, humour, location, food, fashion and murder! Oh, and a slightly serious side too, Mandy does have issues, however, some of the funnier aspects of the story do arise from Mandy dealing with her demons. Her driving maybe bordering on lunatic, but, my goodness, it's funny, some good writing here.
This book contains some wonderful characters, I would love to meet them again, I'm sure the Revenge Cafe would provide the perfect setting for lots more stories.
The Narration
One thing quickly became obvious to me, I should have read the book, not listened, as a book it deserves 4 stars. I felt Wendy Pitts was completely mis-cast, she came across as a teenager rather than a young woman, as did Ginger, who was older again.
In fact the best characterisation was of the two young girls.
I can't comment on the accent of the islanders as I don't know what they ought to sound like, but, being British, I do know the English accent. I'm so sorry to have to say, but the English accents were bad, truly awful. The narrative did not flow well, some sentences sounded stilted, as though they had been stopped and restarted. There was a lack of realism and of being in the moment, as if not much time had been spent in preparation, all in all, a difficult, uncomfortable listen.
This audiobook was gifted to me by the narrator in return for this, my honest opinion
July 8, 2015
I won this book on goodreads.com.
Mandy travels to St. Thomas to marry Chance, only to find him dead in the walk in freezer. The Island is full of suspicious characters. Which one killed Chance? Not only that, the restaurant she now owns has a ghost that won't allow the restaurant to be open on the weekends.
A fun, page turning story. Read about Mandy and her many quirks. And find out who killed Mandy's man.
Mandy travels to St. Thomas to marry Chance, only to find him dead in the walk in freezer. The Island is full of suspicious characters. Which one killed Chance? Not only that, the restaurant she now owns has a ghost that won't allow the restaurant to be open on the weekends.
A fun, page turning story. Read about Mandy and her many quirks. And find out who killed Mandy's man.
December 7, 2023
This is such a fun "Whodunnit" mystery, and I'm now a fan of Lisa Shiroff! I only like first-person narration when it's really done well, and this was. I love strong female characters like Mandy; she also has quirky character flaws of course. Everything is handled in a humorous light. The mystery is the main focus, but there is also a romantic element with a bit of sexiness that I thought was done really well. I want to read more by this author! I loved "Revenge Cafe."
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews