A Stiff Risotto

Heaven Lee #3

by Lou Jane Temple

The knives are out!

Heaven Lee-- proprietress extraordinaire of Kansas City's celebrated Cafe Heaven-- knew she had to watch her back at Aspen's gossipy Real Dish Food Festival. But it wasn't until the saucy cook stumbled across the battered body of one of the Best Chef contestants that she realized how deadly the competition could be.

Every June, five thousand gourmands from across the globe gather in the chic resort town of Aspen, sipping wine in the pristine mountain air as five celebrity chefs battle for the Best Chef title. When the competitors start to drop, there's a bountiful supply of suspects. The intrepid Heaven discovers scores to settle, Hollywood ambitions, and outright malice before making sure a vicious killer gets their just deserts!

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction

210 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1997

About the author

LOU JANE TEMPLE, the former owner of Cafe Lulu in Kansas City, wrote about food and entertaining for Kansas City Magazine, and was the author of the Heaven Lee mysteries, a series of culinary thrillers.

Lou Jane moved to Kansas City in the late 1960s and was a 50-year resident of Kansas City, Mo., and a creative force in the city.

Reviews

[Karen Hufman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heaven owns a restaurant in Kansas City but she gets a chance to go to Aspen for a Food and Wine Festival where mayhem ensues. Celebrity chefs are fighting for the moniker of Best Chef title from a foodie magazine but one by one, the contestants are going down. Heaven works on solving the mystery. I enjoyed the story- didn't quite understand Heaven's moral feeling towards boyfriends (she has a much younger one waiting for her back at home but there's two other guys in Aspen she'd be happy to hook up with). Once I got past that I actually liked the story.

[audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and adventurous romp of a culinary mystery, set at a cooking competition (I love that trope) and peopled with enjoyable (if sometimes unlikeable) characters. Great recipes sprinkled throughout the text, which is my new favorite way to encounter them.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted something light. This was certainly light - maybe way too light. I almost gave it a 3 star.

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Real Dish Food Festival held in Aspen where chefs cook it out to win the title of Best Chef is having more than it's share of mishaps. Heaven Lee, Chris and Joe are in attendance showing off their talents in a skit about how NOT to order wine. They get involved in trying to find out who is causing all these accidents surrounding the festival. It seems like someone is trying to sabotage the chefs one by one. All the clues are leading to their friend and fellow chef Bo....but they don't believe it's true. Trying to prove it isn't Bo doing the harm gets them more involved in the mystery. Heaven believes the answer lies in finding out the secret between Sergio LaSala, his estranged son Tony and Linda Lunch, the festival director.
Meanwhile back in Kansas City, where Heaven left Murray in charge, running the restaurant is taking it's toll on the poor guy. Problems are multiplying and Murray is stressing. But for now he's keeping it to himself and hoping Heaven doesn't find out until she gets back from Aspen.
This book is filled with cooking and eating as the chefs outdo themselves competing with recipes they hope will win. With the recipes also in the book you can become a chef too.

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Food and wine are lovingly detailed in this colorful romp but the recipes, if you actually tried to make them, would require a fairly high level of expertise to fill in the blanks, as well as a supply of truffle oil.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third in the series, it was the first I read and served as a good introduction to the characters and author. The mystery wasn't anything to write home about, but it was fun enough and I liked the writing style enough that I'll probably go back and find more in the series.

[Patricia Daukantas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever waited so long for the protagonist to find a dead body. I was wondering whether there would be ANY dead bodies in this murder mystery. Yes, some people were injured, but not so much killed. Oh, well, this mystery was definitely "cozy"!

[Piepie | The Napping Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder how much weight Heaven, Joe, and Chris gained after all the food and wine they consumed while in Aspen! This trio of characters was hilarious.

I loved the two parallel storylines: the Real Dish Food Festival in Aspen, and how Cafe Heaven's staff coped in her absence.

I really liked this book; I think it's better than the previous one. I love reading the descriptions of all the food! Yum!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice light reading - with our heroine Heaven Lee.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny.
Cooking contest in Aspen.
Good recipes.

[Pam Bales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good culinary mystery set in Kansas City, Missouri