Truffled Feathers

Carolyn Blue Culinary Mysteries #2

by Nancy Fairbanks

Carolyn Blue decides that life as a homemaker is too dull for her, so she embarks on a career as a food writer. But, when one of her husband's colleagues keels over and dies at the dinner table, Carolyn wonders whether foul play may be the cause.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, New York, Cozy, Cooking, Mystery Thriller

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

A pseudonym used by Nancy Herndon.

Series:
* A Culinary Mystery with Recipes

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A fun little trip to New York with Carolyn and Jason. I do love getting both of their viewpoints throughout the book. The mystery kept me guessing and I loved the ending with the detective.

[Lukas Kawika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny enough, I wish I felt comfortable giving this one 2 stars since there's a lot I don't like about it, but when you get down to it most of that's just preference instead of actual quality. The mystery itself in this one is totally fine, a lot higher-level and more convoluted than in Crime Brulee, and it comes close to a lot of that borderline silly mystery-novel fun involving the Russian Mob and stuff like that. but it's just...

It's hard to put into words, kinda! This book has an extremely rough opening with a caricature of an Indian guy calling folks things like "dirty pig-eater" and "consumer of the sacred cow" and stuff like that, touting a cousin or aunt or something who runs an herbal medicine shop and how it's superior to modern scientific medicine and all that. Then it goes on to one of the cute little interstitial sections from one of Carolyn's newspaper columns, about sushi restaurants saying something about how if you don't enjoy it, the chef is liable to commit seppuku right there in the shop, with the honored family sword? Stuff like that.

Carolyn being Carolyn. I wish it weren't the case but she just so perfectly fits the current modern definition of the phrase "a Karen", and it's just gotten worse in this one since Crime Brulee. I've seen some other folks bash this one for how ~everyone~ seems to know Max, but that really didn't bother me too much.

But like I said, a lot of that falls to the wayside when we're at the meat of the mystery itself, and this one's neat in that it bounces back and forth between Carolyn's and her husband Jason's points of view, too. So we often get to see two sides on the same matter, and see individual investigations on the same thing going down.

I still have the third one to read, and I'm not really too excited about it, but we'll just have to see how that goes.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery... I really liked it, until the last few chapters when the detective came over to wrap up the whole case. I just wanted to smack all 3 characters in that "scene". Interrupting each other, yelling at each other... ugh.

[Cathie Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. I would have ranked it higher but this author's obsession with weird people is troublesome. The plot and storyline was fascinating. Jason, the husband, plays a bigger role in this book, which was great. His sense of humor is definitely better than his rude wife's. Anything to reduce the main character, who is a rude and obnoxious character, would improve any of her books. I find Caroline very hard to take. She's constantly accusing others of exactly what she does. The food recipes are disgusting. I can't imagine anyone eating the foods that are discussed in the book. Yak! Recommend, as long as you have patience in handling a very disgusting main character.

[Melva Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carolyn Blue and her husband Jason go to New York for a meeting with her publisher and a job interview for him. The delightful Mrs. Blue finds trouble wherever she goes but this time Jason is as involved as she is. I loved following the twists and turns in this delightful cozy. There are a few curse words but clean otherwise.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to call these penny dreadfulls. It was a good story. I liked the way it wrapped up. But I found it a bit unconvincing that everyone Carolyn ran into knew Max. I did read most of it in one day.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to transition from chapter to chapter. I liked how the author wrote one chapter from the wives point of view and the next from the husband. The book moved along nicely, there did not seem to be any drag at all. I will be reading more from this series.

[A.K. Frailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I couldn't cook (or eat) like the characters in a Fairbanks novel, I enjoy the detailed descriptions and the strong storyline. My epicurean horizons are widened, and I enjoyed the mystery.

[Kyle Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should be a 3.5. It was a fun read with an interesting plot, good food descriptions, and a real sense of setting.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fun to read with lots of characters and twists and turns!

[Sarah Castro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I picked it up at a book stand and now have purchased the other three books from this series. I love the dry humor, and the characters are fun. A very easy read - goes great with a fireplace and a cold beer!

[Tabby Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Budding food columnist (amateur sleuth) Carolyn Blue finds herself knee deep in another murder mystery -- this time in New York City. And while "Truffled Feathers" is not as quirky as "Crime Brulee," this second Carolyn Blue murder mystery is as interesting and as engrossing as the first.
The Blues have come to New York on business: Jason is being recruited by Hodge, Brune and Byerson for a consultancy gig, while Carolyn has an appointment to meet her agent (face-to-face) for the first time. And while Jason is looking forward to his interview, Carolyn is girding herself to let her agent know that she has no desire to write the book on New Orleans culinary delights, esp because of the traumatic memories attached to that trip. However minutes after landing in the city, they learn that the head of research and development who had been responsible fore recruiting Jason, Max Heydemann, had keeled over and died over a pastrami sandwich. (Actually he was murdered in a manner that suggests a professional hit.) The Blues are shaken, and things at Hodge, Brune & Byerson seem to be especially tense. Gossip reveals that while Max was well liked by nearly everyone, he was hated by his ex-wife and children. And then Jason discovers that there have been some rather shady goings-on at H, B & B, that Max was investigating. Could that have been the reason why Max was murdered? Jason leans towards that theory, and determined to keep Carolyn from getting herself entangled in another murder mystery, he starts poking around H, B & B hoping to unmask a killer. In the meantime, Carolyn is lunching with the wives of H, B & B and picking up all kinds of gossip that leads her to suspect Max's neurotic ex-wife and his poisonous children of having offed him. Who is right: Jason or Carolyn? Both the Blues are determined to get to the bottom of this perplexing mystery.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truffled Feathers by Nancy Fairbanks is the second book of the Carolyn Blue Culinary Mystery series set in the contemporary US. Bored El Paso university wife Carolyn Blue has started a new career as a food critic. She is under contract with a publisher to write about her culinary adventures in New Orleans (first book of the series, Crime Brulee). Struggling to finish the book, she welcomes a distraction: the chance to accompany her chemistry professor husband to New York City, where he is asked to consult on toxins (his specialty) with a prestigious firm. Carolyn is armed with tourist guides to dining out in the big apple, even wondering if she could convince her publisher to change the book's topic to NYC eats. Before she and her husband arrive, his contact at the firm dies over a pastrami sandwich. Officers at the firm suspiciously do not want to help the police investigate; they suspect one of their own employees of industrial espionage. While dining out and attending opera, Carolyn and her husband meet employees of the firm and their spouses, as well as the victim's family. Carolyn has unlimited curiosity (nosiness?) and ferrets out details about everyone's lives, including the waitress who served the pastrami. Her knowledge leads to plenty of false assumptions and red herrings (the plot meanders along in this fashion for the majority of the book). The story's conclusion feels rushed, the crime solution overly complex, and the 'witty' banter between Carolyn and her husband (interrupting the detective) doesn't match their interactions in the rest of the book. 8 recipes are included, following the chapters in which Carolyn tastes them, with an index at the end.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truffled Feathers was another great addition to this culinary mystery series. Fairbanks has created a delightful story full of many twists and turns as well as many suspects when a respected colleague of Jason's was murdered. Naturally Carolyn finds herself involved in the investigation but surprisingly Jason becomes involved as well. I really liked the alternating viewpoints of Carolyn and Jason as each tries to solve the case and has their own theory. I think the character development was stronger here than in book one, and I enjoyed getting a real feel for the marriage between these two. Fairbanks has a nice style that is easy to read and full of information about culinary dishes. Overall this was a great read, and I look forward to reading another book in the series.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have completely and utterly read these books out of order. I do recall reading Crime Brulee first though, although it was many years ago in a round robin type of read. I love the idea that food is a major topic in these books as all of the food sounds absolutely divine! I have to admit, sometimes the descriptions literally make my mouth water. And the section on sushi makes me yearn for next Wednesday when I get to take my beloved dave for sushi for the first time!

A great who-dun-it that keeps you guessing the mastermind throughout.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

#2 in the Culinary Food Writer series. Carolyn Blue writes a food related newspaper eventually syndicated; she is married to a Texas University Chemistry Professor.

Culinary Food Writer series - Carolyn Blue accompanies her husband, Jason, to NYC. He to investigate a consultancy with a chemical firm; she to meet with her agent about the book on NO food she is writing. On arrival they find Jason's contact was murdered that afternoon. The Blues get caught up in the situation, everyone knows and suspects everyone else.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've sporadically read some of this series over the years. Now I'm attempting to read them in order (skipping those I've already done). This is the second in the series, but the first I recall where her husband was first person in probably a 1/3rd of the chapters. I enjoy getting both persepectives.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept me entertained in the airport. Too a few chapters to get used to the switching of perspectives, but it was a needed feature in this book so it's cool. I enjoyed the snippets of newspaper articles, esp in relation to the experiences we read about. I'd read this author again, esp if she puts forth another w/these characters, maybe after they take the NY jobs.

[Bettynz (Larraine) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. It appears I am not destined to read this - Not in any local libraries, and I've been told they can't get it.

It was TradeMe to the rescue, and although it was a fairly slow start, I ended up enjoying it very much.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A killer crime and some killer recipes. What's not to love? Seriously, though, this book is written alternating between the perspectives of Carol Blue and her husband Jason. It's really interesting to see how each of them views the circumstances and the various players.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this much better than the first book in the series. Her main characters, Carolyn and Jason, have become much more into themselves, voicewise. And I love the recipes. They are so good that I'm not sure whether to shelve these with the mysteries or the cookbooks!

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a decent mystery but the book was spoiled by the foul language that was thrown in for no apparent reason, the silly mention of men's private parts that added exactly nothing to the story and the last chapter that went on and on trying but failing to add suspense.

[Gwen Kozlowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2.
This one is about restaurants in NYC. Mostly French recipes.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The recipes are disappointing, the read is fun.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. Enjoyed the characters and the scenes in restaurants made me want to run out to dinner!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun -- light reading

[Mary Havlovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book

[Cindy Ketcham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to agree with other reviewers of this book. It was much more engaging than her first one. I might even check out her third book.

[Cristy Fuerzas]

Carolyn Blue is an amazing woman with a talent of writing food columns. It made me want to eat what they were eating.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice humor intermixed with a good mystery.