Steamed

A Gourmet Girl Mystery #1

by Jessica Conant-Park, Susan Conant

Susan Conant, the acclaimed author of the Dog Lover's mysteries and the Cat Lover's mysteries, now teams with her daughter for a new culinary mystery series featuring Chloe Carter (known in the chatrooms as GourmetGirl), food connoisseur and survivor of failed romances. On a quest for the perfect meal-and man-she risks a blind date with a fellow food lover who's stabbed to death before the check comes.

Talk about a rocky love life. Chloe's first date of the week is murdered. Her second date is with the prime suspect. The investigation plunges the amateur sleuth into the gourmet restaurant scene to discover a cutthroat world of killer competition, stormy love affairs, and a recipe for Baby Bok Choy Slaw to die for.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Romance, Cooking, Chick Lit

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

NOTE: writes YA novels under Jessica Park.

Jessica Conant-Park graduated from Macalester College and has a master of Social Work degree from Boston College. She is married to Chef William Park. Steamed is the first collaboration in her new series with her mother, mystery author Susan Conant.

Reviews

[Juli Pennock · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh. Did not work for me. I thought I might like Chloe at the beginning. I thought, "Well, she's different. She's a little edgier. She's...interesting." I tried. I kept reading. I wanted to like the book. I wanted to like Chloe. Turns out I did not. Like her. At all. I thought she was spoiled and kind of stupid and too focused on getting a boyfriend. And what's with the coffee maker? She's going to put up with a coffee maker that doesn't work instead of shelling out $20 for a new one? Come ON. Seemed like an affectation. An excuse to whine.

Also: she's pursuing a degree in something she doesn't care about/actively dislikes just so that she can get an inheritance. I can't respect that.

There were flickers, in the beginning, when I thought the tide might turn. She's prickly as all get out and as a prickly-pear myself, I thought maybe that would be her humanity. That thing that I'd relate to, that would make me love her. Nnnnnnnnope. She just comes off shallow and needy, to me, at least. Also pretty bitchy.

Much as I probably am, in this review.

Whatever. I also have to say: the dialog sounded SO wrong in my head-ear (you know what I mean). Clunky, repetitive, flat, just bad. I had to stop after the tomato-tasting at the parents. Too awkward. Annoying. The relationships didn't seem natural or real AT ALL. (Oh and by the way, regarding Chloe's first "date" with Josh: what dude EVER calls a chick he just met "my lovely one"? outside a gothic romance? GAH. That cheese-grated my nerves.)

Yeah. I had to stop reading it. I don't even care whodunit.

To redundify (IS a word, now): I did not like it. Not in the slightest. I do find that kind of weird, because I love Susan Conant's Holly Winter. Now I'm going to have to go back and re-read those dog-lover's mysteries because I just had a horrible thought: what if I was so distracted and charmed by Rowdy and Kimi (and I was/am: I love dogs in general and Mals in particular) that I skimmed over similarly horrible dialog in that series? My favorite cozy series! My whole cozy-world is rocked! (I'm kidding. Mostly. I'm pretty sure...)

Did not finish.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get through this. The central problem is that the main character is deeply, intensely, IMMENSELY unlikeable. A spoiled rich girl who has never been out among the unwashed masses, she is constantly complaining that ordinary offices spaces are ugly, lack of marble countertops is depressing, caring about inequality is boring, ugly men can be dated if you get "stuff" out of them, people on first dates should only be served by ugly waitresses so the woman isn't in "competition" for man's attention, food snobs are awful but she wouldn't date any man who didn't know what arugula was, and on and on and on and on and on.

And lest you think the authors are setting her up to be an intitially immature, shallow, and pretentious twit who comes to understand through her interactions with the hoi polloi how little she actually knows of life --- no. That's who she is at the beginning, middle, and end (I skipped ahead).

You know the book sucks when you're hoping the boyfriend IS the killer so he will hack her to death and put you out of your misery.

Maybe they plan to have her realize how horribly repugnant her 1-percenter values are in another volume of this series, but I won't be sticking around to find out.

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. I am so so so sick of these types of book. Awkward, yet attractive girl can't seem to hang onto a boyfriend (so to fill in the empty spaces, she's sleeping with her good looking downstairs neighbor. Who is a cad). Meets really nice guy, makes a fool of herself several times, suffers miscommunications and misunderstandings, bedroom encounters are accidentally foiled, solves aforementioned problems, finally goes to bed with really nice guy, story ends amid rainbows and sunsets. Oh, and girl solves the murder mystery along the way.

The lifestyle portrayed in all these chick-lit types of books (romances, mysteries, etc) is so pitiful and uniform, shallow and aimless. Again, ugh.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book annoyed me in so many ways. The main character was childish and her love interest was arrogant. I had no affection for the main character and was grateful to be rid of her at the end of the book. Her thought processes were very immature for a 25 year old college graduate. The only thing she seemed to care about was getting a buff, gorgeous boyfriend. That said, I did enjoy the description of going through he self-checkout line at Home Depot. That at least was funny.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad I'm debating bursting into tears. I can't believe something so horrible was published. I can't believe I finished it. By the end, I wasn't even telling myself 'it MUST pick up!' I was just thinking, 'I've made it this far. If I make it to the end, I can rant about it.'
It is one of those books that leaves you wanting to gouge your eyes out. I am not even sure this book belongs on my 'what might have been' shelf. There is almost nothing redeemable about it.



Okay, but seriously. Deep breath.



WHAT DID I JUST READ?



I didn't expect anything mind blowing. I might even have been happy with mind numbing. I figured Steamed would be something light and fun. Its passed off as a mystery series revolving around gourmet food. What's not to love?
A few sentences in and I realized I had not gotten a good mystery, but something more akin to chick lit. Well, even chick lit with a mystery can be decent. And I like food.



How bad could the match up be?



But seriously.
There is not a single, likable character in this entire book.
The main character, Chloe? The one promised as an intelligent grad student who uses dates to get the gourmet food she loves?


Words desert me.





She is THE most selfish, conceited, brainless, man-crazy, obnoxious human being ever. Let's begin, shall we?

After catching her non-boyfriend with another woman, she calls up her...I don't know what to call him. Friend with benefits? Who isn't her non-boyfriend but functions/(functioned?) as one? Anyway. She calls him up and is like 'Come make out with me to make the Jerk downstairs jealous.' And non-boyfriend 2 goes 'Uh, no. I now have a real girlfriend and she wouldn't like it.' And the main character whines about it! She can't comprehend how he would be so selfish as to not drop everything and come make out with her just because he's like, in a committed relationship. What makes the whole scene so weird is that non-boyfriend 2 has no role in the rest of the book. So that scene illustrates what? How awful she is?
Not a good introduction.
But wait, it gets worse. Because, after whining about it, she decides to get revenge on her cheating non-boyfriend by joining an online dating website. After getting asked out, she's like, 'Heheh, what a great thing. Now I can make non-boyfriend jealous by bringing a guy back with me!' (Because sleeping with a man you met online after your first date on the off chance your kinda-sorta ex will notice his car downstairs is such a fantastic revenge plan.) Anyway, she doesn't get to put this plan into action as her date ends up dead, stabbed in the restaurant bathroom.
Ooooh, you mistakenly think, as I did. This is going somewhere. WRONG. Chloe experiences no remorse about her date's death or finding the body. Instead, she whines about everyone wanting to hear the story. The only reason she shows the slightest bit of interest in his death is when she shows up at his funeral and meets a haaawwwt chef, who happens to be the prime suspect. (It is a good thing he is hot, as Chloe has made it ever-so-clear that she would never even consider dating someone who was less than an Adonis)
Anyway, as she frequently states, she can't have her new boy toy going to jail! So she decides to investigate the murder...which mainly means she not-so-subtly hangs out with dead date's parents and convinces her grad school classmates to spend school time gossiping and surmising and basically providing her with a bunch of people to cast the blame on. After every encounter, our intrepid Nancy Drew then calls the Detective in charge of the case and oh-so-helpfully provides him with all the suspects her classmates have come up with.
I'm surprised the detective didn't change his number after the second call.
Now, despite the fact that the detective, for good reasons, warns her to



and shows no sign of arresting Chef-Boy, Chloe still blunders around attempting to 'solve' the mystery. Except she really isn't doing much detective work at all. 95% of this book is Chloe lusting after men and preparing to have sex...it would have been awkward if it wasn't so utterly dull. I spent most of the book going:



Chloe isn't just stupid in her romantic life, either. She's at grad school because her uncle or some other person for some super unclear reason left her an inheritance provided she gets her Master's degree. So basically, she gets to go to grad school for free. Is she excited? Does she embrace this incredible opportunity? Gosh, no. This is Chloe we're talking about. She chooses Social Work without researching it at all because it sounds interesting, then whines and bemoans every class she has to take. As someone who is working her tale off to afford to go to grad school someday, I found this character's total lack of appreciation for her extended education infuriated me more than anything else.

The mystery/conclusion was so trumped up and dramatic I might have given it one star for the ending alone. Absolute rubbish. The only reason the author gets away with it is because, really, no one cared about the murdered man anyway and you've basically forgotten about him by the time you reach the end.
There are weird, awkward scenes thrown in everywhere for no purpose. Weird characters that don't really have a role but are put in there because the genre demands them (married older sister/caring but fabulous best friend/best friend's boyfriend, etc. All it was missing was a gay guy)

I'm glad it is over. Now all I have to say is...

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment :( I so enjoyed Flat Out Love by Jessica Park and Steamed had all the makings of the start of a winning mystery series for me. Jessica wrote it with her Mom Susan Conant, it took place in Boston, and the main character is a foodie named Chloe Carter. Turns out I just didn't care for or about Chloe AT ALL :P By the end of the book I was so zoned out I couldn't honestly say whodunit. I don't care either. I hope Jessica's future books continue to resemble Flat Out Love more than the tepid Steamed.

[Lis Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty-something Chloe Carter is looking for a degree in social work, true love, and good food--not necessarily in that order. She's just started graduate school for her master's degree in social work, and she's also just discovered that her very hot boyfriend, who lives one floor down in their condo building, is two-timing her with a hot blonde.

Her sister thinks she should get organized about her search for love--online dating or speed dating. Speed dating is right out, but in a weak moment, she signs up for Back Bay Dates, with the user name GourmetGirl, and is soon communicating with DinnerDude. They arrange to meet at the hot new restaurant, Essence.

DinnerDude, real name Eric Rafferty, is an annoying date, though they share a real interest in gourmet food. He goes from annoying to impossible when he leaves the table to take a phone call, and turns up dead in the men's restroom just before dessert.

This is a lively, interesting cozy mystery with some interesting twists in the plot. On the other hand, at times Chloe is pretty darned annoying herself. She's way too cool to take some of her social services education seriously, even as she finds the class in group therapy unexpectedly useful. Many of her dating problems are directly due to her doing things she knows are foolish. At times, her saving grace is that her sister, Heather, is so utterly, self-righteously certain she's right about everything involving Chloe's life. She's the one who recommended Back Bay Dates, for instance...

On the flip side, this is a story set in Boston, and it makes good use of Boston and Cambridge as a setting. It's just a lot of fun.

Overall, recommended for a good, light read.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Audible in exchange for an honest review.

[Tina Bembry · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was pretty hokey, and the suspense about who did it was pretty lackluster until the end. I read this kind of book for a light fun read, so my standards aren't super high. So although I finished it, I wouldn't say it was a very satisfying read.

[Cat Fithian]

I thought I'd like this, but there is too much about fashion and shallowness and not enough substance in the protagonist . . . for me, anyway. I'm not finishing it.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made myself finish this because I can't toss aside a book unless it's really bad.
The ending was lame. Chloe was annoying. I couldn't get into the writing style and the book felt offbeat.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chloe Carter finds herself with an insatiable appetite for good food and a good man. The possibility of find both within one shot is more than appealing. That's why Gourmet Girl (screen name) decides to take another shot at dating Dinner Dude (corresponding screen name). Dinner Dude is found to be Dinner Dud. During the week she joined an online dating site she becomes acquainted with a murder victim and a suspect all in one week.
Excellent plot line and intriguing possibilities set the scene for a wonderful romantic entanglement which is outlined throughout this book.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a fan of Susan Constant but this main character does not engage me at all. There was a lot of whinging about her circumstances and a generally unpleasant immaturity. The mystery itself was slow with the murder occurring in the third chapter but it took forever for the mystery to be solved. In addition I listened to the Audible version and the narrator did not contribute a good performance.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steamed by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant is the first book in the Gourmet Girl Mystery series. Food lover Chloe Carter goes on a blind date at a newly opened restaurant, only for her date to be killed in the rest room. An interesting mystery with an annoying and entiltled main character, who seemed to spend most of her time whining about her circumstances. I loved the food descriptions and some recipes are provided but I found Chloe a bit irritating.

[Mary Tonks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complicated plot, with a somewhat ditzy main character, which didn't help to understand what was happening. Entertaining story anyway.

[Gale Penton · Rating 4 out of 5]

New series. A bit of a slow start but picked up. It had me going until the end.

[Gloria Mccracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jessica Conant-Park is the daughter of one of my favorite authors, Susan Conant, the author of the books featuring Holly Winter, who writes a column about dogs and solves mysteries. Since Susan Conant is listed as co-author for this book, I didn't think I could go far wrong. And I didn't go FAR wrong. However. Let's just say that I hope the next book in the series is a little less disappointing. The writing wasn't bad and the plot was very good, but really, does the protagonist have to be such a twit?

For example, the book starts out with Chloe Carter being angry and hurt that her friends-with-benefits jerk of a neighbor has chosen to find a few benefits elsewhere. So, in a fit of pique (and a haze of booze), she signs up to date someone online who likes gourmet food as much as she does. Of course, he's also a jerk; he also ends up stabbed to death in the men's room before even finish dinner.

What's more, she has enrolled in Social Work school, not because she had any interest in social work whatsoever but because she won't receive the rest of her inheritance from her uncle unless she gets a graduate degree in something. And of course she then starts a relationship with the hunky prime suspect for the stabbing (a chef from a rival restaurant whose knife is used for the deed).

Things did improve toward the end, but it's rather hard to like a book whose protagonist is so unlikeable. Perhaps others will have a little more patience.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love great culinary cozies, you'll enjoy the Gourmet Girl by Jessica Conant-Park, daughter of Susan Conant of the Dog Lovers Mystery series. Meet Chloe Carter. She's a graduate school for social work, just to make her uncle Alan happy, which was written in his will. Not only that, she's depressed. Her boyfriend/neighbor neighbor cheated on her. Her sister Heather suggested her to go to Back Bay Dates for online dating. When she did it in despair, it was too late. She went on the boring blind date ever with Eric Rafferty, when she witnesses hostility at the restaurant they went too. Later on, Eric winded up dead. Now, it's up to Chloe to figure out who killed him, while she feasted her eyes on Josh, a chef at a rival restaurant, going to school, and figuring out massive confusion. When she gets closer to the truth, she might end up as the next victim. Great culinary recipes included!

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chloe Carter is starting to work on her Master’s Degree in Social Work; unfortunately the driving force behind this endeavor is getting the money promised by her uncle’s will. Why she chose social work is never satisfactorily explained although some of her thoughts and comments as she reads through the orientation materials are quite amusing. The educational double talk and politically correct terminology are funny. Unfortunately Chloe’s character is not fully fleshed out. She seems to be a fairly immature person who really doesn’t know what she wants out of life. When she joins an on-line dating service and goes on her first date, her date is murdered. She tries to help solve the murder because she is convinced the good-looking and talented chef could not be a murderer. All the police need to do is taste his food and they’d realize Josh could never kill anyone. This book is easy, light reading but the heroine annoyed me. Maybe she’ll grow up in the next book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I really enjoyed the story, this book made me roll my eyes a lot. I laughed a lot, but I think the eye rolling outweighed the giggles. The main reason for that is the way the author handled the character's sex life. We really don't need to hear about all her (many) conquests. It didn't really add to the story at all. At least LKH waited about 10 books to make Anita a skank. And I get that the whole point is that she is and I quote "a gourmet food whore," but really? A college student who has the money to eat nothing but gourmet food and pay for all her college books at the same time? Without a job? Sure, she has the whole inheritance thing (and isn't that convenient) but it seems like unless it were a pretty hefty monthly payment, she would have to cut a few costs here and there. And Chloe throws up after she eats frozen foods. Good story, unrealistic characters. 3 stars.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book definitely wasn't my genre of books (I read it for a book club), but it had it's perks, I suppose. I liked the characters, sort of. I thought they were very well developed. Chloe put herself in bad relationships that were doomed from the start and then whined about them. What did she expect?
The book made me laugh at timees and want to pull my hair out at times, too. I guessed who the killer was pretty much as soon as they were introduced, and I even guessed the other part right, too. Overall, not a bad story, I liked it. It made me hungry and laugh. It was slow in some parts, but interesting enough to keep me reading.

[Tylar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like this book. It got 2 stars because I finished it so it wasn’t straight up terrible. The main character is just unlikable. Not only is she stuck up but she’s very immature as well. You forget that she’s suppose to be in her early to mid 20’s in graduate school. The book surrounds mainly her. She’s the main character, I get that, but you forget that there’s a murder case going on because the book is based mainly around her getting the “perfect” boyfriend. Which she does, and along the way she solves the murder as well.. I honestly believe the book may have been a bit better if the main character was a teenager instead. Maybe she wouldn’t have been as cringy?

[Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only thing I can say good about this book is that it is quick and easy. I did not enjoy this book at all. But it took me less than a week to read it. The plot was pretty thin. I had figured out who did it pretty early on, so there was no suspense in it either. It was heavier on the romance side than the mystery side. Since I prefer the mystery, this book did not hold my interest. And who knew I knew so much about the restaurant world? Most of the details of restaurant life were old news to me.

[K. Dillard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a pretty good book. Excellent? Almost. It was definitely an easy read, and that's basically what I look for in a book, something that isn't going to have me read a sentence twice to understand it. I liked the fact that Chloe was silly, had many mishaps, anger issues while being someone other women go to for advice; it made her an ordinary woman. Others reviewed her as immature for 25, however I am in my mid-30s and have met many older people much more immature...however that's what made her funny. The book had many points that made me laugh out loud.

[Jenny Houle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for an unbiased opinion. I actually received the first three books in the series, but there was no way I was making it through number two or three after struggling through book one.

The main character is beyond annoying. She's whiny and can't get her act together.

The killer(s---not giving spoilers), while unexpected, was...oddly predictable in other ways.

In the end, I felt like I was forcing myself to try to finish at least one of the books, hoping that it would get better, only to be sad that it didn't.

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kind of gourmet dining meets the valley girl (although it's set in Boston). Started ok, but deteriorated into too much. The main character must be in her twenties, but acts more like 16, especially when dealing with men. Too many fancy food 'titles' (?) names (?) dishes (?) thrown about. Could use more background on the leading lady, as to why her mysterious uncle left such a clause in his will..for her. Just not much substance.

[Kelly Freitag · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to like this book and the main character but halfway through the book I found myself still annoyed. There seemed to be (in my opinion) way too much focus on her love life and her love of food. I skipped to the end to find out whodunit and returned the book to the library. I probably won't read anymore from this author.

[Fee Fairy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up. Chloe has to be the most irritating character i've ever read. she's self obsessed and boring. I love cosy mysteries but can't see myself reading any more of this series.
I got fed up reading about what she was wearing. i'm sure that if you're interested in fashion and designer labels it's really interesting but I found it boring.

[Conni Neiswinger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read these kinds of cozy mysteries for a bit of light-hearted fun, I'm not expecting profound literature. Unfortunately this book didn't even meet those low expectations. The main character, Chloe, is a self centered, judgmental brat, and I simply could NOT get myself to like her. The book was boring and the characters forgettable.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like the book. I couldn't really get into the heroine's head space. I had a lot of trouble finding things to really appreciate about Chloe. She seemed very self-involved. I did enjoy her post-grad classmates and nonprofit supervisor. Too bad the program didn't fit with Chloe, at all. Nor did I find the later love interest at all engaging. Both seemed very immature.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery part was okay but I didn't really care all that much for the main character. I did like the insights into the resturant industry and I loved her talking about her graduate social work classes (brought back memories of undergrad!). I'll try another and see how it goes.