The Da Vinci Cook

Angie Amalfi #14

by Joanne Pence

Angie Amalfi is close to one of the biggest breaks of her rocky culinary career—a chance to co–write a cookbook with a famous chef. But as she scrambles to prepare for the impending interview, her realtor sister Cat is suddenly accused of a murder in a rich client's home. A priceless relic—an iron chain that was used to bind St. Peter while in a Roman prison—is missing from her wealthy client Marcello Piccoletti's home, and a murder was committed on the heels of the disappearance. The only person who can clear Cat's name is the client himself, and he's in Rome, tending to his restaurant, Da Vinci's.

Heedless to Angie's stern warning, the always unpredictable Cat insists on traveling to Rome to confront Picoletti, and Angie must drop everything to accompany her sister. The Roman restaurateur has the chain with him in Rome, and exonerates Cat of the murder as well. Unfortunately, the police in the states still suspect Cat and now Picoletti, the only witness, has disappeared. Angie takes a job as a cook at Da Vinci's, hoping to get to the bottom of this complex mess. And when bodies start piling up like balls of fresh mozzarella at an Amalfi family picnic, it looks like Angie and Cat's trip to their homeland may spell arrivederci Amalfis.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Mystery Thriller

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 27, 2007

About the author

Joanne Pence is a USA Today best-selling and award winning author of two mystery series, contemporary and historical romance, fantasy and thrillers. She is the author of the Angie Amalfi culinary mystery series, which is still in print after twenty years, and now has 15 books (the latest, COOKING SPIRITS was an April 2013 release), and a novella (Cook's Christmas Capers, Dec. 2013). She has just begun a new series, the Rebecca Mayfield mysteries. ONE O'CLOCK HUSTLE is the first full-length novel, and THE THIRTEENTH SANTA is a novella which shows how the two main characters met.

Joanne's books have won many awards and honors, including RWA's Golden Heart and Rita Award nominations, the Independent Book Seller's Golden Quill, the Daphne du Maurier award, the Willa Cather Literary Award in Historical Fiction (for DANCE WITH A GUNFIGHTER), and the Idaho Top Fiction Award for ANCIENT ECHOES.

Joanne was born and raised in San Francisco and now makes her home in the foothills of Boise. She has been president of the Boise chapter of Sisters in Crime, a founder and board member of the Popular Fiction Association of Idaho, and founding member and current board member of the Idaho Writers Guild. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a master's degree in journalism, Joanne has written for magazines, worked for the federal government, and taught school in Japan.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this installment of the series. It was interesting having Angie's family so involved and different with two settings. It bordered on too many characters and trying to figure out all the motives was challenging. I enjoyed the ending and how everything was resolved.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book the most out of the series so far. The previous books were enjoyable and an easy read, but this one seemed to have a little more depth to it.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

A realtor gets told by her boss she is fired for stealing something from a clients house which causes her to rush to that home and check the safe. The item is not there and she hears a noise down stairs and finds a dead body in the kitchen and the house owner fleeing out the back door with the allegedly stolen item. Of course she gives chase when he jumps in his car. Whilst in pursuit she rings her sisters fiancé who is a detective but of course it goes to email. She rings her sister and asks her to get ahold of him and the police to catch the killer. He goes to the airport and her sister shows up without the police or fiance. They find out he has gone to Rome and they follow him! So ensues an interesting adventure that is easy to follow.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ech. I was promised adventure and humor and a touch of romance. I received none. Yes, her fiancé is handsome and loves her and worries about her, but worry was his main theme in this book. Now, I truly like unusual eccentric people, but these sisters have a ridiculous "I am right" attitude. And they are selfish about each other. The bad guys were absurd, the one good guy they met was milqtoast, The author has written a pot load (get it, chef?) of books and I thought I hit the motherlode to have a new series to go through. Nope, not going to do another one, silly, and I didn't like any of the characters.

[V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh… intriguing enough to make me want to finish reading it, but there was a lot of stupidity in it.
As a mystery and crime fan, there’s nothing worse than predictable behavior in a character …
For example when the Sister’s fought each other when they were down the hole and could’ve fallen off the ledge and died , that was ridiculous .
And there was several times when I couldn’t figure out the action, it was poorly described. There was a lot of wasted paragraphs on various people worrying and behaving like the three Stooges.

[Ronn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first dive into this series. There is plenty of exposition, so I didnt feel like I was missing anything by not starting from the beginning.
It was just engaging enough that I wanted to finish it. I might have found it more so if I had ever been to either Rome or San Francisco. So if you have, you might be inclined to give it a 4th star.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best, keeping you totally involved the the action. The whole Amalfi family is in on the action, of course with their connections everyone has advice on how to get Angie and her sister back home from Italy.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very fond memories of this series. Having come back to it all these years later, I've decided it's mostly my fondness for Paavo that made the series a sweet memory. It's okay, but I've apparently moved on.

[Marjorie Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

MOre suspension of disbelief than I usually like, but it was a fun read.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The highlight of these Angie Amalfi books, for me, has always been the combination of adventure and romance. Paavo and Angie are incredibly sweet and gooey, which is a nice change from heroines who seem to get a new boyfriend in every book. The "mystery" in the subtitle is rather misleading, I think; although there's a bit of a detective/crime/mystery element, they cover her journeys back and forth rather than any real attempt to "catch the killer."

That aside, Da Vinci Cook was a bit of a disappointment for me, in comparison to some of the previous Angie books. She has always been a lovely character, albeit headstrong with a tendency to act before thinking, but this has been the first time when I wanted to smack her upside the head for complete idiocy. Anyone in the world who possess a single ounce of common sense would realize that if you skip the country after being named a suspect, you're going to get majorly screwed. I fail to understand how two young women like Angie and Caterina would not process that in their heads.

The "mystery" itself was utterly confusing, and it reduced the fun of playing detective and trying to figure it out before the characters did. It was all a mush of troubles that Angie and Cat repeatedly found themselves in, and we never got a sense that they were getting any head way on apprehending the killer, but Paavo somehow pulls it off without an explanation that actually makes sense.

Joanne Pence's "Angie" series is quite a fun read, but this one was disappointing. Interested readers should try some of the other ones.

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I’d describe it as a madcap mystery. I thought it would be another “culinary mystery” but although food was a factor in the book, it didn’t focus on it or describe how to cook anything, but there are the obligatory recipes at the end of the book. The story focuses on two Italian-American families still with contacts in Italy. The scene bounces back and forth between San Francisco and Rome. Angie and Cat (short for Caterina) are two of the five daughters of the Amalfi family of San Francisco. Although all the daughters are grown Mama Serifina still has a strong presence in their lives. Angie is a chef; Cat is a realtor. Cat is accused of taking a religious relic from a house she is trying to sell. She returns to the house to prove she didn’t take the object and finds the owner killed and someone running from the house. She decides to go after the killer and while following him she calls her sister Angie – who just happens to be engaged to homicide inspector, Paavo.. When Angie can’t reach Paavo , she joins Cat in the chase. When they can’t stop the killer from getting on a plane to Rome, they decide to take the next plane and continue the chase. …….. In some ways this novel reminds me of the best of Stephanie Plum adventures (Janet Evanovich series). A fun read.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I was done with this series. I want to soldier on, even though I've become disillusioned with Angie. Angie was great in the beginning. Yes, she's a spoiled, youngest child of an Italian family that really, really made it big in America. Yet, she tries really hard to find a career and pull her own weight (not with successful results), which I really admired.

Then, she evolved into the spoiled rich kid, once she got engaged to her honey, the heroine, detective Paavo Simth. Now Angie is a self-absorbed, clueless, rich, spoiled kid. I'm so sorry the series has evolved to this. It has so much promise. It did not deliver.

Now, there is a new book coming out about the wedding of Paavo and Angie. I really don't think I can go on. I know I haven't talkd about the mystery. That's because I'm so disappointed in the evolution of the characters. They are both disappointments. Angie, because she has become so shelf-absorbed and Paavo because for such an intelligent and driven man, I don't understand how he can sitll contiuie to love this woman.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful cozy mystery with Angie and Paavo. Angie is dreaming of Paavo and their being when her sister Caterina call her for help. She disallowing a killer in traffic and wants help from Paavo. Angie goes to her aid and before she realizes it they filed to Rome. Their mother and sisters make Paavo's life busy trying to back the sisters. Meanwhile inn Rome Angie and Cat must get themselves out of trouble. Paavo must clear Caterina from a MURDER charge and find way to help Angie. This series is Aaron favorite of mine.

[Betty]

Antics With The Amalfi Family

A wonderful cozy mystery with Angie and Paavo. Angie is dreaming of Paavo and their being when her sister Caterina call her for help. She disallowing a killer in traffic and wants help from Paavo. Angie goes to her aid and before she realizes it they filed to Rome. Their mother and sisters make Paavo's life busy trying to back the sisters. Meanwhile inn Rome Angie and Cat must get themselves out of trouble. Paavo must clear Caterina from a MURDER charge and find way to help Angie. This series is Aaron favorite of mine.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angie Amoliffi has been offered an opportunity to ghost write a cookbook for an international chef and is engaged to a policeman. Her sister Caterina, a real estate salesperson, finds the dead body of a client in one of the houses she represents while she is attempting to break into its safe for jewelry. Cat becomes a prime suspect and Angie has to fly to Rome to help clear her. There are three complete Italian recipes included in the book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light, fluffy mystery. I loved revisiting the setting of Rome and thinking about all the wonderful food and architecture there. The premises were outlandish (like 2 women just following a man to Rome on the spur of the moment from the US) but once you accepted that you could enjoy the story. Good for a relaxing quick read. I did pick the book because of the title!

[Cyndee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is part of an ongoing series of "Angie Amalfi" mysteries. A light mystery with typical woman cook and boyfriend, fiance policeman. It wasn't great but is the type of book I like and need for very light reading.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

cute title. was hoping to find another mystery series to get into. this one left a lot to be desired. also, had many errors regarding life in Italy. was rather shocked actually that these kind of things were overlooked. i mean EVERYONE knows that Italians don't drink cappuccinos after 10 am!!!!

[Polly · Rating 3 out of 5]

lite mystery

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brain candy.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too silly, not as good as Diane Mott Davidson. Kept thinking Im not going to finish this, but I did

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book to take to the beach or on a long plane/train ride. Fun reading and like the flips from San Fran to Italy