Cooks Overboard

Angie Amalfi #6

by Joanne Pence

A Taste For Murder Food writer Angie Amalfi's long-awaited vacation with her detective boyfriend Paavo Smith has all the ingredients of a romantic getaway'-a sail to Acapulco aboard a freighter, no crowds, no homicide department worries, a red bikini. It's the perfect scenario for a proposal. But it isn't long before Angie's "Love Boat" fantasies are headed for stormy seas-'the cook tries to jump off the ship, Paavo is acting mighty strange, the fellow passengers are an odd lot, Angie's luggage is rifled through, and the meals are terribly unimaginative. She's willing to help out in the kitchen, but when murder is added to the menu, Angie thinks maybe the cook had the right idea.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Chick Lit

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick, cute read. Ms. Angie Amalfi has had her sights on hard boiled San Franciso homicide detective Paavo Smith for quite a long time. She keeps hoping he'll pop the question. In this romp, Angie finally gets him to go on a cruise to Acapulco with her. The twist? The cruise is on a freighter with a motley international crew and some industrial spies! Not a single luxury in sight and very little romance. Along the way some of the spies believe Angie is a spy herself and will stop at nothing to retrieve the stolen microfilm. Madness ensues!

[Shirls · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick holiday read, far-fetched but entertaining.

[Lyn Soulia-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

good characters and nice story line with adventures.

[Leigh McF · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this cozy mystery. I really enjoyed the writing style and would definitely read more of this series and this author.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is such a cliche from end to end. It was almost an embarrassment to read. Really!!!; Angie Amalfi, the well off daughter of successful Italian immigrants, is confused with and suspected as being a vicious and ruthless industrial spy? This "airhead"? While Angie is very intelligent, perceptive and self-driven than the description "airhead" would imply; she, unfortunately, too often portrays traits that would lead you to this conclusion. They rear their ugly head in this book.

Paavo Smith, her beloved and a homicide detective in San Francisco, does't come off much better in this book. Usually he is the voice of reason and logic; though a bit too condescending and over protective toward his beloved, Angie. Due to disastrous circumstances in his latest case, he is a shell of himself in the beginning part of this book.

Then, we are really expected to believe that these two normally intelligent people are so totally unsuspecting and blind to the fact that they have become embroiled in an international intrigue? They are mistakenly perceived as being participants in an international spy ring (Industrial spy ring, but still a spy ring). I'm sorry, I found this just too ludicrous as a plot line. It was only my fondness of the lead two characters, from the previous books, that got me through this. It was just too cliche ridden and trite.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful read. "Cooks Overboard" is entertaining and really brings the reader on an adventure along with its main characters. Never a dull moment.

Angie Amalfi is charming and so is her boyfriend, Paavo. The brief moments where the perspective changes to Paavo's may be slightly confusing (it's difficult to tell when they suddenly switch halfway through the chapter), but it also offers a bit of an insight into his thoughts on Angie and what's going on around them, something which really helps the reader like and understand Paavo, usually silent and difficult to read.

Fans who're looking for some romance with their mystery/adventure will enjoy this one, although I'd call this more of an adventure novel than a mystery. There's really not all that much mystery in it; it's pretty heavily focused on the main characters and their actions.

[Vickie Backus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't even a good beach read. Sometimes I just want a book to read that requires no effort. I got through it quickly-didn't need much effort but I wouldn't go out of my way to read another. The characters are one dimensional and the plot is very muddy. I'm pretty tolerant and will generally give a series multiple tries but this isn't one that I'm willing to read deeper in. In fact it is pretty clear that the person who did the cover painting didn't even read the book as the painting has nothing to do with the plot.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angie and Paavo (homicide investigator) are taking a cruise to Acapulco. Well, it is on a freighter. Not very luxurious but all is going well until they start thinking she is the infamous Hydra. The ship docks in Mazatlan and more action and adventure begins. A fun book, looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good entry in the series with Paavo and Angie going on vacation and of course getting involved in a mystery. I found this to be an easy read and was definitely kept guessing until the very end about who the Hydra actually was.

[Janet York · Rating 2 out of 5]

Considering that I usually like the cozy cooking mysteries, I found this one pretty boring. May try this author again, but since most of the characters were just plain silly, I will probably skip her unless I find her on the bargain table at a book sale.

[Hải Linh]

I found thí book by chance. So far so good

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty good for fluff until the very last 2 sentences of the book. Totally ruined the heroine for me. =(

[Deb Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed so much through this book, it was so funny. Reading a book in this series always makes me HaPpY!

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoyable book.Pence did great.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angie and her boyfriend go on cruise, get tangled in espionage with a lot of stupid people

[Susannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Nothing amazing about this one but it was fun especially for my first week of bed rest.

[Jody Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book; probably the best in the series so far. Humor, intrigue, some bumbling spies from the past.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 - Not Bad