Blog Tour: Death in Nonna’s Kitchen – Alex Coombs

*I received a free copy of this book, with thanks to the author, No Exit Press and Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

Blurb: When famous TV chef Matteo McLeish turns up at the Old Forge Café and offers chef Charlie Hunter a place in his kitchen for the duration of Hampden Green’s local opera festival, she thinks it’s because he rates her cooking skills. In fact it’s because he’s heard she’s good in a crisis. The wholesome star of Nonna’s Kitchen is being blackmailed by one of his team.

Tempted by an improbably large pay cheque and the boost to to her CV, Charlie accepts his offer. Does the threat lie close to home, or back in Italy with Matteo’s culinary roots? And can Charlie find the blackmailer before she’s swept up in an avalanche of death and scandal?

I’m not a great cook myself, but I do love reading about other people’s culinary creations and if that is combined with a mystery then I am definitely in my element!

This is the second of the Old Forge Café Mysteries (sequel to Murder on the Menu) and having not read the first book I can confirm that this one definitely works fine as a standalone story but did leave me hungry for more of the backstory of main character Charlie’s relationships with other characters, like the Earl and Bethany, or Andrea, or Jess and Francis.

Those familiar with professional kitchens would probably be familiar with the hectic pace of the story, as Charlie works two kitchens while simultaneously planning and producing the catering for a pagan celebration, whilst secretly also investigating who might be blackmailing a celebrity chef and his glamorous, influencer wife. All I know is that following the fine food and foul deeds really kept my excitement levels breathlessly high. And made my mouth water.

In fact, this is the ideal cosy mystery book to pair with your favourite reading snacks and beverage (elderflower pop and pretzel thins for me!). There’s nothing graphic to put you off your food and by the time you turn the final page you will feel satisfied but soon be hankering for more… good job A Knife in the Back is already cooking!

I was thoroughly confused. Then I got suspicious. Why did he want me to work for him? There were plenty of other, better qualified chefs around?
‘Why do you need my help?’ I asked.
He suddenly looked away, as if he had gone unaccountably shy. Then he turned his head back to me.
‘Because I’m being blackmailed,’ he said.

– Alex Coombs, Death in Nonna’s Kitchen

Purchase Link: Death in Nonna’s Kitchen on Amazon

About the author

Alex Coombs was born in Lambeth in south London. He worked in adult education before retraining as a chef. Alex lives in South Bucks but has family in Scotland and spends a considerable amount of time in Edinburgh and Argyll.

He is the author of seven previous novels featuring Hanlon in the police ( the DCI Hanlon and the Hanlon PI series). Murder on the Menu is the first of a new series set in, and around, a restaurant in the Chilterns

Website: https://www.alexcoombs.co.uk/home
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlexCoombsCrime
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexCoombsCrime

Don’t forget to check out the other blog stops on the tour for more great reviews and content (see the poster below for details)!