Synopses & Reviews
A special message from Barbara Peters, Editor-in-Chief of Poisoned Pen Press and co-owner of the Poisoned Pen Press Bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ: "I want to express my excitement over the opportunity to publish Poisoned Pen Press novels with ibooks in mass market format, knowing that S&S distribution will allow these books to reach a new, and much wider audience for our talented and varied authors. Poisoned Pen Press is discovering a lot of new talent, nurturing original voices and visiting unusual places. It is out of this mix that some of tomorrow's stars will come. For the past 13 years in my role as bookseller, my staff and I have supported a lot of new talent, and enjoyed watching some of them grow into major authors, and it will be a tremendous rush to have ibooks and Simon & Schuster expand the readership and profile of the authors we've discovered and believe so strongly in. I think this new venture will be a win/win for everyone, and I look forward to working closely with ibooks and Simon & Schuster to make it a total success."
Synopsis
Experienced pastry chef Claire Johnson whips up an insiders look at San Francisco's cutthroat restaurant trade. Cranky Mary Ryan has sunk a lot of time and talent into the in-vogue American Fare, the town's hottest spot, while grieving over her broken marriage. At work very early one morning, she steps on a laundry bag stuffed with the dead body of one of her employees. The investigation soon exposes all the dirty secrets that the food business would like to keep secret: the philandering chefs, the silly whims of the dining public, the hiring and illegal aliens, and the subsistence-living pay scale. Events begin to spiral that, in time, take out the restaurant's celebrity chef and force Mary to use her unique skills to uncover a poisonous scheme. Hard-edged, filled richly with restaurant lore and murder galore, this is a mystery debut to savor.