Book Review - Sympathy For The Devil by Jerrilyn Farmer
Category Book Reviews
Occasionally I decide to concentrate on an author's earlier works if I've just recently discovered their material. This time it's Jerrilyn Farmer and her first Madeline Bean culinary mystery, Sympathy For The Devil. It seems she started out strong and has kept getting better...
Madeline Bean and her crew have been hired to put on a Halloween party for one of Hollywood's biggest (and most disliked) producers. Things are going quite well until, unfortunately, the host dies of strychnine poisoning. Even worse, Bean's main partner, Wesley Westcott, is the prime suspect. Although he did have motive and looks like he also had a way to do it, Bean is convinced he didn't and has to sort through some complex family entanglements to figure out who would benefit most from the producer's death. Of course, this whole affair isn't doing wonders for her catering business, because who wants to hire a caterer who poisons their hosts?
Farmer does a great job in and of itself in this novel, and it lays a good groundwork for where things are going in the future. You're introduced to the cop who becomes a love interest in later stories, you learn how the Mad Bean Events company was formed, and you start to understand the working relationship between Mad, Wes, and Holly, their assistant. Had I read this book first in the series, I would definitely have continued reading. Now I'm just having fun filling in the character gaps. Good stuff...
Occasionally I decide to concentrate on an author's earlier works if I've just recently discovered their material. This time it's Jerrilyn Farmer and her first Madeline Bean culinary mystery, Sympathy For The Devil. It seems she started out strong and has kept getting better...
Madeline Bean and her crew have been hired to put on a Halloween party for one of Hollywood's biggest (and most disliked) producers. Things are going quite well until, unfortunately, the host dies of strychnine poisoning. Even worse, Bean's main partner, Wesley Westcott, is the prime suspect. Although he did have motive and looks like he also had a way to do it, Bean is convinced he didn't and has to sort through some complex family entanglements to figure out who would benefit most from the producer's death. Of course, this whole affair isn't doing wonders for her catering business, because who wants to hire a caterer who poisons their hosts?
Farmer does a great job in and of itself in this novel, and it lays a good groundwork for where things are going in the future. You're introduced to the cop who becomes a love interest in later stories, you learn how the Mad Bean Events company was formed, and you start to understand the working relationship between Mad, Wes, and Holly, their assistant. Had I read this book first in the series, I would definitely have continued reading. Now I'm just having fun filling in the character gaps. Good stuff...
| Permalink |
Comments
Posted by Kitty At 03:40:49 On 18/04/2005 | - Website - |
Have just completed my collection of Ellis Peters Cadfaels - need more book shelf space
Posted by Kitty At 03:25:28 On 18/04/2005 | - Website - |