American ex-pat Tabitha Knight and chef-in-training Julia Child are facing another culinary mystery in mid-twentieth century Paris. The city is roaring back to life after the shortages and painful history of World War II and its occupation. People are dining out again as they regain their equilibrium and zest for life.
The Cordon Bleu cooking school is holding classes again, and Tabitha joins Julia at one of their open demonstrations to watch a master chef at work. All is going well until the chef pours himself a glass of wine from a rare vintage bottle…and dies in front of all the guests. And it’s just the first such poisoning of Parisian chefs. Tabitha is determined to find out who is behind the murders…but it suddenly becomes very personal for Tabitha when a poison-laced bottle is sent to someone to whom she is very close.
Ms. Cambridge has an ability to draw the reader into a scene — you hear it, see it, and in some scenes with Julia and Tabitha cooking, almost taste it. There is a real sense of what mid-century Paris could have been like, the ex-pat community’s vitality, plus the reader gets a history lesson along with a great mystery. As Tabitha explores new-to-her parts of Paris, the reader gets to tag along.
In addition, there’s an intriguing mystery, with twists and turns to keep the reader guessing right along with the protagonist.
This is the second in the Tabitha-Julia series, but is easily read as a stand-alone. The author, however, does delve more deeply into the recurring characters, letting us get to know them a bit better.
5 stars
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