Review: Three savory tales of murder, mystery and food
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2011
Russell Brooks, author of Pandora's Succession, offers a neat set of three short stories in his collection Unsavory Delicacies, each slightly unsavory, each with a curious focus on food, and the whole making a quite delightful package. You'll find master spy, Ridley Fox from Pandora, revealing part of his story in this anthology, but there are strangers too telling their own tales, and there's plenty of atmospheric mystery and action to go round.Oh yes, and there's food. Since one of the characters is a food critic, there's food very well-described and sensuously eaten with enticing flavors and subtle hints and spice. Savory, or unsavory, depending on your point of view, it definitely draws you in. Food inspectors follow the critic of course, and food eaters come before. But the whole is a fun short read--three fun short reads--a great introduction to Russell Brooks' writing if you've not read Pandora's Succession and a delightful extra helping if you have. The author has action, observation and dialog down to a fine art, and this collection displays his skills, offering thrills and chills most unsavory in the guise of bite-sized story-telling treats. Enjoy!Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.