Cooking Up Trouble: An Angie Amalfi Mystery (Angie Amalfi Mysteries)
Chef Angelina Amalfi is looking forward to a week at a new resort hotel on the remote Northern California coast.  She's been hired to assist the owner of a new Bed and Breakfast to develope a nutritious and tasty vegetarian menu.   Besides, the secluded hideaway should be just the place to further her romance with San Francisco homicide detective Paavo Smith.  Unfortunately, Angie's dream weekend turns into a disaster from the moment she shows up at the historic mansion, which hasn't exactly been renovated as she was lead to believe.    The investors aren't exactly what Angie pictured either.   An aging hippy, his beautiful and solemn sister, a dingy heiress, a channeler and a self-styled guru are only some of the quirky personalities Angie has to deal with.  Not to mention the ghosts of past residents.  As tensions rise between the  owners of the business, a rainstorm maroons them at the inn.  Angie and Paavo are stuck in a leaky, drafty old house with the warring investors and at least one killer.  Hardly Angie's idea of a romantic weekend with her sweetie.  To top it off, the mastermind behind the inn has stocked the larder with soybeans and little else.  Angie's Cordon Bleu training is for naught when all she has to work with are a few tired vegetables and soy milk.  Angie and Paavo work against the clock to unmask the killer before no one is left to dig out after the storm.A nice balance of romance and suspense, tension and humor! Joanne Pence paints her scenes with a masterful hand.  The house is a living, breathing part of the story! A classic mystery with lots of wit and romance thrown in!Annette Carney  --Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc.  All rights reserved--FromLiterary Times