Death Is Semisweet: A Heaven Lee Mystery - Hardcover

Temple, Lou Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312301227 ISBN 13: 9780312301224

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2002

Synopsis

Heaven Lee has lived in Kansas City a long time, and she thought she knew as much as there was to know about her hometown. But when her longtime friend Stephanie Simpson starts a new business as a chocolatier after divorce, Heaven is surprised and delighted to find out that Stephanie is getting back to her family roots with her new enterprise. As it turns out, her mother was heir to the famous Foster's Chocolates fortune, a chocolate company that is a Kansas City institution. That is, until her brothers, Stephanie's uncles, swindled her out of her share lo these many years ago.

Still, Stephanie is excited to be back in the family business, albeit in a small way with her own downtown chocolate shop, and Heaven can't wait to learn all about chocolate. She's got a restaurant to run, of course, and is always on the lookout for new ways to use traditional ingredients. The pair's excitement turns suscpicious, however, when a giant blimp advertising the 50th anniversary of Foster's is shot down almost directly on top of Stephanie's new store, its pilot dead before he hits the ground.

Is this terrible event a direct threat to Heaven's friend's new business? Or is it all just a big coincidence? Heaven suspects the former, and when her friend's livelihood, not to mention her life, is on the line, no one can stop her from getting at the truth. She'll figure out what's going on and be back in time for dessert in Death Is Semisweet--a smart, saucy entry in the Heaven Lee Culinary Mystery series from fan favorite Lou Jane Temple. Complete with many sinfully delicious chocolate recipes!

About this title

About the Author:

Lou Jane Temple is a cook, a caterer, a restaurateur, and a food and wine critic, as well as the author of seven previous Heaven Lee mysteries. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

From Booklist:

In Temple's latest Heaven Lee mystery, it's Christmastime in Kansas City. The five-times-married Heaven now has a Vietnamese physician boyfriend 20 years younger than she is; her daughter, Iris, is dating one of the musicians in her British father's rock band (think Mick; probably not Keith). The local chocolate company, Foster's, is having some internal difficulties: when a conniving African supplier is found murdered in the Foster chocolate machinery, with Heaven's friend Stephanie (a poor Foster relation) holding the murder weapon, things heat up. But that's not all: there's a recovering bulimic and a lesbian bodybuilder mourning her dead lover, not to mention a loyal secretary and Heaven's buddy Bonnie, a police sergeant. Fans of the series are sure to be entertained, but they may be surprised to find the story ending on a rather dark note for a cozy, and some may feel they have learned more than absolutely necessary about the history, making, and processing of chocolate. The recipes are suitably dark. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0312301227
• ISBN 13: 9780312301224
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288