A Cookbook Conspiracy: Mini-Interview with Kate Carlisle and Review

 

Welcome, Kate! What would you tell new readers to your series about your series, to inspire them to pick them up?

 

The Bibliophile Mystery novels are smart, funny murder mysteries. They’ll entertain you and make you think – and you can test your sits by seeing if you can figure out whodunit before the big reveal.

 

Brooklyn Wainwright is the top rare book expert in San Francisco, and one of the best in the world. In each Bibliophile Mystery, Brooklyn brings a book back to life – discovering treachery, deception, and finally, a murder that only she can solve. She’s surrounded by a cast of quirky but believable characters, and backed by her boyfriend, Derek Stone, a British security expert who knows better than to ask her to stay away from danger.

 

If you like TV shows like Castle, Bones, The Closer, Monk, Criminal Minds… I think you’ll enjoy these books.

 

Do you collect rare books as well? Or have a beloved book in your library?

 

I do! My father collected books, and I caught the passion for it from him. As far as I know, none of the books in my personal collection are associated with any murders, though. I love to haunt antiquarian book shops.

Brooklyn has always been a little obsessed with food, but it was her sister Savannah who became a chef, graduating from the prestigious Cordon Bleu school in Paris. She and her classmates all went on to successful careers, but none of them achieved culinary superstardom like Savannah’s ex-boyfriend Baxter Cromwell.

When Baxter invites the old gang to participate in his new restaurant’s gala opening in San Francisco, Savannah looks forward to seeing her friends, and even asks Brooklyn to restore a tattered cookbook—an old gift from Baxter—as a present for him. But Brooklyn immediately recognizes that the book, which has strange notes and symbols scrawled in the margins, is at least two hundred years old. She thinks that it probably belongs in a museum, but Savannah insists on returning it to Baxter.

Shortly after receiving the gift, Baxter is found dead, with Savannah kneeling over him, bloody knife in hand, and the rare cookbook has disappeared. Brooklyn knows her sister didn’t kill him, and she suspects the missing cookbook might lead to the real villain. Now Brooklyn will have to turn up the heat on the investigation before Chef Savannah finds herself slinging hash in a prison cafeteria.

Buy Links: Book Depository | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier Award winning author Kate Carlisle spent over twenty years working in television production as an Associate Director for game and variety shows, including The Midnight Special, Solid Gold and The Gong Show. She traveled the world as a Dating Game chaperone and performed strange acts of silliness on The Gong Show. She also studied acting and singing, toiled in vineyards, collected books, joined a commune, sold fried chicken, modeled spring fashions and worked for a cruise ship line, but it was the year she spent in law school that finally drove her to begin writing fiction. It seemed the safest way to kill off her professors. Those professors are breathing easier now that Kate spends most of her time writing near the beach in Southern California where she lives with her perfect husband.

A lifelong love of old books and an appreciation of the art of bookbinding led Kate to create the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder. Kate is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She loves to drink good wine and watch other people cook.

Despite the appearance of overnight success, Kate’s dream of publication took many, many years to fulfill.

Connect with Kate: Website | Twitter | Facebook

The Cozy Mystery Book Tour is giving away one (1) copy of A COOKBOOK CONSPIRACY. Leave a comment to be included in the giveaway. Contest ends at midnight June 9, EST; US entries only, at the Cozy Mystery Tour’s request.

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My Review: Kate Carlisle's Bibliophile mysteries are always well-crafted puzzlers, and A Cookbook Conspiracy (#7) is no exception.

Brooklyn ends up knee deep in murder and mayhem once again (even though the mere sight of blood makes her faint...I can relate) when her sister, chef Savannah, asks her to repair an old cookbook from 1782 that was written by Obedience Green, an English lady who came to America to cook for a British general. Brooklyn immediately realizes that this is no ordinary cookbook; it is an historical treasure that belongs in a museum! She's horrified to learn that it's to be a gift for celebrity chef Baxter Cromwell, Savannah's ex boyfriend who treated her terribly and is a real cad. Baxter has opened a new restaurant and has invited all of his old friends from their Le Cordon Bleu days to the opening. When Baxter opens the gift he's less than thrilled, and later that evening is found dead in his kitchen...and Savannah is holding a bloody fish knife over his corpse!

With her sister suspected of murder, and the cookbook missing, Brooklyn and boyfriend Derek have a lot of work ahead of them, especially when they realize any one of these visiting chefs had motive to kill. They all had their secrets, and Baxter had made it is mission to uncover each and every one.

The final revelation of the killer made for a satisfying conclusion to this page-turner. Amidst all the drama and suspicion, the appearance of a heavily pregnant cat nicknamed Bootsie at the restaurant's back alley door, brought a special surprise to Brooklyn by the end and I'm really looking forward to the next book in this wonderful series.

I received a copy of this book from the author with the request for a review.