This is a fun cozy mystery. I liked the characters a lot, there were some funny parts, and the recipes for pasta and cocktails were great. I will definitely read more by this author. ( )

When Hayley, her husband Bruce, and brother Randy eat at a new restaurant, the chef recognizes her and asks what he thinks of her food. When she raves about it but tells him she likes her Carbonara better, he demands she make it for him. He agrees hers is better and wants her to work for him, which she turns down.

Then Randy has a gall bladder attack and winds up in the hospital; then he asks Hayley to run his restaurant until he returns, and she reluctantly agrees. What Hayley doesn't expect is that Chef Romeo is Randy's roommate. When the chef dies and everyone says it was a massive heart attack, Randy tells her that it was murder. When there's suspicious activity regarding the chef's death, Hayley does what she does best: investigate murders.

But there's more going on, since she has her work at the newspaper, is trying to run what appears to be a successful restaurant, take care of Randy; and with both Bruce and Randy's husband Sergio out of town, she's on her own, especially when the police sergeant who's temporarily in charge isn't taking anything she says seriously...

I have read every book in this series, and I have to say that while I wasn't impressed with the first one, it's definitely gotten much better over the years. In fact, this is my favorite one of them all. Hayley's showing the type of person she's been all along, but with a new confidence about her, and she's determined to find out who killed the chef.

I really felt sorry for Randy, having gone through the exact same thing myself. Trust me, this is not something you want to go through; it's not just gallbladder surgery but much more life-threatening. I'm grateful I survived (although I wasn't as needy as Randy).

There's action aplenty, and a lot going on at once, so the pacing is fast and the mystery intriguing. The identity of the killer is a bit of a surprise, with an extra thrown in for good measure. I really loved the way this book ended, so much so that I wish I could read the next in the series right now. Highly recommended. ( )

situational-humor, verbal-humor, cozy-mystery, family-dynamics, friendship, culinary, mafia, Maine, hit-man, amateur-sleuth, murder, murder-investigation, attempted-murder, small-business, small-town*****

This impressive Italian recipe book is hiding a fantastic and funny murder mystery! It's a really good cozy mystery complete with interesting characters, plot twists, red herrings and misdirection, good laughs. The publisher's blurb is a good hook and no recap or spoilers here. I loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )