Ebook298 pages4 hours
Sympathy for the Devil: A Culinary Mystery
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
A Hollywood caterer must serve up justice when a Halloween party’s host drops dead in this cozy mystery series debut.
Madeline Bean, caterer to the stars, is in the middle of the biggest job of her career. She and her partner Wesley have pulled off Hollywood’s most outrageous A-list Halloween party for notorious producer Bruno Huntley, complete with an eerie fortuneteller who is astonishingly accurate, and exotic food that’s to die for. Before long, Bruno is thrashing and writhing out on the dance floor. Just one problem: he’s not standing up. And soon, he’s not even breathing.
The newly late Mr. Huntley was poisoned, that’s certain. But the number of suspects with a yen to send Bruno to the devil could fill an audition for extras in the next Quentin Tarantino flick. When Wesley is arrested for the murder because of a long-standing dispute with the maniacal mogul, Madeline knows he couldn’t be guilty. But to prove it, she must wade through the muck of a mudslinging family, outrun a pair of crazed canines, dodge a pair of well-aimed bullets, and expose a slew of secrets that could put a soap opera to shame. Somebody’s cooked up a murder, and it’s up to Madeline to find out who—before she faces a fadeout of her own.
Madeline Bean, caterer to the stars, is in the middle of the biggest job of her career. She and her partner Wesley have pulled off Hollywood’s most outrageous A-list Halloween party for notorious producer Bruno Huntley, complete with an eerie fortuneteller who is astonishingly accurate, and exotic food that’s to die for. Before long, Bruno is thrashing and writhing out on the dance floor. Just one problem: he’s not standing up. And soon, he’s not even breathing.
The newly late Mr. Huntley was poisoned, that’s certain. But the number of suspects with a yen to send Bruno to the devil could fill an audition for extras in the next Quentin Tarantino flick. When Wesley is arrested for the murder because of a long-standing dispute with the maniacal mogul, Madeline knows he couldn’t be guilty. But to prove it, she must wade through the muck of a mudslinging family, outrun a pair of crazed canines, dodge a pair of well-aimed bullets, and expose a slew of secrets that could put a soap opera to shame. Somebody’s cooked up a murder, and it’s up to Madeline to find out who—before she faces a fadeout of her own.
Author
Jerrilyn Farmer
Jerrilyn Farmer, the author of seven acclaimed, award-winning Madeline Bean novels, is a TV writer who has written for game shows such as Jeopardy! and Supermarket Sweep, and sketch comedy specials for Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, Timothy Stack, Cheri Oteri, Tim Meadows, and others. Farmer also teaches mystery writing at the UCLA Extension's Writers Program. She lives in Southern California.
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Reviews for Sympathy for the Devil
Rating: 3.7285714285714286 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
35 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the years before I started tracking my reading in the mid 2000's I'd read this book several times, but it's obviously been sitting on the shelf, neglected ever since, because I have no record of a review for it.This came out in the heyday of the cozy mystery, before big publishing corrupted the sub-genre into a cash-cow, cookie-cutter formula. Madeline Bean and her partner Wesley own a catering company that's hip with the Hollywood crowd, throwing parties for the rich and infamous. When their latest client is killed, Wesley's old grudge with the man makes him look like the best suspect.Farmer write a hell of a mystery. It's fun, it's cozy, it's fast-paced and the dialog is witty, intelligent and engaging. These are characters one would choose to be friends with. And the Huntley family is diabolically dysfunctional in ways that are hard to imagine unless you watch a lot of entertainment news. The plotting was fascinating. So many promising, legitimate possibilities and so many red herrings. The climax is dramatic but well done - not overplayed - and the murderer was a surprise. I enjoyed every book in this series, until it was cut short for reasons never explained; I've always been disappointed that it ended long before its time, but thankful that I have them all on my shelves to revisit.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Madeline Bean owns a catering business that caters to the rich and famous. She and her partner, Wes, have a huge job with a Halloween party for producer, Bruno Huntley. The novel is not as well written or Elizabeth George or Tess Gerritsen. The book is mostly fluff, like the people living in Los Angeles. There are no detailed autopsy reports or gory murder scenes. The reader does not learn any earth shattering knowledge from reading this book. The book is just a simple beach read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Light mystery
Book preview
Sympathy for the Devil - Jerrilyn Farmer
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