Chocolate Quake

Rating:
Summary: How to clear her mother-in-law while eating food for her col
Review: Carolyn and Jason Blue are off to San Francisco. Jason will be attending a conference on environmental chemistry and toxicology in their hotel the Stanford Court. Carolyn calls her mother-in-law only to get a message on her answering machine that she has been arrested for first-degree murder. At first Jason doesn't believe her, but then he hears the message too.

Since Jason is tied up in his conference, Carolyn goes to visit her. Vera Blue, her mother-in-law, tells her not to investigate. She says the police will figure out their mistake. Once Carolyn meets with Vera's lawyer Margaret Hanrahan and Inspector Harry Yu, she realizes she'd better start looking into things because no one else is. The police feel they have the murderer.

Carolyn and Jason move over to Vera's sublet so that it will be easier for Vera to get messages to them. In the process, Carolyn meets Bruno Valetti who lives on the second floor. He is totally smitten with Vera and ends up helping Carolyn with part of her investigation.

Jason contacts his dad, Vera's ex-husband, and he flies into town and hires private detective Sam Flamboise, a gay former football player turned private eye. Sam and Carolyn do a lot of the detecting together. There are so many potential suspects. They quite often end up in seedy locations. Plus Jason is not too excited to find out they have been riding on Sam's motorcycle.

This was the first book I've read in this series. I like Carolyn a lot. This was a very enjoyable story. I thought she blended some great characters together and I found the story to be quite believable.

My only frustration was with the fact that a chapter can be written from a different character's perspective. She lists at the beginning of each chapter who is speaking, but I read in small bursts and found myself forgetting who was talking. I can see in other books (I've since read another in this series) this really helps the story. I just didn't find it as helpful in this one.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more in this series.

Rating:
Summary: How to clear her mother-in-law while eating food for her col
Review: Carolyn and Jason Blue are off to San Francisco. Jason will be attending a conference on environmental chemistry and toxicology in their hotel the Stanford Court. Carolyn calls her mother-in-law only to get a message on her answering machine that she has been arrested for first-degree murder. At first Jason doesn't believe her, but then he hears the message too.

Since Jason is tied up in his conference, Carolyn goes to visit her. Vera Blue, her mother-in-law, tells her not to investigate. She says the police will figure out their mistake. Once Carolyn meets with Vera's lawyer Margaret Hanrahan and Inspector Harry Yu, she realizes she'd better start looking into things because no one else is. The police feel they have the murderer.

Carolyn and Jason move over to Vera's sublet so that it will be easier for Vera to get messages to them. In the process, Carolyn meets Bruno Valetti who lives on the second floor. He is totally smitten with Vera and ends up helping Carolyn with part of her investigation.

Jason contacts his dad, Vera's ex-husband, and he flies into town and hires private detective Sam Flamboise, a gay former football player turned private eye. Sam and Carolyn do a lot of the detecting together. There are so many potential suspects. They quite often end up in seedy locations. Plus Jason is not too excited to find out they have been riding on Sam's motorcycle.

This was the first book I've read in this series. I like Carolyn a lot. This was a very enjoyable story. I thought she blended some great characters together and I found the story to be quite believable.

My only frustration was with the fact that a chapter can be written from a different character's perspective. She lists at the beginning of each chapter who is speaking, but I read in small bursts and found myself forgetting who was talking. I can see in other books (I've since read another in this series) this really helps the story. I just didn't find it as helpful in this one.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more in this series.

Rating:
Summary: scrumptious mystery
Review: Food columnist Carolyn Blue accompanies her husband Jason to San Francisco where he is going to attend a scientific convention on toxins. She, being a dutiful daughter-in-law, gives Jason's mother a courtesy call, but only gets her answering machine stating that she is in the San Francisco Jail on a charge of first degree murder. When she tells Jason about it, he doesn't take it seriously since his mother, a radical feminist, has been in jail plenty of times due to the protest marches that got out of hand.

Exasperated with her husband, Carolyn takes matters into her own hands and visits Vera Blue in jail where she learns that her opinionated mother-in-law antagonizes the guards and her fellow inmates. Carolyn gets really upset when she hears her mother-in-law isn't taking the charges very seriously. With the police convinced they got the right person in custody, Carolyn decides to start her own investigation and winds up getting shot at by an unknown person who objects to her snooping.

CHOCOLATE QUAKE is a scrumptious mystery that takes the reader on a tour of some of the most popular restaurants of San Francisco. The heroine is a gutsy woman who takes matters into her own hands when she realizes her husband and his mother refuse to deal seriously with the situation. There is a surplus of suspects who wanted the victim dead so Carolyn has her work cut out for her if she wants her mother-in-law out of jail before they head home to Texas.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Food Columnist Mystery Books Result in Bland Fare
Review: I checked this book and "Truffled Feather" out from our library at the same time. While I thought the food writer + mystery would be a great premise, I was sadly disappointed with these two books. The plots are okay but I was distracted with the author's characterization of Carolyn Blue--a "Forty-Something" writer. I have no idea how old the author is, but she writes from the point of view of someone who has no idea what it is to be in your 40s in 2003 (when this book was published, and presumably, the time frame in which it was set.)I am 43, and Carolyn Blue comes across as more of my mother's age (69). In this book, Carolyn marvels at her ability to use the internet (hello? she has 2 kids in college!),and describes her first motorcycle ride from the perspective of well, my mother! The author's descriptions of Carolyn's wardrobe and hairstyle bring to mind 1970-s style polyester. Carolyn Blue has no sense of humor, and she is just not a very likable heroine. Even the food columns interspersed through the book sound stilted and prissy. In both books, Carolyn comes across as self-centered and self-righteous. The potential for an amusing, fun mystery is there, but the results are rather annoying. This problem with the character ruins the premise of these books for me...I won't be reading any more!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: I never know how well I am going to like each entry in this series. They are rather inconsistent and this one falls somewhere in the middle of the rest. In this episode, Carolyn Blue and her husband are in San Francisco. Upon arriving, Carolyn dutifully calls her mother-in-law, who lives there, only to discover that she has been jailed on a murder charge.

As with her other books, Ms. Fairbanks, has written each chapter from the perspective of either Carolyn, her husband, or, in this case, the private detective hired to help find the real murderer. The chapter is then written in first person from that character's viewpoint.

There were several errors in this book. Twice was Carolyn to be written in the first person, but she was referred to in the third. Another error - the male private detective tells Carolyn that he has a relationship with a man, she comments on it, and then about 10 pages later, he tells her again and she is shocked. And, Carolyn and the detective go to a bar and order a Corona beer which is served to them on tap. Unless something has changed in the last year or so, Corona is only served in bottles.

And while this is not an error, I found it incredibly strange that Jason Blue, son of the accused murdered does absolutely nothing other than have his father hire the detective, to free his mother. If my mother were in jail, I would be doing whatever it took to get her out.

Not for sure if I will be buying the next in this series or not.

Rating:
Summary: a good 'light' mystery
Review: The Carolyn Blue culinary-travelogue mysteries are, I'll admit, one of my favourites. And while the multiple point-of view narratives were unnecessary, in my opinion, and a bit distracting, (in "Chocolate Quake" we're not only privy to Carolyn's and her husband, Jason's, thoughts but also those of San Francisco private detective, Sam Flamboise's thoughts as well), the mystery was so interesting and intriguing that it captured my attention completely.

Carolyn and Jason are in San Francisco -- he to attend a conference, while Carolyn has tagged along so that she can sample (and write about) the sights and foods of that unique city. But first business before pleasure: San Francisco is also the current home of Carolyn's critical feminist mother-in-law, Vera. But when Carolyn makes the curtesy call to Vera to inform her of their arrival, the last thing she expects is to be greeted with the news that Vera has been arrested for murder. Vera, who has been working at the Union Street Women's Center, has been accused of stabbing to death Denise Faulks, the center's accountant. The evidence against Vera is circumstantial at best, unfortunately the police believing that they have their murderer have stopped investigating the crime completely; while neither Vera, nor Jason for that matter, seem to be taking this crisis seriously. And it's beginning to dawn upon Carolyn that she will have to discover who the real murderer is and solve this crime herself! Now, if she can also figure out how to cope with all the tremors as well as fit in a couple of restaurant stopovers and some sight-seeing as well...

What made this book a fun read was Nancy Fairbanks's descriptions and sights and foods of San Francisco. Her character portrayals were very well done as well. And while I didn't really think all those multiple narratives were all that essential, they didn't in any way interfere with the smooth unfolding of the plot. Mystery-wise, however, I'll have to admit it was fairly easy to figure out who the culprit(s) actually was/were. Still, "Chocolate Quake" was a rather fun read and one that was well worth the money spent.

Rating:
Summary: Chocolate Cr*p
Review: This book was one of only four that I, in this lifetime, have thrown across the room. It was the worst kind of mystery drivel, with ridiculous and contrived detecting by amateurs and a parade of shibboleths and caricatures. The scenery comes across as written by a tourist rather than a local, and the protagonist is in no way sympathetic or likeable.

Hands down the most disturbing thing about this book, however, is the bold racism that comes across in Fairbanks' depiction of characters of any ethnicity. Foul.