The Proof of the Pudding

October 1, 2023
Lady Georgiana Rannoch has yet another murder to solve. This time she gets some help from Agatha Christie. Georgie, cousin to King Edward VIII, and her husband, Darcy O'Mara, who does something secret for the Crown, are expecting their first child shortly. Despite their aristocratic connections, they're not wealthy. Living at Eynsleigh, the Elizabethan house of Georgie's godfather, they await the arrival of a French chef while surviving on the stodgy food cooked by Georgie's former maid Queenie, a walking disaster. The long-awaited chef, Pierre, is handsome, and Queenie agrees to act as his assistant. Despite some misunderstandings over language and other matters, their first dinner party is such a smashing success that mystery author Sir Mordred Mortimer asks Georgie to let Pierre cook for a dinner to raise money for South African orphans. Mortimer seems a bit of a poseur, but his house and gardens, especially the poison garden, are a subject of considerable interest. The guests at his well-attended soiree include his children, along with some neighbors, some social climbers, an old school friend, and Laurence Olivier and Agatha Christie. The food is marvelous, and somehow all goes well even though Queenie and a dim maid serve as the only kitchen help. Luckily for her, Georgiana does not eat the dessert, a marvelous fruit tart that gives a number of the attendees food poisoning and leads the police to arrest Pierre for murder. Once Georgie sets out to prove the chef innocent, she is aided by Agatha Christie, who's quite an expert on poisons. A charming and often amusing mystery whose malefactor readers will quickly unmask.

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October 15, 2023
Bowen offers another delightful historical English mystery featuring talented amateur sleuth Lady Georgiana. It's 1936, and Georgie is expecting her first child. She's also hired a new chef, Pierre, whom she met in Paris, despite the fact that she's never tasted his cooking. Soon Sir Hubert, owner of Eynsleigh, arrives, asking Georgiana and her husband, Darcy, to look over his property while he travels the world. First, impressed with Pierre's culinary skills, he hosts a banquet. One of the guests is Sir Mordred Mountjoy, a famous writer known for his dark gothic fiction. Mountjoy is so pleased with Pierre's cooking that he asks to borrow him to cook for a dinner to raise funds for African orphans. But after Mordred's dinner, several guests fall ill, and two die. Sir Mordred and the police are quick to accuse Pierre, but Georgiana is convinced he wasn't the killer, and she's determined to uncover the truth before her child is born. As usual, her talent for unearthing clues, secrets, means, motives, and opportunities stands her in good stead in this charming entry in a beloved, long-running series.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.