With a name that could have been plucked fresh from the steamy pages of her own debut novel, Tiffanie Darke has all the right ingredients for a hugely successful career as a writer. As the Features Editor of the Express newspaper, Ms Darke is obviously practised in the art of mixing vocabulary to perfection and as a former Food and Drink Editor on the Daily Telegraph she very obviously knows her subject. For Marrow is set in the kitchens of the testosterone-pumping London restaurant scene, where three Michelin stars represent the climax of a chef's career.
Talking of climaxes, no sought-after restaurant would be complete without a live dish of the day-a celebrity chef who roars, bullies, drinks and screws his way through the 18-hour day, six-day weeks that all those seeking the Michelin crown are forced to endure. In Seamus Bull, chef-owner of Marrow, a Notting-Hill restaurant where customers book five months ahead, Ms Darke has cooked up the ultimate in arrogant, obnoxious chefs who, nevertheless, turn out food to die for and look scrumptious enough to eat themselves. And with a rival called, what else, Emmanuel Coq (yes, this is a Coq and Bull story for foodies everywhere!), a portly, whining food critic called Rufus Ransome, known as Ruthless Rufus, and an It Girl with a Sunday supplement society gossip column called Henrietta Gross-Smythe (Oh! Tara, she's got you to a T!), Marrow is a culinary opus magnum to be consumed with relish.
It's a great story, wonderfully presented (relevant recipes head each chapter-Bloody Mary's for the morning after and Spotted Dick for a different kind of morning after) and masterfully whisked together. You'll whip through it in less time than it takes to eat a seven-course gourmet repast. Best taken with a healthy dose of salt-just don't let the chef see you do it!--Carey Green
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Talking of climaxes, no sought-after restaurant would be complete without a live dish of the day-a celebrity chef who roars, bullies, drinks and screws his way through the 18-hour day, six-day weeks that all those seeking the Michelin crown are forced to endure. In Seamus Bull, chef-owner of Marrow, a Notting-Hill restaurant where customers book five months ahead, Ms Darke has cooked up the ultimate in arrogant, obnoxious chefs who, nevertheless, turn out food to die for and look scrumptious enough to eat themselves. And with a rival called, what else, Emmanuel Coq (yes, this is a Coq and Bull story for foodies everywhere!), a portly, whining food critic called Rufus Ransome, known as Ruthless Rufus, and an It Girl with a Sunday supplement society gossip column called Henrietta Gross-Smythe (Oh! Tara, she's got you to a T!), Marrow is a culinary opus magnum to be consumed with relish.
It's a great story, wonderfully presented (relevant recipes head each chapter-Bloody Mary's for the morning after and Spotted Dick for a different kind of morning after) and masterfully whisked together. You'll whip through it in less time than it takes to eat a seven-course gourmet repast. Best taken with a healthy dose of salt-just don't let the chef see you do it!--Carey Green
Genre: Cozy Mystery
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