Preparing calorie-conscious meals for the dieters of Woodstone, Connecticut, Gigi Fitzgerald knows a cheater when she sees one. And when murder is on the menu, she's ready to get the skinny on whodunit...

Business is looking up for Gigi's Gourmet De-Lite, thanks to her newest client, restaurant reviewer Martha Bernhardt. Martha has the clout to put Gigi's personal meal plans on everyone's lips. But instead of dropping a few pounds, Martha drops dead from a severe peanut allergy...right after eating one of Gigi's signature dishes.

When the distractingly debonair Detective Mertz identifies traces of peanut oil in Martha's last meal, Gigi suddenly finds her diet catering business on the chopping block. Now she'll have to track down who tampered with her recipe before her own goose is cooked.

Includes delicious--and healthy--recipes!

Series: A Gourmet De-Lite Mystery (Book 1)

Review

Gigi Fitzgerald owns her own business preparing low-calorie gourmet meals for her dieting clients in Woodstone, Connecticut. Gigi’s newest client, Martha Bernhardt, is a restaurant reviewer for the local newspaper. Gigi has her fingers crossed for a satisfied customer and a positive review since a recommendation from Martha could help Gigi’s business grow. However, Gigi’s dreams of expanding her business fade fast when Martha dies from an allergic reaction to something she ate and Detective Bill Mertz blames Gigi’s food. Gigi feels terrible about Martha’s tragic death, but is sure her food did not contain anything that would have caused Martha to have an allergic reaction. With Detective Mertz looking no further than Gigi’s kitchen, Gigi does some sleuthing of her own to clear her good name and find someone that had a motive to kill Martha.

I really like the author’s twist on the usual culinary mystery. I like the premise of a healthy “meals to go” service and it opens up opportunities for Gigi to interact with several different people in the town. The tips for dieting included in the book could be helpful and the low-calorie recipes in the book look tasty. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book.

Although the book gets off to a great start, my interest started to fade quickly. It’s not a bad book if you are in the mood for a light read, but lacks polish in some of the writing. Some of Gigi’s mannerisms such as shaking hands when she’s upset and “blurting” when she’s nervous are overused. The book also lacks the little details that could have made the characters and the situations more realistic. For example, Gigi impulsively adopts a dog, but we don’t get to see any of the details of Gigi helping little “Reg” to settle in. She sees Reg, wants, him, and that’s it. A quick trip to the pet store would have added to the scene. We’re told her friend Carlo has strong romantic feelings for Gigi, but there are few scenes that actually show us this. At one point in the book, Gigi receives some very exciting news. The author tells us this, but we don’t get to see the scene unfold and really share in her happy moment, and this is a missed opportunity to help the reader better connect with Gigi.

The mystery of Martha’s death is very interesting, but Gigi could use some focus to her detecting. She runs around the town of Woodstone asking questions and looking for people who may have had a reason to harm Martha, even suspecting some of her own friends. However, she never seems to take opportunity into account, which could have saved her time and hard feelings between her and some of the people she originally suspects.

Allergic to Death is somewhat similar in tone to Claudia Bishop’s culinary mysteries and foodies looking for something a little different may enjoy the book. With some improvement in the way the story is told, the premise and the characters are interesting enough that this could become a series worth following.

Reviewed by Christine

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