Beef Stolen-Off
Liz Lipperman


ISBN-10:
042525142X
ISBN-13: 978-0425251423
Publisher: Penguin Group
Line: Berkley
Release Date: July 3, 2012
Pages: 304
Retail Price: 7.99




Genre:
Mystery
Rating:

As the food columnist for The Ranchero Globe, Jordan McAllister catches the eye of cattle baron Lucas Santana, who invites her to the Cattleman's Ball, hoping a positive review from the ball might boost the county's sagging beef sales.

To ensure Jordan enjoys herself, Santana sets her up with a prime cowboy companion for the event--Rusty Morales. Jordan's delighted to go with him and two-step the night away. But instead, she winds up in the emergency room where her date is DOA.

When Rusty's mother begs her for help, Jordan knows she needs to grab the bull by the horns and get to the bottom of this mystery before she corrals herself into trouble...

Review

Jordan McAllister has just been named the permanent food columnist for a small Ranchero, Texas newspaper, which isn’t bad for someone whose culinary skills and fine dining experience are practically non-existent! Jordan hasn’t given up on her dream of becoming a sportswriter. However, she is pleased to land this job, especially since she can count on help from good friends from her apartment complex to help with her Kitchen Kupboard column. 

Jordan is given an assignment to attend a fancy charity ball for the Cattleman’s Association and write about the event and the meals. Although she is interested in someone else, she agrees to attend the ball with the handsome cowboy, Rusty Morales, as her escort. She is just starting to enjoy Rusty’s charm and good looks, while dodging the amorous attentions of a couple of older cowboys, when her “date” ends tragically. Rusty has collapsed during dinner, an apparent victim of poisoning.  When it becomes clear this isn’t just a terrible accident, Jordan ends up in the middle of a murder investigation, along with her brother Danny and her would-be boyfriend Alex.

Beef Stolen-Off is the second book in the Clueless Cook mystery series.  It’s a nice cozy when you are in the mood for a light read, but I don’t think it is as good as the first book in the series. Even after the book ended, I didn’t feel the reader was given the chance to really get to know Jordan as a person or a columnist. The book includes several recipes, but I would have liked to have seen more of her actual column. Also, we’re told Jordan loves sports so much she wants to make a living writing about them, but we don’t see her talking about sports, watching sports, or anything related to sports in her day-to-day life. She is able to find out a lot about the case that her brother and boyfriend aren’t, but then other times, Jordan is clueless both inside and outside the kitchen. When Rusty complains of having numbness on his face and tongue shortly before collapsing, Jordan tells him a couple of deep breaths should help. Now, I’m not a doctor, but it seems obvious that something serious is going on with symptoms like those. This happens at the beginning of the story and really makes me wonder how she will be able to solve the murder if she doesn’t recognize how ill Rusty is. Even though Jordan is clever and determined, she often comes across as ditzy in this installment.

Jordan is usually smart enough to share things she learns during the investigation with her brother, but a few times she put herself into dangerous situations, which isn’t necessary with both Alex and Danny on the case. When Jordan does confide in Alex, they make a good detecting team, but I wish their personal relationship was a bit more romantic. Jordan continually talks about how she longs for a “real date” with Alex, but while some may think dinner and a movie would make a nice first date, Jordan has dinner and “dessert” at his place in mind. I think some nice romantic tension to add some mystery to the romance part of the book would have made their story more interesting.

Much of the rest of the book is a fun read. Jordan’s adventure with her friend and co-worker Sandy to help her see her house isn’t haunted is one of my favorite parts of the book. It’s entertaining and shows both a kind and capable side to Jordan that doesn’t come through in other parts of the book. The story gets really good toward the end as Jordan gets closer to solving the murder.  The book comes to a satisfying conclusion. The ending definitely sets up a new book in the series by talking about Jordan’s next assignment which will involve her friends from the Empire Apartments. This sounds like it could be a fun story, and hopefully it will show Jordan to be as capable of a detective and writer as she is a loyal friend.

Reviewed by Christine K.


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