'An irresistibly delicious mix of cooking and murder' Trisha Ashley

'Takes two of the world's greatest pleasures - food and mystery writing - and combines them exquisitely. I devoured it!' Thomas Mogford

Chef Charlie Hunter's arrival in the beautiful Chilterns is the fulfilment of a long-held dream: to open her own restaurant in an idyllic countryside location. The Old Forge sits on the village green (complete with duck pond and flint-faced houses) and seems just the place for the high-quality cooking she wants to be known for.

But instead of rural peace and a chance to lick her wounds, Charlie finds something ugly stirring under the chocolate box perfection. When a prominent local builder is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Charlie the outsider becomes a suspect. And the only way to clear her name seems to be to find out who the real killer is.

Luckily she has allies: her student waitress, a kitchen porter making up in muscles what he lacks in brain and a briskly efficient clairvoyant. Using all the craft Charlie's learned in kitchens - discipline, timing, preparation and grim determination - she will be as relentless in her quest to bring a murderer to justice as she is in creating the perfect meal.

About the Author

Alex Coombs was born in Lambeth in South London and studied Arabic at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities. Murder on the Menu is the first in a new series: the Old Forge Cafe Mysteries. Alex lives in the Chilterns.

Reviews

'Takes two of the world's greatest pleasures - food and mystery writing - and combines them exquisitely. I devoured it!' Thomas Mogford

An irresistibly delicious mix of cooking and murder, and a memorable heroine in chef Charlie, as she opens her new restaurant in what she hopes will be a peaceful village. It has all the ingredients I want from a cosy crime novel and I couldn't put it down.

-- Trisha Ashley

I really enjoyed reading Murder on the Menu, mostly after my work, in the late evenings and smiling to myself with the kitchen and food anecdotes as they were right on point, the story flowed and I was wanting to know what was next for Charlie, I felt as though I knew her, a great story that felt like it was not fictional at all.

-- Andre Garrett

'Take a chef with a wry sense of humour, a Chilterns village where shady shenanigans lead to murder, and stir until the plot thickens. Alex Coombs's intriguing recipe kept me turning the pages. Highly enjoyable' - Frances Brody, author of Kate Shackleton crime novels.

Book Information
ISBN 9781915798725
Author Alex Coombs
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint No Exit Press
Publisher Bedford Square Publishers