Review: Steamed to Death by Peg Cochran

Steamed to Death
(A Gourmet De-Lite Mystery)
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group (June 4, 2013)
Published by The Penguin Group
Cover Illustration by Teresa Fasolino
Cover Design by Sarah Oberrender
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425252208
E-Book File Size: 801 KB
ASIN: B009NY2PZC

Gourmet health food caterer Gigi Fitzgerald is used to helping dieters drop a dress size. But when her clients start dropping dead, she’s ready to switch her chef’s hat for a detective’s cap and track down a killer. . .

One of Gigi’s new clients is aging soap star Felicity Davenport. She needs to lose a few pounds and then plans to have an extreme makeover to give her career a boost.  Felicity has also asked Gigi to do a little catering as she entertains some high profile guests from out of town. But before the guests even arrive Felicity has been steamed permanently. She was found dead in her sauna and it was definitely murder.

The cops suspect Gigi’s very pregnant friend Sienna.  Gigi heats things up when she directs them toward several other suspects that have much better reasons to want the actress out of the picture. She had better be careful or she may be the next one getting burned!!

Dollycas’s Thoughts
I fell for these characters quickly while reading the first book in this series, Allergic to Death. They are even better in this one and they are joined by Declan McQuaid.  He may just give Dectective Mertz a run for his money when it comes to Gigi’s affections. In addition to Sienna she has served up a nice batch of other suspects too. From Felicity’s husband, her stepson, her manager, to the young starlet that plans to replace Felicity in the starring role, and more. Each could have set the dial to cook the soap star.

The other thing I enjoy about these books is Gigi promotes healthy eating without sounding preachy and the delightful meals are described so well you can almost taste them. I wish they were really coming to our grocery stores but we are treated to a couple of recipes. One we plan to try soon as my husband just doesn’t believe it will work. I hope to post more about “Magic Omelets” soon!

You do not have to be on a diet or a foodie to love this story. A well plotted mystery with plenty of red herrings  – in the story, not in the recipes 🙂

To find out all about Peg and her alias Meg check out her web page here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”