The Trouble with Truffles- a 4 Star Review of Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle by J.A. Lang

Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle by J.A. Lang is a humorous cozy featuring Chef Maurice and his friend and restaurant critic, Arthur Wordington-Smythe. It's the first in a series of mysteries with these characters. The staff at the chef's restaurant also make appearances as do the local constabulary.

In the thoughts of Chef Maurice, "The good citizens of Beakley mostly confined themselves to the wholesomely legal highs of alcohol and gossip." So why then is there a dead body? His mushroom dealer is dead in a ditch. Who could have possibly wanted him dead?

Certainly not Chef Maurice who wants the mushrooms that his loyal supplier owes him. This leads him into trouble. Even though the mushrooms were destined for his table, he has trouble convincing Lucy that he is trustworthy and should be allowed to take them right away, Best line from the synopsis: "They say one should never trust a thin chef, By this measure Chef Maurice is very trustworthy."

Chef decides that he and Arthur must investigate the death of Ollie, Along the way they meet several interesting people and acquire a pig.

I enjoyed the mystery in this book. Even though it is a serious enough crime, the undertaking of all involved trying to solve the mystery is quite funny. Chef Maurice's speech is peppered with words of French. That's no problem for me, but I could see where potentially it would confuse some of the other readers. It's all about execution. I don't think anyone would really have much trouble following it.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It's a good mystery and everything you need to solve it at the same rate of the chef is given to you as he receives his clues and makes his deductions.  It was enjoyable to watch his mind at work.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.