In the midst of the revolutionary fervor sweeping 1790 Paris, Fanny Delarue, a young cook for a wealthy family in the Place Royale, and her head chef, Henri, embark on a high-stakes investigation into the murder of Etienne de la Porte, chef to a neighboring household and Henri's mentor, after he turns up dead under suspicious circumstances. By the author of The Spice Box. - (Baker & Taylor)

In the midst of the revolutionary fervor sweeping 1790 Paris, Fanny Delarue, a young cook for a wealthy family, and her head chef, Henri, embark on a high-stakes investigation into the murder of Etienne de la Porte, Henri's mentor. - (Baker & Taylor)

Fanny Delarue is a young cook for a wealthy family in the Place Royale. She comes from comfortable roots - her father is a cabinet-maker and her mother is a seamstress - but her employer's house is full of the marvels that her own family could never enjoy. They have hot water in the bathtubs and a free-standing kitchen built in the courtyard at a time when most families have to make do with cooking over an open hearth.
In her heart, Fanny is keeping two fires burning - for food, and for her head chef, Henri. Together they feed the household, above stairs and below, and take lessons from Henri's mentor, Etienne de la Porte, chef to a neighboring household. At the same time, Fanny's trying to ignore the political heat that is building all around her. Chefs need to prove that food and cuisine can promote man's equality instead of reinforcing old class divisions, at the risk of losing their jobs ... and perhaps their heads. Tempers flare and nerves are strained, until one day, Etienne is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Who would murder a cook? The Place Royale is in tumult, and Fanny must solve the crime before the flames converge on her hopes for her own future. - (Blackwell North Amer)

Travel to Paris, 1790-where a well-executed meal may linger in the memory, but murder is forever.

Fanny Delarue is a young cook for a wealthy family in the Place Royale. In her heart, she is keeping two fires burning-for food, and for her head chef, Henri. Together they feed the household, above stairs and below, and take lessons from Henri's mentor, Etienne de la Porte, chef to a neighboring household.

At the same time, Fanny's trying to ignore the political heat that is building all around her. Chefs need to prove that food and cuisine can promote man's equality instead of reinforcing old class divisions, at the risk of losing their jobs...and perhaps their heads. Tempers flare and nerves are strained, until one day, Etienne is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Who would murder a cook? The Place Royale is in tumult, and Fanny must solve the crime before the flames converge on her hopes for her own future. - (Penguin Putnam)

Lou Jane Temple is a caterer in Kansas City, Missouri. A guest chef at the Culinary Institute of America and the James Beard Foundation, she has also been a restaurateur and a food and wine critic. She is the author of the culinary mystery series featuring caterer Heaven Lee. - (Penguin Putnam)

Booklist Reviews

Fanny Delarue, cook for a rich Parisian family, suffers distress when her culinary mentor is brutally murdered. Fanny determines to unravel the mystery surrounding his death, fearing that if she doesn't solve the riddle of the crime, her position and her future lie in jeopardy. The mystery unfolds against the backdrop of that very brief period of revolutionary euphoria immediately following the fall of the Bastille and before the onset of the Terror. This was the moment when restaurants began proliferating as noble cooks moved out of palaces and chateaus to feed the nascent industrial class. Temple, herself a chef, takes great delight in the historical culinary details, and those of similar taste will follow her savory descriptions. The characters' psychologies may betray some anachronistic treatments, but the historical detail of -eighteenth-century Paris remains faithful. Temple tops off her mystery with a recipe for marinated leeks and two desserts that reflect the period and that may be readily reproduced by a competent cook. ((Reviewed March 15, 2006)) Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.