Book Review: Claws of Death by Cathy Wiley (Fatal Food Festival Mysteries #1)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great characters in a fun mystery

Cons: You’d have to be a crab to find cons

The Bottom Line:

Judging festival

Complicated by murder

Can’t wait for sequel

Who is Crabby Enough to Commit Murder?

Cathy Wiley’s contributions to the Destination Murders short story collections have all featured celebrity chef turned food festival judge Jackie Norwood.  I’ve been waiting for a full novel with Jackie.  Now we get it with Claws of Death, and it was worth the wait.

Jackie had a popular program on the Gourmet Channel and a successful restaurant until her drinking destroyed her career.  Now out of rehab, she is rebuilding her life the only way she can at the moment – by traveling the country judging food festivals as a celebrity judge.  Her first such appearance is a new crab festival in a Texas town on the gulf.

Jackie is horrified when she realizes one of her fellow judges is Heather Curtis.  Jackie and Heather were in culinary school together and have had similar career milestones, much to Jackie’s dismay.  Heather has gone out of her way to attack Jackie every chance she’s had.  Then it turns out that one of the contestants is Jackie’s ex-boyfriend, Benji Hayes.

The opening night of the festival turns disastrous when Heather dies after taking her first bite of the first dish they are served – Benji’s contribution to the soup round.  Given their past relationship with Heather, both Jackie and Benji are strong suspects.  Can Jackie figure out what is really going on?

Yes, I’ve met Jackie and her brother before, but it was nice to get to see them in a full novel.  We also get more of their backstory, and time to see them develop as characters.  I enjoyed seeing them fleshed out more.

The rest of the cast is just as sharp.  We’ve now met another couple of characters who I’m sure will be series regulars.  At least I’m hoping we will see them again.  The rest of the characters make wonderful suspects.  Everyone feels real and helps bring the story to life.

And what a fun mystery it was.  We just have enough time to meet the characters before Heather dies.  From there, we are off and running.  There were some great twists, and I appreciated how Jackie pieced things together.

The book is also filled with humor.  I laughed and smiled my way through the book, enjoying the sarcasm and banter, as well as some of Jackie’s asides in the first-person narration.

This all led to a book I didn’t want to put down.  It was a fast read with fun on every page and I was sorry when I reached the end.

Those who enjoy crab will be interested in the two recipes at the end of the book.  Since I’m not a crab eater, I’ll let others enjoy.

I’m thrilled to see that the sequel is already up for pre-order.  You won’t be sorry you started this promising new series, so get your claws into Claws of Death today.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.