Karen
This is now the third book in The Kamogawa Diner series which I think now has to be said is considerably more about the meals / food than it is about the investigation. The premise is simple, using an obscure advertisement in a Culinary Magazine, the father and daughter duo behind the Kamogawa Diner draw anyone to them that has a longing for food or a particular dish that they remember but now cannot access. He's the chef, she's the head of the detective agency although these days that's mostly her getting the details of the client's longing (craving), and leaving it to her father to do the leg work to track down the dish.
Each chapter revolves around a new dish, each format is the same - a person arrives at the diner, is fed an absolutely glorious meal, then sits down and explains the dish that they are longing to try again and why. They return in a few weeks to be presented with the dish by the chef father, who then explains (increasingly briefly it has to be said), how he tracked down the recipe / ingredients / the something special.
Nothing special therefore in terms of "mystery" or "detecting" but everything to do with some absolutely glorious food descriptions that even for a coeliac vegetarian have a tendency to make the mouth water.
Definitely a series for fans of the eclectic, and not one to be recommended for when you were feeling a bit peckish anyway.
Originally posted at www.austcrimefiction.org.
This is now the third book in The Kamogawa Diner series which I think now has to be said is considerably more about the meals / food than it is about the investigation. The premise is simple, using an obscure advertisement in a Culinary Magazine, the father and daughter duo behind the Kamogawa Diner draw anyone to them that has a longing for food or a particular dish that they remember but now cannot access. He's the chef, she's the head of the detective agency although these days that's mostly her getting the details of the client's longing (craving), and leaving it to her father to do the leg work to track down the dish.
Each chapter revolves around a new dish, each format is the same - a person arrives at the diner, is fed an absolutely glorious meal, then sits down and explains the dish that they are longing to try again and why. They return in a few weeks to be presented with the dish by the chef father, who then explains (increasingly briefly it has to be said), how he tracked down the recipe / ingredients / the something special.
Nothing special therefore in terms of "mystery" or "detecting" but everything to do with some absolutely glorious food descriptions that even for a coeliac vegetarian have a tendency to make the mouth water.
Definitely a series for fans of the eclectic, and not one to be recommended for when you were feeling a bit peckish anyway.
Originally posted at www.austcrimefiction.org.