State of the Onion

Olivia Paras is one of the chefs in the White House Kitchen. She’s good at her job and likes it that way. She’s also dating one of the Secret Service officers–but they keep it under wraps for a number of reasons. When she finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery and an assassination attempt, Olivia isn’t sure who to trust or what to believe. A White House Chef mystery, Hyzy’s novel features food, terrorism, and a tiny bit of romance. It’s closer to cozy-mystery than anything else, and it will definitely work for readers who like the food sub-genre of mysteries (who knew there was such a thing?). While it was enjoyable enough (like cotton candy without the caloric guilt), I don’t feel compelled to read the next in the series. ( )

I enjoyed the inside look a the White House kitchens and the amazing amount of protocol that circles around something as seemingly simple as a dinner for 14. It took me a little while to warm up to the main character just because I don't like the "I promise you", then breaking the promise in almost the next breath story line. Once we got past that I was able to get into the whole book and actually almsot figured out whodunnit, not quite but I was closer than I normally am!

Overall I enjoyed the book, barring that one plot point I mentioned. ( )

My blog post about this book is at this link. ( )

Olivia (Ollie) Paras is an assistant chef in the White House kitchen and on her way to work one day she inadvertently becomes involved in international espionage when she prevents an intruder from entering the White House. Ollie becomes the target of a world-famous hit man, has to fight an old enemy for the job of head chef, has a string of fights with her Secret Service boyfriend due to her continuing involvement in the investigation into the intruder's purpose and must prepare menus and food for the most important political meeting in years.

I picked up this book purely because of the setting. As well as being a crime fiction nut I'm a political junkie and, despite being Australian, my favourite TV show of all time is The West Wing. I knew nothing about the author or the series but was pre-disposed to liking the book. I did enjoy the behind the scenes tidbits about life in the White House, such as the steps involved in preparing for State Dinners and running taste tests for the First Lady, which felt well researched and realistic. And the story was full of suspense and well plotted although a bit far-fetched in parts. But if all the security lockdowns that would probably take place in such a scenario were included the book it would have been about seven pages long and kinda dull so I didn't mind the artistic license. I struggled far more with the seriousness of the book. It had a 'we're involved in the most important job in the world' undercurrent that got a bit much after a while, although I imagine it would play better to an American audience. For better or worse we Aussies are more cynical about our leaders and I found myself eye-rolling at some of the dialogue.

As a character Ollie is rather likable and a bit more believable than some other amateur sleuths although in many series the first book is more credible than any that come afterwards so it remains to be seen if the believability factor can be sustained. Apart from an over-reliance on the public transport system in times of trouble she didn't do anything ultra-dumb and she stood up for herself when it counted which I always like to see. The real character problem for me was that there weren't any others who were terribly well developed (I found Ollie's boyfriend a bit two dimensional) which would need to change if the series is to continue.

The uniqueness of this setting offers a lot of scope for interesting stories and there's enough of the traditional romantic cosy elements to satisfy readers who aren't so interested in politics. Personally I'd like to see a little more humour in the writing but I might be in the minority. All in all this is an above average book for the genre and I'll look for the second one in the series. ( )

A light mystery with the White House kitchen as background. the main character acts unwisely at almost every turn, but the famous setting is fun to read about, and the kitchen personalities are intriguing. ( )