A Deadly Eclair

Weddings are supposed to be fun. They are not supposed to have a dead body with an eclair stuffed in his mouth at the event. In A Deadly Eclair: A French Bistro Mystery by Daryl Wood Gerber, that's only the beginning of the trouble.

After her disastrous marriage ended tragically, Chef Mimi Rousseau returned home to Nouvelle Vie, California, to open a bistro with an attached bed and breakfast inn. Thanks to her benefactor and friend Bryan Baker, she is able to work her way out of the tremendous debt she "inherited" when her husband died. Also with his help, she is back in business.

The opening splash for the Bistro and Inn was to be Bryan's niece and talk show host Angelica Barrington's wedding. At the special out-of-towners dinner the night before the wedding, everything seems to be going smoothly.

But there is tension among Angelica's fiance, his father and sister. There's also an undercurrent of

anger between Bryan and Angelica's father, especially after he arrives late and slightly drunk. When he produces a beautiful gold necklace with a stunning aquamarine pendant on it, there isn't a dry eye in the room. It had been Angelica's mother's and she had always said to wear it on her wedding day.

Mimi breathes a sign of relief when the dinner is over and looks forward to the lovely wedding the next day. At quarter to six the next morning, Angelica is pounding on Mimi's door and drags her to the Bistro's kitchen. There she finds Bryan dead with an eclair stuffed in his mouth. This was not the way a wedding day should begin.

There are many twists and turns to the plot and they form an interesting mystery. The characters are very believable and Mimi's Bistro makes me want to dine there, sans the corpse near the kitchen.

For other books by Daryl Wood Gerber, click here.