The Gossiping Gourmet (Murder in Marin Mysteries #1)
Author: Martin Brown
3.5 out of 5 stars
In Sausalito, Warren Bradley is a local celebrity, known for his cooking skills and his weekly column in the local newspaper. A lover of gossip, drama, and scandal, Warren likes to use his article and the gossip he finds to get back at people he doesn’t approve of. His most recent targets are Grant and Barbara Randolph. Soon after moving to town, they inadvertently offended Warren by not trying some of his food. When the Randolphs have a drunken argument that ends with Barbara falling and hitting her head and Grant being arrested, Warren is able to turn the town against Grant. Then Warren is found dead by his boss, Rob Timmons. Rob ends up working with his childhood friend Eddie to investigate Warren’s life. Did Grant murder Warren, or was it someone else with a grudge?
I’ll start off by saying that, overall, I did enjoy this book. The plot was interesting, and I liked the descriptions of Sausalito and the views of the bay. There were some things I didn’t like, but most of them were personal taste. One thing I didn’t like was that the ending felt a bit sudden. We aren’t with Eddie at any point when he discovers the information about Warren that solves the case. Instead, we learn it second-hand with Rob as Eddie is explaining everything to him. It just left me feeling distant from the story’s conclusion. This could have been improved by having us see some of Eddie’s perspective and how he’s feeling after his discoveries.
In general, the characters were fine, but none of them really endeared themselves to me. Although, I felt very sympathetic towards the Randolphs. There were lots of good friendships and good interactions between the characters, like Rob and Eddie, and Eddie and his wife. One thing that bothered me was the reactions of Rob and Holly to Warren’s death. Now, I really disliked Warren. He was a terrible person who targeted people just because he disliked them or they did some small thing that somehow offended him. However, the reactions to his death were just too gleeful. Rob immediately thinks about the fact that he’ll be able to get more ad revenue because readership will be up. And Holly is just excited about a real murder mystery. The feeling from the whole scene just felt off. Also, there were multiple chapters devoted to the Randolphs, their lives in New York, and their move to Sausalito, which did sometimes drag a bit.
Due to the issues I mentioned I rated this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. There is a large focus on the characters and the drama and pitfalls of small town life and the nosiness of neighbors, so if that’s something you like, then you’ll enjoy this book.
Price through Amazon Kindle: $0
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O7CGITO
(I do not benefit from the use of this link.)