Another entry in a solid series about a single mom who serves as a mystery shopper to make ends meet and solves murders in the process. Viets's dialogue is occasionally painfully expository, and the first few chapters suffer from this, but the conversations are more natural by the end. Her characters are painfully polite and considerate, in line with the Midwestern values of the St. Louis setting but off-putting to this reader. The mystery itself is kind of blown in the crime scene - if you want the solution to hinge on a secret love affair, the man should probably not be described kissing away the tears of a woman who is supposed to be a stranger... unless Ms. Viets has a much different attitude toward the tears of strangers... This series is usually a solid B, but this entry just barely passed. I couldn't finish this book. I couldn't even get to the mystery! I understand that the author loves St. Louis, but it sounded like she worked for the St. Louis Board of Tourism. It felt like the reader was being lectured on all things St. Louis, specifically the pizza and the cheese that goes on it. I don't like being lectured when I'm trying to read a cozy mystery. It's condescending and unnecessary to the plot. Save it for travel brochures.Recap of what I read: The main character is a mystery shopper. Her assignment is to go to restaurants. After the aforementioned lecture on St. Louis, she gets around to her first restaurant. At this point the secondary characters, the obnoxious people in the Italian restaurant and the owner of the restaurant, were so abhorrent, I had to put down the book. If someone is banned from your restaurant, you don't let them back in! There are plenty of ways of doing this which don't cause a scene. If said person is allowed in the restaurant because their behavior is only bad when they're drunk, and their girlfriend sneaks them drinks, then don't serve either one of them. And you certainly would never purposely put peppers so hot in a sauce that you intend to blister the customer's mouth.Maybe the earlier books are better, but this just really didn't work for me.
What do You think about Death On A Platter (2011)?
The story is entertaining. The best part is the descriptions of St. Louis restaurants.
—khanna
whining and histrionics totally overpowered the weak story line
—Yoanna
Easy fun read that made me miss one of my favorite cities, STL.
—jenny
Made me hungry for toasted ravioli and St. Louis pizza.
—Anyehs
