BREAD ON ARRIVAL (Hardcover)

I disliked the first book, "Death By Rhubarb" and hated the second book, "Revenge Of The Barbeque Queens". But the third book, "A Stiff Risotto" was good and I had hoped that it was a turning point and the series and would improve even more.

I was wrong again. Although better than the first two books, it was no where near as good as A Stiff Risotto.

4 Times Divorced, Once widowed, disbarred lawyer, former stripper and current resturant owner Heaven Lee is excited when the Artos (Greek for Bread) convention is in town. All she wants is to get some helpful hints on how to make great bread, but as ususal, death seems to follow her around.

I had disliked Heaven in the first two books, but enjoy her a little more. I really like her supporting cast, when they're in the story. And that's what's wrong with this one. Only Murrey, the former New York Times Crime Reporter is in this story.

Unfortunately, the character I haven't liked from the previous books, Heaven's 20 year younger boyfriend, Hank has a large part in this book. These two people have absolutely no chemistry between them.

To make things worse, Heaven's daughter, by her rock star second husband, Iris is added to the cast. I find Iris unlikeable. Once again, I think the author is going for excentric instead of a real life person. Why would a girl, who is supposed to be so intelligent pick for her boyfriend, a former drug addict, old enough to be her father, member of her father's band. Didn't she learn anything growing up with Heaven as a mother?

As with her relationship with Hank, I don't get the feel of any real closeness between Heaven and her daughter. She says she's upset with her daughter's choice of boyfriend. She says she's upset that her daughter is going to live in England instead of coming home. She says she's upset that her daughter might be in danger. She says everything, but there are none of those little touches you have in books that show you that there is a real relationship between people. The fact that Heaven has to keep saying that she cares comes across to me as she doesn't really care that much. You get those little sparks of chemistry, the humor between her and the supporting characters who work at her restaurant, but not with the character's that she's supposed to love.

I learned more about sourdough, wheat, rye and every thing you could possible want to know about bread. I didn't want to know it. I felt like I was in high school science class.

One improvement. They have moved the recipes to the front of the chapter instead of just dropping them into the middle of the story.

I don't know why the great characters like Murrey, Chris, Joe, Mona - who runs a store that sells everything for cats, are not used more in the stories. And Bo Morales, her best character isn't even in the book.

Better than the first two but not as good as the third. I'm still hopeful on this series.

Onward to the Cornbread Killer. I love cornbread and am hoping to get some recipe idea's.

I had one big problem with this book(Bread On Arrival). In the beginning, General Mills, Ernest, Patrick and Dieter(who lives in Germany) all find 3 loaves of bread either at their home or offices. Maybe I missed this, but how did the bread get there(and who put it there...I assume it was the killer, but how did he get it there)? Also, I believe(and the reader should know for sure, not have to guess) it played a roll in the death of two of the above people mentioned(and I felt the deaths came too late in the book...I kept waiting and waiting), but this aspect was never explained(at least not that I saw).

Most everything else was wrapped up in the end, except the 3 bread loaves and how they got to their victims. Considering this bread played a role in the death of two people, I feel it is important to explain how it got there and what role it played in the deaths.

Also in the beginning when introducing Paul, there is a "mystery woman" in his office who is giving Paul and assigment at work that he is not real thrilled about. Who is this woman? I don't think she ever appeared in the book again(and because of all the mystery surrounding her first appearance, I expected her to show up again). Why not say she is Jane Doe, Patrick's nasty supervisor or something if she would only appear this once? Why make her a mystery person?

Like I said before, maybe the 3 loaves were explained somewhere in the book(I never saw it), but considering they played a role in the deaths of 2 people I think that information is crucial to the reader. Who put it there and how(especially the loaves in Germany).

I will say, I am glad that Lou Jane Temple has moved her recipes from the middle of a chapter, to a page of their own. I found it distracting to try and find where the recipe left off and the chapter begins(the recipes all look wonderful!).

I found this book to be well written(and I will continue to purchase more in the series). I would just like to see the clues make sense at some point.