Revenge Of The Barbeque Queens (Mass Market Paperback)

I was wrong. This book was awful.

It's the Barbeque World Series and Heaven Lee, former lawyer, stripper and current restaurant owner is not only participating in a charity cook off but is one of the judges in the contest.

Things aren't going so good when one of the contestants, the racist, sexist, aptly named Pigpen Hopkins ends up drowned in a pot of his barbeque sauce.

Why would someone want to kill Pigpen? Was it because he was a raciest, sexist pig, or was someone trying to steal the secret receipe for his barbeque sauce.

Since she discovered the body and also hated Pigpen, Heaven decides she better start investigating before the police decide she is as good a suspect as anyone.

The problems I had with the first book only seem worse in this one.

1. 45ish Heaven Lee - 4 times divorced, 1 widowed disbarred lawyer and former stripper is still very unlikeable, although every man she meets in these books seem to be madly attracted to her. I think the author is going towards a colorful character but I just find her obnoxious.

2. I don't like her relationship with Hank the 25 year old, young enough to be her son boyfriend. I don't object to older women and younger men, but in this case I don't see any true feeling on her part towards him. She constantly talks about having loving feelings towards him, but they don't ring true. They sound as if she's trying to convince herself and us that she really loves him.

3. TOO MANY CHARACTERS. This was the main problem in the first book and it's even worse in this one. The first book had a couple of people that I felt I got to know. Only one, Murray, the former New York City Crime Reporter, is even in this one to any extent. I finally gave up trying to remember who was who and in the end, it didn't matter. Although I did like the character of Bo Morales, but how can you not like a gorgeous barbequer who travels in an old fashioned chuck wagon pulled by mules to the contests.

4. The solution to the mystery. I had to go back and read this section twice, because the solution made no sense to me. It felt tacked on, like the story had been going along and suddenly the writer remembered they had to have a killer and just picked someone out of a hat.

I did like the background of the Barbeque Contest, I've watched them on the Food Network and it seemed true to life as to how the contestants get so wrapped up in the events. Unfortunately, that can not sustain an otherwise uninteresting mystery filled with boring and irritating people.

I'm always optomistic and hope that the third book in the series will be better.

My biggest complaint with the first book was the huge cast of supporting characters with common/similar names that made it very hard to keep track of everyone. In this installment, not only were all the original members of the supporting cast back, but we had a whole new supporting cast to learn as well. Why can't this author at least put an effort into naming her characters in a way that will make them stand out? We've got Sam, Sal, Sol, Stephanie, Bonnie, Bo, Barbara, on and on and on. And since none are developed very well, it's nearly impossible to keep track of who's who, and I eventually gave up caring.

What made this book worse than the first in the series was that I couldn't see any reason whatsoever for Heaven to be as involved in this case as she was. Just because she found the body means she now has to stick her nose in and solve the crime? And what's up with Bonnie? This woman is supposed to be a police detective, very good at what she does, yet despite the fact that she warns Heaven and her friends to stay out of it, not only does she turn her head to their involvement (even when it's illegal) and use what information they give her, but she attends their covert neighborhood meetings, where Heaven continues to take charge and push forward with her own private investigation? And she allows Heaven to basically run the show? All this did was make her look totally incompetent as a law enforcement official.

I don't know if the character of Heaven is supposed to come across as worldly or charming, but she comes across to me as a lowlife - the former career as a stripper, the disbarment for setting up a drug deal, the five ex-husbands, the boyfriend young enough to be her son. This has done nothing at all to endear me to the character.

The writing is also poorly executed. Many of the characters have conversations with each other about things they already know in an effort to convey information to the reader (such as Heaven talking to her friend about why she can no longer practice law). I also find the recipes right in the middle of the story to be distracting and annoying -- the author should take a hint from Diane Mott Davidson or Katherine Hall Page and include an appendix with all her recipes.

I've already purchased the next book, so I'll go ahead and read it...but unless there's a drastic improvement both in the characters and the storytelling, this will be my last visit to Kansas City.

The characters have continued to grow with each book. I have managed a restaurant and I can tell you, the restaurant scenes are very accurate. I also have friends who do the "BBQ" contests, and she is right on the money about those events.

However, If I lived in Raytown, Mo., I am not sure how fond I would be of the series. At one point in the book they are referred to as "not known for their sleek sophistication." I hope Ms. Temple never needs roadside assistance there!!

The only other thing that puzzled me was at one point, Heaven was tied up and riding in the "backseat" of her van, and a few pages later she mentioned she had taken the "backseat" out. Also, at one point Heaven describes what is in a photo and what the two people in it are doing, and a few pages later, she is trying to imagine what would be in the photo(she had just told us!). I am surprised that as many times as a book is proofed, someone didn't see these two things.

But, I do love the series(and the recipes), and I can't wait for the next one to hit the shelves!