From Publishers Weekly
The first of a new food-themed historical series, Temple's charming tale of New York City in the Civil War era introduces Bridget Heaney, a clever, streetwise Irish immigrant. The day Bridget starts as an assistant cook in the Manhattan household of wealthy merchant Isaac Gold, she makes a terrible discovery: the body of the family's youngest son, Seth, who'd been missing, crammed inside a dough box. Two gunshot wounds to the chest are the cause of death. The obliging Bridget sets aside her kitchen duties to help the Gold family search for Seth's killer. A delightful mix of upstairs and downstairs characters, a vivid picture of the city's seamy underside, absorbing details of Sephardic Judaism and a fittingly melodramatic climax make this a memorable debut.
Agent, Lisa Queen at IMG. (May 3)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Set in New York City during the Civil War, this new series features Bridget Heaney, an orphaned Irish lass who has learned to cook well enough to be hired to work in the kitchen of a prosperous Jewish merchant. On her very first day of work, Bridget discovers the body of her employer's son. None of the characters has much depth, but they are all recognizable: Bridget's fragile sister; the kindly employer; the wronged kitchen maid (Bridget's predecessor); the French chef; the free man of color who is the house steward; and, of course, the butler. The point of view changes sometimes midparagraph, the characters have the sensibilities and speak in the language of the twenty-first rather than the nineteenth century, the food preparation is described with more care and gusto than anything else, and both the crime and the resolution strain credulity. With all that, however, the novel is thoroughly readable, if one is willing to give in to the comforts of formula. Hard to put down, like a bowl of pudding.
GraceAnne DeCandidoCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
