Blog Tour – Not Mushroom For Death by Helen Golden

About The Book

TV Chef Luca Mazza Dies After Collapse at Food Show on the King’s Private Estate.

Luca Mazza (38), who was taken ill during a food demonstration at the Fenn House Food and Wine Festival two days ago, is now known to have ingested poison. Lady Beatrice (36), the king’s niece, who is working on a refurbishment project at Fenn House with her business partner Perry Juke (34), is believed to be comforting Luca’s boss and close friend Sebastiano Marchetti (38), who she began dating last month.

Is he crazy? Why else would Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam suggest that Sebastiano poisoned Luca without any evidence? So now, with the help of her little dog Daisy and her best friends Perry and Simon, Lady Beatrice will have to prove to Mr. Know-it-all Fitzwilliam that Seb is innocent. But with so many people having access to the food preparation area at the show, how will she find out who did murder Luca before Fitzwilliam lets his personal dislike get the better of him and arrests Seb?

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Author Bio

Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in a small village in Lincolnshire in the UK with my husband, my stepdaughter, her two cats, our two dogs, sometimes my stepson, and our tortoise. I used to work in senior management, but after my recent job came to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing. It’s very early in my life as an author, but so far I’m loving it. It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes.

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Barbara’s Review

Lady Beatrice, Simon Lattimore, and Perry Juke are back at it again and totally at odds with Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam. If you’ve read the previous books, you know that Lady Beatrice and DCI Fitzwilliam always rub each other the wrong way.

A celebrity cooking event is being held at Fenn House, the king’s private estate in Fenshire.  Lady Beatrice and her business partner Perry Juke are at the estate to refurbish several rooms of Fenn House while Sebastiano Marchetti (Chef Seb) is there to oversee the cooking event which features several celebrity chefs.  If you read the second book in the series, you’ll know that Lady Beatrice and Chef Seb are dating.  However, Chef Seb sees it as a much more serious relationship than Lady Beatrice does.  For Lady Beatrice, the shine has begun to tarnish as she has gotten to know the chef better.

When celebrity chef Luca Mazza becomes ill at his demonstration and subsequently dies DCI Fitzwilliam has to investigate and decide if it is accidental or murder.  All of his hopes of Lady Beatrice and her cronies staying out of his investigation evaporate when he boldly tells her that it must be Sebastiano who did it.  Lady Beatrice, of course, was certain that Sebastiano didn’t do it and gleefully set about proving the obnoxious, overbearing Fitzwilliam wrong!

This was an interesting mystery with plenty of clues and dead ends to keep you wondering who did what to whom.  Of course, the star of the story is Daisy, Lady Beatrice’s West Highland Terrier who is cute, lovable, bold, protective, and a great judge of character.  I still don’t like Lady Beatrice’s mother, but she did come across as more likable in this story than she did in the last. 

I can definitely recommend this book with its intriguing mystery along with the good humor and lively banter among the recurring players. Should you choose to read it, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman

A Wicked Game (Ruthless Rivals, #3)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Ruthless Rivals #3
Publication Date: 12/27/22
Period: Regency London
Number of Pages: 304

If you love snappy banter, witty characters, and a deep abiding love both characters have kept hidden for years, then you’ll love this book. The Montgomery and Davies families have been in a feud for centuries. While the earlier family members kidnapped each other, stole from each other, and saw to each other’s demise, the current family members’ enmity is of a much more benign nature. Shux – the feud might even be considered over since two couples of the feuding families have married each other. Now, could there possibly be a third?

Harriet Montgomery and Morgan Davies have been challenging each other, daring each other, and besting each other since they were children. They’ve also secretly loved each other for that long as well. They each know nothing could come of it because they are sure the other sees them as nothing more than an enemy to taunt and challenge.

Growing to adulthood has a way of changing things for us – and that is certainly what happened with Morgan. As he grew to adulthood, he knew he loved Harriet – and after his experiences in the war, he knew he’d do what it took to make her realize she loved him too.

Morgan certainly put his training in battle strategies to good use in wooing and winning Harriet, but it was a near thing. Not that she didn’t love him – she did. It was that she was always looking for his ulterior motive. What did he have up his sleeve? What trick was he playing?

Harriet was vehemently opposed to marriage to a sailor. She wanted a husband who would be home and sharing her life every day and not just occasionally when he was home from the sea. How will Morgan get past that? His solution is perfect and I know you’ll love it.

So, why didn’t I rate it a 5-star read like I did the first two books? That is a bit hard to explain, but I’ll try. I was looking for more adventure – more excitement – more villains out to wreak havoc, etc. Harriet wanted adventure and I wanted her to have it, but it just didn’t materialize. Don’t get me wrong, it was a beautiful romance, it just wasn’t an exciting, on-the-edge-of-your-chair kind of adventure on the way to the romance. I know it couldn’t be like the first book of the series – now THAT was adventure and romance. No, we couldn’t have them trapped in underground tunnels while being chased by smugglers and discovering gold – but gosh – we could have more than some nut with a gun covering just a few short pages.

I loved the story and you couldn’t ask for a more enticing, romantic lead character than Morgan. He was witty, handsome, caring, honorable, intelligent – I mean – goodness – what isn’t to love about him? The same goes for Harriet. I loved her spunk, her wit, her intelligence – and she was exactly perfect for Morgan. They totally complemented each other in every way. I hope you’ll love the story as much as I did. Now – we’re going to have to wait for Rhys, the last Davies male standing, to find his Montgomery love. Can’t wait!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews