Chef Charlie Hunter’s arrival in the beautiful Chilterns is the fulfilment of a long-held dream: to open her own restaurant in an idyllic countryside location. The Old Forge sits on the village green (complete with duck pond and flint-faced houses) and seems just the place for the high-quality cooking she wants to be known for.

But instead of rural peace and a chance to lick her wounds, Charlie finds something ugly stirring under the chocolate box perfection. When a prominent local builder is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Charlie the outsider becomes a suspect. And the only way to clear her name seems to be to find out who the real killer is.

Luckily she has allies: her student waitress, a kitchen porter making up in muscles what he lacks in brain and a briskly efficient clairvoyant. Using all the craft Charlie’s learned in kitchens – discipline, timing, preparation and grim determination – she will be as relentless in her quest to bring a murderer to justice as she is in creating the perfect meal.

My Thoughts:
The story is about Charlie who decides to open up her own restaurant in the countryside. But she does not know anyone and no one knows her, how will the locals react to a newcomer setting up shop in their village? But when someone is murdered the finger is pointed at Charlie, how can she prove her innocence? Charlie sets out on a journey of discovery to find out who the real killer is before anyone else gets murdered. I liked the idea of the story and I felt as though it had a good flow to it. I would not recommend reading on a empty stomach as all the food descriptions made my tummy rumble and sounded absolutely delicious. I liked the mystery of it all and was not sure what the conclusion would be. An enjoyable and cosy read.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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