Title: KNIFE SKILLS FOR BEGINNERS
Author: Orlando Murrin
ISBN: 978 1787 6368 11
Publisher: Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam
Pages: 336
Source: NetGalley
A recipe for disaster.
When chef Paul Delamare agrees to help his old friend Christian by teaching at an exclusive residential cookery school in Belgravia, the only thing he expects his students to murder is his taste buds. But on the first night, the unthinkable someone turns up dead…
The school rests on a knife-edge.
Could one of his students be the killer? Or Rose – the owner of the school, a woman with secrets and a murky past? The police are convinced Paul is the culprit. After all, he’s good with a blade, was first on the scene – and everyone knows what chefs are really like.
It all boils down to murder.
The students are sharpening their knives and if Paul can’t solve the mystery fast – as well as teach them how to make a perfect hollandaise sauce – he’ll be next to get the chop.
Official Summary
28 September 2023
When I saw this book pop up on NetGalley I was immediately intrigued. I have enjoyed the cosy crime genre recently and this book fits into that perfectly. When you reach for this book, you can expect a light-hearted cosy crime novel with the added benefit of a few recipes you will be keen to try. I have written down a few I cannot wait to try. (Okay, I will be honest – baking is not my thing – I am giving the recipes to Alicia and asking her to try them for me….)
This debut novel is a light read that will leave you smiling along the way. The characters are likeable and full of surprises. The author tells an intriguing story that will keep you guessing while adding what he ‘knows’ to the story. By the time I reached the end of this book, I learnt a new trick or two to try out in the kitchen. If you enjoy cooking, you will learn a thing or two among the pages of this one.
Paul has withdrawn from the world after the loss of his husband. He is happy to stay home alone and avoid people as much as possible. When Christian, an old friend, reaches out asking for help, Paul cannot refuse – Christian does not give him the chance. Paul finds himself teaching a short cooking course in an exclusive residential cookery school in Belgravia. What Paul did not expect was to discover a dead body or to find himself being the prime suspect. If Paul cannot solve the mystery, he just might find himself in jail for murder.
I started this book with an open mind, not having any idea what to expect and quickly found myself deeply engrossed and eagerly flicking the pages to find out who was guilty. The addition of recipes and cooking tips and tricks along the way made this an easy-to-read, entertaining book that you find yourself racing through.
The characters in this book will keep you on your toes. It feels as if everyone is hiding something. The mystery surrounding each of the characters makes this a fun read. As each character’s story is revealed you find that everyone is there because of Christian and it is easy to think each character has a reason to commit murder.
Paul is a brilliant character; I loved his mannerisms. The way he spoke his mind, despite it not always being the right thing to say, was brilliant.
This book is a fun read that keeps you guessing and delivers a great twist at the end. If you are keen on a light, cosy crime read then you will not want to miss this book.
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
If you’re here because of Knife Skills for Beginners, this page will explain my background, and how I found myself drawn into a life of crime.
The blurb on the back of my books reads as follows…
‘After being flung into the culinary limelight as a semi-finalist on Masterchef, Orlando Murrin edited BBC Good Food for six years and founded Olive magazine; then switched track to become a chef-hotelier in SW France and Somerset.
‘He has written seven cookbooks and is President of the Guild of Food Writers. An ever-popular guest on TV and radio, he presents the BBC Good Food Podcast with Tom Kerridge.
‘From his grandfather, a Met detective who rose to become a crack MI5 interrogator, he inherited a fascination with crime and mystery. He lives in domestic bliss in Exeter, Devon, and this is his first novel.’
If you’re interested in a little more detail, here it is.
Like many writers, I’ve had a varied career. After reading English at Cambridge, my first job was editing the classical music pages at BBC Radio Times; this was a good fit as in those days I had a remarkable memory for spelling the names of obscure composers and opus numbers. Unfortunately this didn’t earn me enough to live in style, so I moonlighted (moonlit?) as a restaurant pianist in hotels, clubs and bars. Despite the occasional longueurs – playing for hours with no one listening – I enjoyed some success and ended up with a residency at Kettner’s in Soho – in its glory days – which I held down for over twenty years. Meanwhile, my magazine career slowly progressed. For three years I worked at Living Magazine, edited by the indomitable Dena Vane, then for the launch of Country Homes and Interiors. After two years out working as copywriter at Grey Advertising, I enjoyed a glorious spell at Cosmopolitan, then became the first male editor in the 70-year history of Woman & Home. In 1992 I was catapulted into the culinary limelight when I won through to the semi-finals of Masterchef, never having seen the programme. Subsequently, I became editor of BBC Good Food and the recipe columnist for the Daily Express. Seven years and two thousand recipes later, I jumped ship to open Le Manoir de Raynaudes, a gastro-B&B in South West France, later returning to the UK to create Langford Fivehead, a boutique hotel in an Elizabethan manor house in Somerset. Having survived the angst of professional cheffing, I now live as quietly as possible in Exeter, South West England, where I write for Waitrose Weekend and BBC Good Food and am President of the Guild of Food Writers.
Thank you for visiting the blog and reading my review. I am sure you will enjoy this book and look forward to hearing what you think, so remember to share your thoughts when you have read it. Leave a comment below. When Alicia tries out some of the recipes, I will post pictures on social media to let you know how they turned out.
