Beat Until Stiff

Experienced pastry chef Claire Johnson whips up an insiders look at San Francisco's cutthroat restaurant trade. Cranky Mary Ryan has sunk a lot of time and talent into the in-vogue American Fare, the town's hottest spot, while grieving over her broken marriage. At work very early one morning, she steps on a laundry bag stuffed with the dead body of one of her employees. The investigation soon exposes all the dirty secrets that the food business would like to keep the philandering chefs, the silly whims of the dining public, the hiring and illegal aliens, and the subsistence-living pay scale. Events begin to spiral that, in time, take out the restaurant's celebrity chef and force Mary to use her unique skills to uncover a poisonous scheme. Hard-edged, filled richly with restaurant lore and murder galore, this is a mystery debut to savor.