Murder by the Glass A Wine Lover’s Mystery (2nd in the Series?)
Murder by the Glass A Wine Lover’s Mystery (2nd in the Series?)
Michelle Scott
June 2006
Berkley Prime Crime (Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Group USA)
New York NY
I mean - seriously - WHAT THE FRACK is going on here?
No comment on the story (assuming you can find the story - you can tell me) but the FORMAT? Look. I know it’s become fashionable to include little craft or cooking or whatever-matches-the-theme snippets in the backs of the softer mysteries. I know that the cover of this one declared “Recipes and Wine Pairings Included!” But I Didn’t think they meant included INSIDE the story.
Well, not inside the story as inside the action. That might have been creative. (A pace-killer, but creative.) Nope. Here they mean between the pages of the story. Just sitting there like a mental speed bump.
I mean - you finish chapter one and boom - two pages of Ahi Poke (to be served with Kenwood’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.) So you push that aside and get back in the story with chapter two. Decent enough characterization and the action’s picking up steam when boom again. FIVE pages this time, Jalapeno Burger (with Ravenswood Merlot Sangiacomo) then Gorgonzola and Fresh Greens Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing (served with Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs.) By now I’m too overfed (or is that fed up) to fight my way back to the fiction.
What’s worse (or at least more insane-making) is that the insertions aren’t even consistent. Two or three wasted pages after every chapter? Maybe the reader could get comfortable with that. Maybe that could vanish into the background like a bad chapter typeface. But no! After the second chapter barrage we don’t see another meal stop until chapter five. [Chile-Rubbed Chicken, Mango, and Avocado Salad with Franciscan Oakville Estates Cabernet Sauvignon.] Then we skip along until past chapter seven. [Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Mushroom Sauce with Alexander Valley Vineyards Sin Zin]
The chapters are very short (twenty-nine chapters in 246 pages, not deducting for cooking detours) so in some cases the food gets more page space than the plot. Weird or what?
I’m not sure if this is someone’s idea of clever, or just product placement run amuck.
Either way? BAD idea.
Rated: Strawberry Ripple. Leaves a bad taste behind.
Michelle Scott
June 2006
Berkley Prime Crime (Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Group USA)
New York NY
I mean - seriously - WHAT THE FRACK is going on here?
No comment on the story (assuming you can find the story - you can tell me) but the FORMAT? Look. I know it’s become fashionable to include little craft or cooking or whatever-matches-the-theme snippets in the backs of the softer mysteries. I know that the cover of this one declared “Recipes and Wine Pairings Included!” But I Didn’t think they meant included INSIDE the story.
Well, not inside the story as inside the action. That might have been creative. (A pace-killer, but creative.) Nope. Here they mean between the pages of the story. Just sitting there like a mental speed bump.
I mean - you finish chapter one and boom - two pages of Ahi Poke (to be served with Kenwood’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.) So you push that aside and get back in the story with chapter two. Decent enough characterization and the action’s picking up steam when boom again. FIVE pages this time, Jalapeno Burger (with Ravenswood Merlot Sangiacomo) then Gorgonzola and Fresh Greens Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing (served with Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs.) By now I’m too overfed (or is that fed up) to fight my way back to the fiction.
What’s worse (or at least more insane-making) is that the insertions aren’t even consistent. Two or three wasted pages after every chapter? Maybe the reader could get comfortable with that. Maybe that could vanish into the background like a bad chapter typeface. But no! After the second chapter barrage we don’t see another meal stop until chapter five. [Chile-Rubbed Chicken, Mango, and Avocado Salad with Franciscan Oakville Estates Cabernet Sauvignon.] Then we skip along until past chapter seven. [Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Mushroom Sauce with Alexander Valley Vineyards Sin Zin]
The chapters are very short (twenty-nine chapters in 246 pages, not deducting for cooking detours) so in some cases the food gets more page space than the plot. Weird or what?
I’m not sure if this is someone’s idea of clever, or just product placement run amuck.
Either way? BAD idea.
Rated: Strawberry Ripple. Leaves a bad taste behind.