The Poison Pen by Robert Innes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
*~~*ARC kindly provided by the author to me in exchange for an honest review *~~*
Gold and Silver are BACK! Be careful what you eat…
Since their first steps into the world of amateur investigating, Nicola Golding and Alex Silverstone have found their lives returning to normal at The Sunset Diner. Nicola is still trying to get her blog off the ground, and Alex is still the best chef the restaurant has ever seen. The last thing Nicola expects is to have to investigate another murder.
Fergus Oldman, an infamous and much loathed food critic, is coming to critically review the restaurant and Alex’s cooking, and it soon becomes clear that the two have a history. Soon, a good review is the last thing on anyone’s mind when Fergus dies in the middle of his meal. He’s been poisoned, and to all intents and purposes, Alex is the top suspect.
To have any chance of saving Alex and his career, Nicola must find out the truth as to just how Fergus was killed, but as time goes on, she realises how little she actually knows about Alex Silverstone, and the shocks and surprises are only just beginning…
Oh, what a strong, second book in this new, promising series by Robert Innes – so different than his Blake Harte series but as captivating as that one. :3
In the first book we’ve met the character but a lot of things are still unknown; especially the chef the cuisine Alex Silverstone is a mystery not also to the reader but to heroine Nicola Golding.
That her colleague is accused of being the murderer of the food critic Fergus Oldman spikes only her curiosity to investigate the case – also to clear his name.
I really loved how we saw the different sides by the character, especially Alex is shown under a different light and for a moment you worry he is the culprit but then your heart is saying different and you are with Nicola investigating and trying to find the right murderer.
The revealings are astonishing, as well as the characters in the book. We really have unpleasant indivuduals and it’s amazing how Robert Innes can create such a vibrant writing you feel they are real – and despiteful. Sometimes you shake your head and be furious about the characters, than you feel with them and want to get a HEA. 🙂
I was really engrossed in the dynamics Nicola showed in the book and how she is defending her colleague. The slight dramatic moment with her and her new boyfriend we know from book one is creating a nice subplot and I am curious which way it leads the reader to. 🙂
A good crime case where one of the MCs is accused of being a murderer which spikes the suspense in the book and the personal involvment in the case is giving the book the thrill. 5 out of 5 stars for this. I really enjoyed it and hope for more investigations with Nicola and Alex, investigating as the The Gold and Silver duo. 😉
Mikku-chan 