Murder she Wrote: Killer in the Kitchen

In the latest mystery in the USA Today bestselling series, there’s a battle brewing between two eateries, and Jessica Fletcher will have to get cooking to find a killer... A BEEF WITH LEBOEUF Jessica loves the Fin & Claw restaurant, owned by young Cabot Cove couple Brad and Marcie. The eatery is the couple’s dream come true, but it’s quickly turning into a nightmare. Famed chef Gérard Leboeuf has decided to open his brand of bistro right next to theirs. Given the competition, the charming chef’s manner soon turns sour. Tensions rise hot and fast until they boil over, leading to a nasty confrontation between Leboeuf and Brad. So when one chef is found with a knife planted in his chest, the other becomes the prime suspect. But there’s a long list of those who had a motive to kill in this kitchen war, and it’s up to Jessica to uncover who really added murder to the menu.

Autorentext
Jessica Fletcher is a bestselling mystery writer who has a knack for stumbling upon real-life mysteries in her various travels. Donald Bain, her longtime collaborator, is the writer of more than one hundred books, many of them bestsellers.

Klappentext

In the latest mystery in the USA Today bestselling series, there's a battle brewing between two eateries, and Jessica Fletcher will have to get cooking to find a killer...

A BEEF WITH LEBOEUF

Jessica loves the Fin & Claw restaurant, owned by young Cabot Cove couple Brad and Marcie. The eatery is the couple's dream come true, but it's quickly turning into a nightmare.

Famed chef Gérard Leboeuf has decided to open his brand of bistro right next to theirs. Given the competition, the charming chef's manner soon turns sour. Tensions rise hot and fast until they boil over, leading to a nasty confrontation between Leboeuf and Brad.

So when one chef is found with a knife planted in his chest, the other becomes the prime suspect. But there's a long list of those who had a motive to kill in this kitchen war, and it's up to Jessica to uncover who really added murder to the menu.

Zusammenfassung
In the latest mystery in the USA Today bestselling series, there’s a battle brewing between two eateries, and Jessica Fletcher will have to get cooking to find a killer...

A BEEF WITH LEBOEUF
 
Jessica loves the Fin & Claw restaurant, owned by young Cabot Cove couple Brad and Marcie. The eatery is the couple’s dream come true, but it’s quickly turning into a nightmare.
 
Famed chef Gérard Leboeuf has decided to open his brand of bistro right next to theirs. Given the competition, the charming chef’s manner soon turns sour. Tensions rise hot and fast until they boil over, leading to a nasty confrontation between Leboeuf and Brad.
 
So when one chef is found with a knife planted in his chest, the other becomes the prime suspect. But there’s a long list of those who had a motive to kill in this kitchen war, and it’s up to Jessica to uncover who really added murder to the menu.

Leseprobe

OTHER BOOKS IN THE Murder, She Wrote SERIES

Part One

CABOT COVE INCIDENT REPORT

CABOT COVE SHERIFF’S OFFICE

TOWN OF CABOT COVE, STATE OF MAINE

On April 18 an officer from the Cabot Cove Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the area of the new waterfront restaurant at 23 Old Wharf Road on a 911 assault complaint. Responding officer found a white male lying faceup, apparently dead of wounds from a kitchen knife protruding from his torso. A pool of blood was under the body’s left side. The victim was identified as the restaurant’s chef and owner. Officer notified Sheriff Metzger, who arrived on the scene at 3:24 a.m.

The medical examiner pronounced the death at 3:43 a.m. The knife was turned over to the state regional crime laboratory and a receipt taken for same. Crime-scene technicians observed a half-empty wine bottle on the counter and two glasses, one with red-colored residue. Four cigarette butts were collected from outside the rear entrance to the kitchen.

A statement was taken from the man who found the body and put in the call. Witness had been taking inventory in the basement after the staff had been dismissed for the night. He said he was not aware of any visitors at that late hour, did not hear any arguments. When he returned upstairs, he found the chef as described. He said the back door was propped open, but no one else was in the kitchen. He admitted that it was not unusual for the back door to the kitchen to be left open to facilitate airing out cooking smells. He said he did not know if the victim had been drinking prior to the incident. He said the victim was not a smoker. He said he could not recall any altercations that might have led to the incident. He provided a list (attached) of kitchen and waitstaff who had been dismissed earlier in the evening.

Deputies were dispatched to notify next of kin.

Sheriff Metzger interviewed the witness who made the 911 call, and released him. State investigators have been assigned to offer mutual aid.

Chapter One

Maureen Metzger, the wife of our sheriff, Mort Metzger, had hosted Thanksgiving dinner and invited a dozen people, including Isabel Fowler. Isabel was a widow who lived alone on the eastern fringe of Cabot Cove. I’d met her when she worked as a dispatcher in the sheriff’s office, and we became fast friends. A lifetime Cabot Cove resident, Isabel was a delightful person to be around, always with something good to say about others. She was a volunteer for numerous town charities, some of which I worked for as well, and had a reputation as a superb cook. Every potluck fund-raiser, every holiday celebration at the senior center, every pancake breakfast at the fire station, every annual PTA kickoff dinner, featured dishes provided by Isabel Fowler. And there wasn’t a hostess in town who hadn’t implored her to share a favorite recipe, requests to which she always complied.

“I was hoping to see Brad and Marcie here today,” I said as Isabel and I sat in a corner of the Metzger home, sipping coffee and wondering how many pounds we’d put on at Maureen’s dinner table.

Isabel’s only child, Bradley, was a handsome thirty-year-old fellow who had spent most of his post–high school years working on the many lobster boats that call the Cabot Cove port home. Lobstering is hard work, and only the hardy manage to make a go of it. I knew that Brad had taken a year off from working the boats to attend a community college with a curriculum designed to prepare students for jobs in the restaurant business, but he had gone back to hauling lobster traps from the deep after earning his certificate. His wife, Marcie, worked as a secretary in the Cabot Cove school superintendent’s office and also as a part-time waitress after school.

“They went off to spend the long weekend in Portland with their young friends,” Isabel said. “I was invited but didn’t want to be the only person at dinner on the wrong side of fifty. When Maureen called, I decided to enjoy this Thanksgiving right here in Cabot Cove with old friends—well, maybe not ‘old,’ but friends my age.”

“I’m delighted that you decided to stay, Isabel,” I said. “We haven’t had a chance to catch up since last summer’s Lobsterfest, when Brad supervised the Down East shore-dinner lobster bake. You know, I always wondered why he never did anything more with the culinary classes he took in college. He’s a very good cook. Of course, he had an excellent teacher at home.”

A sly smile crossed Isabel’s lips. “Promise to keep a secret?” she asked in almost a whisper.

“I’ll do my best,” I said, “but I…