Olivia "Ollie" Paras is the White House executive chef, but she has a certain reputation amongst White House staffers for stumbling into trouble that has nothing to do with kitchen capers. In the recent past, she's been caught up in solving murders involving White House personnel and she'd be all too happy to take the advice of White House staffers and lay low for awhile, especially considering what she's gearing up for.

The White House kitchen is busy planning for a state dinner in honour of the Durasi president, with whom the President and Secretary of State have recently struck a peace accord. Although each state dinner is important, these peace talks have been ongoing, and this particular dinner can't go wrong. However, as per usual, there is discord in the kitchen, as Virgil, the chef who prepares the First Family's meals, continues to do everything he can to create an hostile atmosphere in the kitchen.

At the same time, Ollie is also planning her wedding to Secret Service agent Gav. Unfortunately, the marriage won't be as straight- forward and fast as they had hoped, as they run into a few obstacles with respect to finding someone to officiate the wedding. Gav finds a potential solution in Evan a friend of his, but when he and Ollie go to meet his friend, madness ensues. Not only is Evan dead, but so are several other people.

Despite Ollie's best efforts, she's once again landed in the middle of yet another murder mystery. And since her Secret Service agent fiancé was with her, the Secret Service necessarily is involved... again. Despite being busy managing a state dinner and trying to manage a kitchen staff that can't seem to get along, Ollie begins to investigate Evan's murder. Not only is she invested because she stumbled onto the murder herself, but Evan was a personal friend of Gav's. Who would want to kill a man whose mission was to help others?

HOME OF THE BRAISED is a great addition to the series. As always, Ollie has humour, intelligence, and wit to spare, even when she's facing life- threatening danger. Although she would probably hate to be described as such, she's a spunky heroine who refuses to be stopped. The mystery was more sophisticated than the usual cosy, but it felt right for the White House setting. The plot was dynamic, ripe with clues, and paced swiftly but not too quickly. HOME OF THE BRAISED is a great read, and one I'll return to when I need a pick-me-up!

Book Summary

With the pressure of an upcoming state dinner that could make or break the president's foreign policy, White House executive chef Olivia Paras has precious little time to focus on her wedding plans or to catch a murderer! Tensions are running high as the White House staff adjusts to a new chief usher and prepares for a high-stakes state dinner, where everything must be perfect.

But as the date for the event approaches, things go disastrously wrong when the secretary of defense is found dead in his home, seemingly killed during a break-in. At the same time Olivia's fiance, Gav, is looking into the mysterious murder of an old friend. Is there a connection? Despite an increase in security following the secretary's death, Ollie learns the president is in imminent danger at the dinner and must do everything in her power to get to him before it's too late.

Includes Recipes for a complete presidential menu!