Finger Lickin Dead by Riley Adams

Ok, so foodie mysteries are pretty awesome. And despite the fact that I was barely into the book and already knew who was going to die and who killed them, I actually still enjoyed this book. Having read the first one, it was kind of nice to return to these characters too. But don't worry, you don't have to read the first book in order to enjoy the second.

Lulu is up to her investigating ways again. The owner of Pat's BBQ Lulu always seems to find herself in some sort of mystery. This time, one of her friend's boyfriend has just turned up murdered. It doesn't help that he was just exposed as an especially ruthless food critic, and a cheater on many women, so there's a lot of people wanting him dead who have a lot of motive. And considering some of the people are very close to Lulu, she knows she needs to get to the bottom of this and quick. But with everyone keeping secrets and changing stories, it certainly is hard to solve a crime and run the best bbq restaurant in town at the same time.

Lulu is great. She's a warm character who looks out for her friends and runs a successful business. She's an inspiration to any foodie. Although her getting herself into mysteries can be a little far-fetched at times. There area lot of other unique characters too, but I noticed that they weren't quite used to their full potential like they were in the first book. This one mainly stuck with Lulu and her friend Evelyn and while we still got to see some of the other characters, I would have liked them to appear more. The bad guys in this book weren't quite as menacing either.

Since this could be considered a cozy mystery it definitely shares more elements of food and friendship than a crime novel. And I like that. Its still gives the reader something to look forward to but is more gentle. And it reads quick and light and is great brain candy when you just want to relax. But its the foodie in me that really appreciates this sort of book. Just reading about bbq is enough to make my mouth water, and the fact that they included some recipes in the back, even better. In fact, that's what made the whole book for me was the chance to get my hands on some new recipes.

So an average mystery novel that can be solved pretty easy, but an outstanding book when it comes to the foodie realm. I can't wait to read the next one.

Finger Lickin Dead
Copyright 2011
250 pages