The State of the Onion, Julie Hyzy, Berkley Prime Crime, $7.99.
I know it's trite to say a cooking mystery is "delicious", but this truly is the case with Julie Hyzy's delightful Olivia Paras series. "Ollie" is an assistant in the White House kitchen, in line for the executive chef position, and Hyzy skimps on no detail of what it would be like to work in the country's most prestigious—and apparently most efficient—kitchen. While Hyzy herself lives in Chicago (and as far as I know is not a White House assistant of any kind) the atmosphere of the White House kitchen feels not only pitch perfect, but very fresh. It reminds me of a series begun years ago by another writer, Diane Mott Davidson, whose writing verve has carried her a long way. Davidson's series is getting a little shop worn, though, and Hyzy's book is a welcome change, for this reader at least.
The book begins with a literal "bang"—Ollie is making her way to work across the White House lawn when she stops an escaping, apparent terrorist in his tracks—I won't say how (I don't want to give it away), but her instrument of destruction is more than appropriate. As any good mystery must have, Hyzy has supplied her main character with a detailed and interesting framework, one that includes other characters, a memorable setting, and in this case, a more than interesting job. Ollie may think her role in the apprehension of a possible terrorist is over and done with, but questions to her Secret Service boyfriend, Tom, are met with both hostility and silence. Tom warns Ollie to stay out of it, but of course if she did, where would the story be?
The best source of plot tension and interest comes from Ollie's working relationships. She gets along fine with most of her co-workers, including the retiring Executive Chef, Henry, but a newly appointed director of "Sensitivity" gets under Ollie's, and everyone else's, skin. When the other candidate for the Executive Chef's job comes to the White House for her "audition"—preparing a meal for her possible eventual boss, the First Lady—she arrives with a camera crew in tow and proceeds to step on all available toes. This, of course, is hard to look away from. I think the dreadful Laurel Anne will live on in my memory for quite awhile.
There are many, many cozies on the market, many of them with a gimmick—and what is a bigger one than working in the White House? This book, however, doesn't feel gimmicky—it feels somehow right. A couple we know, an Episcopal Priest and his wife, work together in many ways, one of them being for the wife to read or listen to the spouse's sermon before it's delivered on Sunday. She sometimes tells him his sermon needs more "sparkle." Happily, Hyzy's "sparkle" comes already supplied. Enjoy.
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