Title:	Knife Skills for Beginners
	Author:	Orlando Murrin
	Published:	December 24, 2024, John Scognamiglio
	No. of Pages:	321
	Cover Price:	$22.47 Hardcover, $12.21 Kindle

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The first installment in the Chef Delamare culinary mystery series, Knife Skills for Beginners, is a fun cozy mystery by Orlando Murrin. Chef Paul Delamare is asked by an old friend, Christian Wagner, a popular celebrity chef, to sub for him in teaching a cooking class at The Chester Square Cookery School located in a posh mansion in London, where the students stay on site. Paul reluctantly accepts the invitation, and as he makes his presentations to some very unique and interesting students, he decides to go see Christian. Unfortunately, he finds that Christian has been murdered. The students and Paul become suspects, and Paul must investigate to clear his name.

The story is well written, and reflects the culture of London. Some of the characters are well developed, especially Paul Delamare, the protagonist. He is a likeable character, and the supporting characters could be developed a bit more. There are twists and turns throughout, and suspense builds, keeping readers on the edge.

The dénouement is a surprise, and readers won’t be able to guess who-done-it until the end of the novel. As is traditional, cozies don’t contain any sex, violence, or profanity, so this is a series that can be read by mystery lovers of all ages. This is a cute culinary mystery with plenty of mouthwatering food dishes mentioned, as well as bonus recipes at the end.



Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.