and "Barnes builds her plot like a fine pastry, layer by layer. and " Chicago Sun-TimesA Michael Spraggue mystery.When the great chefs of New Orleans stage an elegant banquet, tempers burn hotter than cayenne pepper. Up-and-coming Cajun chef Joseph Fontenot is found with a slender French cooking knife through his heart, and all the evidence points to Dora Levoyer, sublime cook to Boston's wealthhy and eccentric Mary Spraggue Hillman.A guest at the banquet, Mary summons her nephew Michael Spraggue, actor-cum-private detective, to the scene. And soon Spraggue is investigating a murder case that will leave his mouth burning and his mind spinning. One thing is the solution to the murder will make for a spicy mystery indeed!