Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe

After arriving in London to create a special dessert for the queen, New York's leading food expert is suspected by Scotland Yard of killing off Europe's master chefs

Literature & Fiction

Lyons, Nan

Lyons, Ivan

Humor & Satire

Harcourt

Just after Switzerland's Enstein Clinic releases formerly obese murderer Achille van Golk, culinary sleuths Natasha O'Brien and Millie Ogden once again set out on the trail of a serial chef killer--this time stalking American cooking experts. 35,000 first printing. $40,000 ad/promo.

Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of America

Little,Brown & Co

Country auctioneer Duffy Patterson competes with Charles Wyndham, owner of a New York auction house, for long lost Faberge jewelry that has mysteriously reappeared in northern New York

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United States

Coward, McCann, Geoghegan

Champagne Blues

The story begins with Claude, the most formidable concierge in all Paris. Claude is preparing for a crisis. As he waits, we note the Baccarat crystal, the Meisonnier silver tray, the Lalique ashtray. The crisis? The threatened invasion of the tourists.An hilarious travel romp from the authors of SOMEONE IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE.Nan Lyons has been a food and travel writer for over twenty years, contributing to Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, More, Hamptons, L'official New York Newsday, as well as creating the Fielding's Agenda series and the Access Walking guides. In collaboration with her husband Ivan, she wrote the first novel with a food background, "Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe" which was then made into a major motion picture. They went on to write four other novels as well as scores of articles on food and travel.She has just finished her newest book, "Around the World in 80 Meals" (Red Rock Press) was published in late 2010. Nan has most recently been made Associate Editor for "Let's Travel" a new website which features interviews as well as podcasts and articles on every aspect of travel. Her particular expertise is focused on restaurants, shopping and luxury hotels.For those who found Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe a yummy giggle: another cute, dirty, show-offy, occasionally appealing smorgasbord of puns, farce, food, sex, and minimal plot. That minimal plot: WW II Resistance hero Claude Picard, now the suave (he bathes in Pernod) concierge of Paris' ritzy Louis Quinze Hotel ("We have not had a cancellation since the Archduke Ferdinand in 1914!"), is fed up with the befouling presence of foreign tourists; so he and some war cronies plan to kidnap four famous Americans and demand the evacuation of all tourists in exchange for the hostages' lives. The four Americans? Two married couples who dominate opposite ends of the travel guide business: very rich Emma and Cliffy Benjamin write the Penny Pinchers' Guide to Europe; secretly impoverished Lily and Dwight Simon write Simon Says, the travel guide for the super-rich. Both couples are staying at Claude's hotel, preparing for an airline-sponsored tour of the Champagne country. And the earthy Benjamins loathe the blasé Simons, of course and vice versa, so there's bitchy insulting galore, along with jokes about tourists, Mickey Mouse watches, McDonald's, prices in Paris. . . and one hilarious sequence: the Benjamins visit a Mother Superior who's intent on converting her austere convent (some rooms have no windows, a few have no doors) into a chic hostel: "It is neither American plan nor European plan. . . . It is His plan!" As for Claude's plot, two things go wrong: he seduces both Lily and Emma, falling in love with the latter, so he has mixed feelings, plot-wise; and, though the napping is a non-violent success, a deranged Resistance crony re-kidnaps the Americans, forcing Claude to rescue his own kidnap victims. Meanwhile, France is trying to evacuate all tourists, selling them by planeloads to other tourist-hungry nations. Terminal silliness, gratuitous grafitti--like eating a hundred eclairs while listening to a Catskill comic--but a certain glossy audience will eat it all up and lick the plate as well.—Kirkus Reviews

Argo-Navis

Describes the top sights in London, rates restaurants, hotels, entertainment, and shopping areas, and suggests nearby excursions

Fielding's London Agenda: The Freshest, Up-To-The-Minute Guide to London

Travel

Europe

Fielding Worldwide

Designed to save travelers time and money, Fielding's New York Agenda cuts to the chase, telling readers all they need to know to "do" the town. Whether they're staying in the Big Apple for a day or for a week, travelers will get the straight dope about all the places on and off the beaten path. Photos; maps.

Fielding's New York Agenda: All You Need to Know to "Do" the Town (Fielding Experienced Travel Guides)

Fielding Worldwide January 1995

An extensive guide to New York City lists hotels and restaurants, offers helpful advice and sightseeing tips, and discusses each of Manhattan's neighborhoods in detail

Fielding's New York Agenda

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Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Cooking Education & Reference

Kodansha Amer Inc

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