Culinary star Connie Buckridge has brought an entourage to Minneapolis to investigate the possibility of opening a second culinary school in her hometown. She has brought her step-son Paul, daughter Emily, son-in-law/attorney Kenny, brother Arthur, and her son Nathan, who also happens to be Sophie’s first and perhaps unrequited love. While the family is not outwardly dysfunctional, Sophie senses a certain amount of disharmony and unrest within the family.

Nathan immediately begins to make overtures toward Sophie who succumbs to his spell, ignoring her husband at times. While Sophie is off with Nathan, Bram has been busy with Marie Damontrauville, a biographer who has traveled to Minnesota incognito to write an unauthorized tell-all about Connie. Marie is being fed inside information from a source who is identified as Pluto, though Marie feels sure Pluto is a member of the Buckridge family.

As Marie digs up dirt on the Buckridge’s, Sophie is not only reliving her past, but trying to help longtime family friend and restaurateur, Henry who has been arrested for the murder of the food critic Sophie is replacing, after the critic gave Henry’s restaurant two bad reviews.

The more time Sophie spends with the Buckridge’s and the more snooping she does into George’s murder, the more she becomes afraid the two may be connected. With information Bram gives Sophie from Marie, Sophie begins to see a very different side of the Buckridges and even perhaps Nathan.

Slice and Dice is an entertaining tale with a good cast of characters. Sophie and Bram show their human sides as they each flirt with dalliances, unbeknownst to the other. Sophie is a very believable character as she wants to defend Nathan and be sure he can’t be part of the unpleasantness associated the family and her gut feelings that tell her she should stay away from them all together.

Parts of the story are a bit complex and confusing, but careful reading will sort out all the players and strains of the mystery. Pluto’s identity is easy to guess with the hints Marie gives and George’s murderer and the reasons for the murder are easy to pick out. One last surprise thrown in at the end may seem unnecessary, but does go a long way to explaining some of Connie’s behavior.

This is a fun, quick-paced entry into the culinary mystery genre. New readers to the series will want to seek out previous Sophie Greenway books that are alluded to in the story and fans will be glad to hear from Sophie again.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry