Complicating matters, Gene’s celebutante daughter is also having an affair with Keith.  Eileen’s father, John, a Los Angeles police officer who was Della’s husband’s partner before he died, knows that Keith has done something to his little girl and punches the judge.  John is escorted out of the hotel and a short while later, a smoke bomb is set off. When the air clears, Keith is dead on the floor. 

All suspicion falls on John, but Della has more immediate concerns, breaking into Keith’s house to get the DVD with Eileen and Keith’s exploits. Aided and abetting by friend Liddy, Della successfully gets into the house and out with the DVD…almost.  She leaves a bloody fingerprint at the scene, and brings the police’s attention back to her. 

Della knows John did not have anything to do with Keith’s murder, nor did she, so she begins to ask questions and poke her nose places where it doesn’t belong, angering someone who will try and take Della’s show off the Better Living Channel for good. 

 The Proof is in the Pudding is a fun, fast-paced mystery for food lovers.  Della and her friends are a congenial group, Della helping raise her friends’ John and Shannon’s daughter while Shannon recovered from a mental illness.  Liddy is a willing side-kick and goes along with Della’s ideas with a great deal of enthusiasm, though she should often caution Della. 

No one is especially sorry to see Keith dead, and while there are plenty of suspects with motives, it is pretty easy to figure out the murderer and the true motive.  Della and reporter Nick move toward a more permanent relationship working out her penchant for solving crimes and getting involved with police business and his job to write about the crimes.  An easy read complete with recipes for many of the dishes described in the text.                                      

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry