Book Review: Irish Stewed by Kylie Logan

After flopping as a personal chef to a Hollywood movie star, jobless Laurel Inwood finds herself humbled in Hubbard, Ohio, helping her aunt Sophie run her restaurant. Much to Laurel’s dismay, Sophie’s Terminal at the Tracks is not the cozy bistro her aunt would have had her believe—it’s a run-down greasy spoon in an old railroad station. To save the dingy diner, Laurel cooks up a plan to feature alternating ethnic cuisine as specials.

But first there’s the problem of the body in the booth. Slumped over a table with a receipt spike in his back is Jack Lancer—“the Lance of Justice”—an investigative reporter for local TV news. Assisted by the drop-dead gorgeous owner of the neighboring Irish store—who may or may not be a suspect—Laurel sets out to track down a killer who had no reservations about impaling a newshound. But as she turns up the heat, will she end up in the soup herself? [summary via Amazon]

Irish Stewed is the first book in the Ethnic Eats Mysteries by Kylie Logan. Laurel Inwood is back in Hubbard, Ohio, helping out her Aunt Sophie at her restaurant "Terminal on the Tracks", while Sophie is recovering from surgery. Previously a big Hollywood chef, Laurel finds the restaurant to be not everything she was expecting, and least of all, she doesn't expect to find a dead man in the restaurant on her first walkthrough. As Laurel settles into the town, she buries herself into the investigation, alongside the very charming and very Irish local, Declan Fury. Together they must unravel the clues before the killer strikes again.

I absolutely adore Kylie Logan's other series, the League of Literary Ladies Mysteries. I came across the Ethnic Eats Mysteries at my local library and I knew I had to pick it up immediately. I knew if it was anywhere near as good as her other series, I was going to enjoy it.

Irish Stewed had me addicted from the very first chapter. Laurel has run away from her Hollywood lifestyle, and the first two things she runs into are a dead body and the handsome Irishman, Declan. Both of these factors absolutely delighted me. I love everything about Declan - his cocky, self-assured attitude, his thrusting himself into the investigation (despite Laurel not wanting anything to do with him), and his big, loud and maybe not entirely legal Irish family. Having come from a big Australian-Irish family myself, it may be his family that endeared me the most!!

The mystery itself was top notch. When the final denouement was unravelled, I was left open mouthed in shock, as I definitely didn't see the killer coming! 

The Ethnic Eats Mysteries are now on top of my "must read" list. With such a strong first in the series, I'm sure I'm going to enjoy the rest immensely. Not to mention, that I definitely need to find out how the sparks flying between Laurel and Declan unravel too!