I’m a foodie at heart and grew up working in a family restaurant. I currently live in Los Angeles, where I’m delighted to have access to all sorts of edible goodies. As a writer, I insert food into my books, specifically in my culinary cozy mysteries, which have murder—and recipes! I also adore the idea of the fantastical; as a kid, I often created entire imaginary worlds during playtime. I’m happy to combine both loves in my newest series, the Magical Fortune Cookie books.
What spoke to me the most was the concept of innate magical talent, and that power can be unlocked in an individual.
I liked how Bender’s constructed world made sense to me—a contemporary reality that could also contain the imaginative. Rose discovers her talent at an early age, tasting people’s emotions by their food; I loved the brilliance and simplicity of this idea. I also appreciated the layered story beyond the magic as I got to follow Rose’s emotional growth journey.
_______________________________ On the eve of her ninth birthday, Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. All at once her cheerful, can-do mother tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes perilous. Anything can be revealed at any meal.
Rose's gift forces her to confront the truth behind her family's emotions - her mother's sadness, her father's detachment and her brother's clash with the world. But as Rose grows up, she learns that there are some…
As a
writer of mystery novels, I know that a story needs a lot more than a good
plot, and this delightful tale of an eccentric Bavarian woman who moves to
Sicily to drink herself to death and instead finds herself investigating the
murder of her handsome young handyman fulfills that requirement in
spades with colorful characters; vivid descriptions of her adopted country’s
culture, history, and cuisine; and a powerful sense of place.
The solution to
the mystery is somewhat obvious, but what really mattered to me was the fact
that after reading the book, I felt that I had actually been on a trip to
Sicily.
'Alive with a tang of lemons to set the senses zinging' The SpectatorTranslated fiction at its most charming - A Man Called Ove meets Andrea Camilleri, Auntie Poldi is this summer's most unlikely hero.Auntie Poldi can think of no finer place to wait for death than Sicily. All she asks is a sea view, fine wine (and plenty of it), and her family close around.When death instead takes her handsome young friend Valentino - and under mysterious circumstances at that - Poldi will not take it lying down.Perhaps it's in her blood (her father was a detective chief inspector); perhaps…
