Cooks Overboard (Angie Amalfi Mysteries)

by Joanne Pence

Book Overview

In this 6th delightful culinary mystery from Joanne Pence, dilettante chef Angie Amalfi plans a romantic cruise with her hunky boyfriend, but hits rough water when murder becomes part of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061044539
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: HarperTorch
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Brain-Dancing With Grey Cloud Finesse

This novel opened with a dramatic, brow-puzzling change in Paavo's character. The change was so perfectly etched into flawless syntax and so absolutely unexpected, it zapped the buzz wizz chaos of my reality, welded it into a reading focus, and snapped me into the book before I could get a clue on what hit me. I was glued to Paavo's every lifeless word and rare thought as Pence polished his presence as a lackluster blob of nothingness. Who was this guy dragging around a dead attitude of non-investment-in-anything-suspicious, shuffling around with a drool-grinning acquiescence of whatever slithered up to him? Due to the effective hook of this Paavo puzzle, COOKS OVERBOARD was more fast paced than some of the other novels in Joanne Pence's Angie Amalfi series. I was compelled to surge my reading speed because I absolutely had to know what had caused Paavo to become to this lost soul, sleepy non-entity. Angie's antics sidestepping around and hot-footing into Paavo's dead-weight dullness was entertaining; her lively spirit was used well with poking, prodding attempts to re-connect to a Paavo who seemed to no longer be THERE. If I didn't have a feel for the outer limits of Pence's parameters for ozone travels into the paranormal realms, I'd have wondered if Paavo's body had ingested an alien being, or been possesed by an evil spirit. I was given just the right amount of access to Paavo's thoughts, in just the right amount of plot spacing to be strung along nicely without becoming impatient. In addition to be carried into the plot by curiosity about Paavo's personality switcheroo, I easily slid into the vicarious venue of being aboard a freighter rather than a cruise ship. Lacking the garish, boorish, carnival brightness of the typical cruise mood, the no-frills freighter developed quickly into a surprisingly full-bodied fictional world. Pence made good use of the ambiance variances of the freighter Vs cruise setting by detailing the dining locations, types of menu, cabin arrangements, passenger interaction, etc. The vignettes of subplots off ship were woven into the ocean going machinations in a Sidney Sheldon like manner of kaleidoscopic alternation, in a style similar to that in TOO MANY COOKS, yet with an even deeper development of each alternate scene. With the freighter's ambiance being naturally grey and grim (no cruise-ship forced-color or pushed-pace), and with Paavo's focus being so off (more like lost in a fog), and with the sinister vignettes given more plot space than Angie's typically hilarious romps, the resulting gestalt was intriguingly darker than prior books. The cloudy, grey-scale worked fascinatingly to keep me anesthetized into the story. It almost felt like I lived the plot in an equal intensity as Angie and Paavo. If I were to conclude that Pence's storytelling talent is multifaceted in mood management, I would be making such an understatement, the conclusion might cartwheel into a kaleidoscope. (If you can mak

Have to love Paavo and Angie

While not my favorite of the series, still a good book. I really like how the characters are developing and the sense of reality you get from reading the book. Particularly Paavo. Joanne's ability to make you understand and feel for him increases with each book.

How not to spend your vacation--funny stuff!

Enjoyed watching Angie's plans for great vacation turn to disaster. Also some great scenes when she's mistaken for world's most deadly female assassin. Highly enjoyable.

Almalfi latest mystery is a gourmet's delight

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