One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

Foreign Éclairs by Julie Hyzy

Foreign Éclairs is the ninth book in Ms. Hyzy’s White House Chef series of mysteries. It will most likely be the last of the series, as Ms. Hyzy decided to stop writing the series after a dispute with her publisher.

I knew the back story to the book before I read it, and I wish I could say that did not color my opinion of the book, but it did. Knowing it was the last of the series (with this author), I was really hoping for a better book, a book that reminded me why I began the series in the first place. This was not the series finale I hoped it would be.

There is no real way I can discuss the book without giving away the ending, but suffice to say, as in the most recent episodes of the series, White House Chef Olivia Paras (Ollie to her friends) spent far more time out of the kitchens than in them. And she spent far more time working with the Secret Service than she did at her actual job. I am pretty sure that if the real White House Chef spent that much time away from their actual job, he (or she) would not remain employed as White House Chef for very long.

The ridiculousness of the plot made the book almost farcical, and the in-absolutely-no-way-could-it-ever-be-her-responsibility during-work-hours activity only made the story more annoying to me. I can forgive a great deal in plots in the name of dramatic license, but only if the story makes sense in its own parameters. And this book asks the reader to suspend a great deal of belief — too much to make the story even partly believable.

I like Ollie and I really like her friends, but this book was a big disappointment, both because there was too much Ollie in precarious situations, but also because there was not enough of Ollie’s friends.

I’m sorry the series has, in all likelihood, ended, but I am not sorry with the direction the books were taking. Overall, I think it was probably the best outcome to end the series.

One Bear’s Opinion: Three glasses of store-brand cola with not enough ice and few generic cookies

Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver