Description: Mary Ryan arrives early one day at the restaurant where she works and discovers the dead body of one of her employees. The investigation exposes the food industry's dirty secrets and forces Mary to use her skills to uncover a poisonous scheme.
Brief description:
Claire M. Johnson completed the California Culinary Academy's program for professional chefs in 1983 and worked as a pastry chef in San Francisco and Oakland for eight years. Her first novel, Beat until Stiff, won the 1999 Malice Domestic Writer's Grant. She lives in Lafayette, California, with her husband, two children, and numerous animals.
Review Quotes:
"Not since Nero Wolfe and Faith Fairchild have mystery and food been yoked together so well as they are now in Claire M. Johnson's Beat until Stiff. An authentic and fast-paced mystery novel."
-- "John McAleer, Edgar-winning author "