Here at Chateau Crime Fiction, we have decided to lay out our recommendations for a Christmas Feast of Crime Fiction in the form of a menu. They are based on books read in 2009 - those enjoyed the most. Please note that none of the contributing chefs have been paid by us for their sterling efforts and neither did your proprietor mistress receive any form of payment for their inclusion on the menu.
We hope you enjoy this year's menu. (Our front of house man may provide a further menu next week. But it's the really busy season, you understand...)
Chateau Crime Fiction Christmas Feast Menu 2009 Amuse-Bouche A Very Persistent Illusion (Chef: L. C. Tyler) A charming and amusing non-crimefic tale of the awakening to reality; to set your festive mood. Starter The Earth Hums in B Flat (Chef: Mari Strachan) 1950s north Wales village life and the loss of innocence for young Gwenni. Mrs D’Silva’s Detective Instincts and the Shaitan of 1960s Anglo-Indian Fish Course Ten Little Herrings (Chef: L. C. Tyler) Ethelred & Elsie take on France, philately, chocolate and murder, with a comedic fin or two. Skin and Bones (Chef: Tom Bale) A fleshy thriller that begs to be eaten in one sitting. Conspiracy in a whirling bowl. Back to the Coast (Chef: Saskia Noort) Stalked Maria leaves Meat Course The Ignorance of Blood (Chef: Robert Wilson) The meaty end to the superb Falcon quartet. Requires strong teeth & disposition. Spanish theme. Shadow (Chef: Karin Alvtegen) A gripping tale of how people get their teeth into one another over the generations. Swedish meatballs. A Quiet Belief in Angels (Chef: R. J. Ellory) Your Wagyu steak served rare: a bumper pack of good and evil in one person’s life. Pudding A Kind of Intimacy (Chef: Jenn Ashworth) Ill-conceived perception and reality meet in an explosive climax. A flambé. Close-Up (Chef: Esther Verhoef) An intimate relationship haunted by death. For two to share. The The final resolution of a childhood disappearance. With terrible ramekinations. Cheese Acts of Violence (Chef: Ryan David Jahn) A selection of vignettes around a tragic death; all with a sharp bite. Stop Me (Chef: Richard Jay Parker) A game of cat and mouse played across the All feasts are served with lashings of coffee to keep you reading well into the night.
Thanks for all your comments.
We hope the restaurant will continue operation into the new year, even during this recession.
Posted by: cfr | 28 November 2009 at 15:37
Brilliant! You are very clever. I *love* this idea for a post!
Posted by: kimbofo | 27 November 2009 at 19:36
A fantastic treat at Its a Crime as usual. I have only partaken of four of these delicacies including greedily two meat dishes, but they were all delicious especially the starter recommended by the Chef d'Ecole Pay de Galles.
Posted by: Norm | 27 November 2009 at 15:42
Rhian - Thanks for this wonderful list of delicious crimefic choices : ). I love your restaurant!
Posted by: Margot Kinberg | 27 November 2009 at 15:07
An exotic menu, Rhian -- I've not even heard of six of these chefs. But you entice me to have a nibble, you temptress. I shall have to read The Earth Hums in B Flat, which is true, thinking of my Welsh great-grandma, though she grew up in South Wales in the 1860s and 70s, I strongly suspect lost her innocence in Staffordshire, and then got married in London after they located my great-grandfather, who had tried to escape this tricky situation by running off in the company of a famous clog dancer by the name of Rafferty.
Posted by: Philip | 27 November 2009 at 14:42
This is the best blog post ever. Thank you!
Posted by: MarDixon | 27 November 2009 at 14:21