I love a cosy crime and I love to cook too, so this book has lots going for it! Unfortunately I just found it a little slow going. There were a lot of characters to get my head round and although I liked the ending, it felt like it took ages to get there! Sorry, not for me.

This is a cosy murder mystery book that you'll really enjoy if you're into your food. Lots of interesting, eccentric characters. It's got a few recipes thrown in the mix as well.
I thought I had it figured out but there were a few surprises near the end that I didn't see coming. Overall a good read and it looks like this is the start of a new series featuring Paul and Julie.

I am a recent convert to the cozy murder mystery sub-genre of crime fiction, mainly thanks to the hugely successful Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. Knife Skills For Beginners has many of the ‘cozy’ tropes I was expecting - the murder of an unlikeable character; the main character with an interesting profession who attempts to solve the murder; detailed descriptions of homely, comforting elements (in this case, food and drink); and a range of clues, twists and turns. But, crucially, the necessary humour just didn’t work on me and consequently this book just missed the overall light, comedic and comforting tone which I was looking for.

That said, it is a decent, well written, light-hearted “whodunit” type of murder mystery with the characters and plot needed to keep me reading to the end.

Ho hum, another quirky murder story a la Richard Osman.
Orlando Murrin has written about food and recipes for years but this is his first novel.
What's good about it?
Well, there are real recipes, real cheffy tips and quite a fun cast of characters in the story.
The back drop of a London posh cookery school is really well drawn.
What lets it down?
Well it's all a bit like Cluedo crossed with Masterchef. I know more about chef's knives now that I have finished this book than I think I will ever need to, but it does boil down to being somebody being killed in the upstairs room with a cleaver rather than the library with the candlestick.
It's not a bad book by any manner of means, and it's a style of murder mystery that is very popular at the moment, so it's worth buying a paperback and carrying it in your bag to read on a commute if nothing else

What a fabulously fun book!

After the overwhelming success of The Thursday Murder Club, ‘cosy crime’ has become a genre in its own right - and I have to confess that it’s one I really enjoy. This book doesn’t feel like a debut. The author is clearly a very skilled writer (his biography attests to that) and he knows how to put together a real page turner. Once I’d started this book I struggled to put it down, always wanting to read just one more chapter.

Roped in to running a residential cookery course as a faded Belgravia mansion house, Paul Delamare finds himself the prime suspect when his celebrity chef friend Christian is discovered dead in his apartment. There’s a great cast of characters, and the residential element of the cookery school helps ramp up the tension as the potential killer has to be someone who’s still in the building.

The story races along, packed with twists and turns, and although I’d managed to guess a few of the details of the unveiling it still kept my attention to the very end. A book I’d definitely recommend.

I went into Knife Skills for Beginners with really high hopes for a cosy mystery and an interesting premise, but sadly this just didn't work for me. None of the humour really hit the mark and I couldn't connect with the story of the characters sadly. I think I maybe was just not the right audience for this and other people will enjoy this a lot more, but sadly not me.

I'd had high hopes, as this sounded an interesting premise for a story but for me, I just felt something was missing in the execution. My biggest issue was with the protagonist, who I felt like I didn't know very well, didn't much care for, and who kept making the most ridiculous mistakes in everything he did. And not in a funny way, for comedic value, but rather in a way that left me shouting 'what is wrong with you, have you never read any Agatha Christie?!' Honestly, he was just asking to be arrested the whole way through, and I was never quite sure why we were seeing him behave in this way - was the character just meant to be a bit stupid, or was it to throw us off the scent of something else going on...Whatever the intentions, it meant that I didn't believe that he could investigate the crime himself, because he seemed so inept, and every time he tried to find something out it felt a little painful, so that left me struggling with the story.

I think I'd also assumed the book would be more Richard Osman style, more cosy crime, and it has edges of that at times. But it wasn't really funny, or at least it wasn't funny to me, and on the whole the style of writing wasn't to my liking. I did read it to the end rather than abandoning it part way, however, so there was enough to it that it kept me reading.

This book was totally addictive - I couldn’t put it down. Paul is a fantastic lead character with an intriguing backstory, ably assisted by Julia - the friend everyone should have! The crime story was well-written and kept me guessing, but I particularly enjoyed the way Paul’s dry humour infused the story. This is a classy debut - my only disappointment is that I’ll have to wait until 2025 for the next one. A new ‘must read’ crime series.

What happens when a group of people get together at a cookery course and there is a murder? Set in London SW1, a celebrity chef is hired to teach basic skills. He gets injured and calls in his mate to cover for him. The group is quite a mix of characters , all with issues. I really enjoyed this book. I know the area very well ( I used to live there!) There are even some interesting recipes dropped in to the story. The writing style is easy, funny and enthralling. As a debut novel, it’s very good. The author was a finalist in Masterchef so knows about knife skills. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher fir a prepublication ebook.

A really entertaining read. A book which I will be recommending to others.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

As an avid reader of all things crime I was excited to get to read an ARC of this book. Sadly it didn’t hit the mark for me. The characters were undeveloped and one dimensional. This was particularly detrimental in the case of the protagonist who, despite being falsely accused by the police in several occasions, did not endear himself to me. The plot didn’t really fizz despite two murders and the method and perpetrator obvious. I continuously found myself making mental comparisons to the cosy crime fiction books of Rosemary Shrager and this fell short of those for me. Finally, the book begins with a recipe and I was hopeful of many more throughout the book, however a potato recipe using frozen hash browns and another for rocky road I felt patronised the reader.
I appreciate this is the author’s first published work of fiction but as a recipient of ARCs through NetGalley I have to give an honest review.

Fascinating book. Fabulous recipes! It was quite a gentle book considering it was about a nasty murder. Very surprising ending!

Yes, I stayed up until 20 to midnight on a weeknight to finish this book, don't judge me. I absolutely ADORED this book. Murder mystery isn't my usual forte, but it was the most delightful & amusing read! I literally breezed through it in one evening, staying up until nearly midnight to finish it.

I recognised Orlando's name from being a foodie/watching Masterchef (and being a fan of Waitrose weekend magazine), so was excited to give this book a go. Honestly, it surpassed my expectations. It was witty, funny, touching - AND THAT TWIST?! Honestly, I had no idea until the very end! Also, as a Hampshire lass myself, I appreciated all the references to the local area!

I definitely recommend reading this when it is published, and I am so grateful to Netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for this arc in return for an honest review. My only disappointment is that I can't get it in paperback until it's published in Feb 2024! But the minute this baby is published, it's going on my bookshelves! 10/10, absolutely fantastic debut novel - made me smile so hard my face hurts. 5/5 stars. 🌟

Delicious…
What on earth has chef Paul Delamare let himself in for? Having agreed to teach at a very exclusive residential cooking school in Belgravia to assist an old friend, every fibre of his being is telling him that it is a mistake - but he’s already agreed and he can’t let his old friend down. After all, it may well do him some good. Right? Hmmm, probably not. It’s not long before events are to take a fatal turn. Chaos soon ensues and with the place crawling with police, a group of unlikely but very possible suspects each acting in a distinctly fishy manner, a killer on the loose and Paul himself under suspicion- after all he is a skilled knife master in the kitchen - what is a chef to do? A delicious first outing in what is billed as a new series of cosy crime, this is a real joy with a frothy plot populated with an eclectic and deftly drawn cast and with a perfect setting for a murder or two.

Celebrity chef Christian has had a bit of a mishap. How can he teach at an exclusive residential cookery school with a cast on? He manages to persuade his friend Paul Delamare to cover for him. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

A dead body, for one. Which Paul stumbles across.

With a confined list of suspects, all of whom are behaving less than normally, can Paul get to the bottom of this? He needs to - he's a suspect too.

Great fun :)