Fortune Cookie (Culinary Mystery)

I am a fan of series. I've read the Cedar Cove series and Kinsey Milhone and Stephanie Plum. I have to say that when I got to the end of Fortune Cookie and found out the next book (Wedding Cake) is the last one, I breathed a sigh of relief. This series has been an up and down one for me, Some of the books were excellent and there were a couple where I just wanted to slap Sadie and tell her to cancel the pity party! This was one of the better ones. Sadie and her fiancé travel to San Francisco and get involved in an investigation. During the backstory, we find out Pete and his first wife spent many anniversaries in the City, including the one just before she died. This causes lots of angst for Sadie as she wonders if Pete is really ready to move on. There is also the confrontation of her own past and her relationship (or lack thereof) with her sister and nephew. And, of course, the mystery to solve and the great recipes to try. No matter how I have felt about any individual book in this series, I have NEVER been disappointed in any of the recipes I tried. Many of them are in my permanent collection! I am looking forward to Wedding Cake and the chance for Sadie to live happily every after!

As always, Josi Kilpack tells a great story. But for some reason, in this Kindle Version, she took all the recipes and stuck them at the end of the book, instead of making them part of the story like in previous culinary mysteries. This REALLY detracts from the story. To make it worse, they are at the very end of the book in a completely untitled area. I only found them by going to the last page and looking to see if there were pages not included in the Table of Contents. Looking for the recipes was very frustrating - at least have them in the Table of Contents. But honestly, whoever talked Ms. Kilpack into making this change gave her VERY bad advice, as the recipes are no longer part of the story, making the story just as ordinary as any mystery. What made her books special was destroyed by removing the recipes and hiding them from the reader. I hope the author will have the sense to put them back in her last book, Wedding Cake, and fix the problem in future editions of this book. If we want recipes all in one place, we will check her blog. Don't ruin the story for convenience sake

I was excited to see that San Francisco was going to be the location of this novel. I found myself disturbed by the portrayal of Chinese Americans as being so 'old world.'Sadie Hoffmiller is shocked when she receives a note from a nephew in San Francisco to advise her of her sister's death. And, a shocking death it was. Wendy Penrose died in her bath and was later set on fire.Sadie and her fiancé Pete fly out to California with the intentions of aiding the nephew she had never known. Something rings false about her Sister's death. Sadie and Pete contact the police and join in the investigation.As a sub-plot, Sadie and Pete have to work out their emotions about their upcoming nuptials. The possibility that the vows won't be spoken is real.I liked the recipes included but this book was stereotyped to values that current Chinese-Americans just do not have. I found myself uncomfortable with some aspects of these characterizations. I was also upset by the killer's profile. This book just wasn't for me.

I choose 5 Star because I enjoyed the book very much. It was fun to read and had just the right amount of mystery to keep me wanting to keep reading.

I'll be sad to say good bye to Sadie after the next book. Thank you Josi Kilpack! I'm a big fan

Josi Kilpack's books are easy reads that can transport you into her world of drama and laughter.

I have read the whole series and loved each one of them. They have awesome recipes and fun characters. Look forward to reading the last one.. thanks for some great reading...clean and fun and page turning.....

This was a great mystery and one that was hard to figure out. I loved all the fun characters and the details about San Francisco.