Murder at the St. Regis

A Chef Dani Rosetti Cozy Mystery (Chef Dani Rosetti Cozy Mysteries, Book 1)

By: Dianne Harman

Narrated by: Anna Wheeler

Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

A celebrity television chef with a fledgling VIP catering company. A 10-year-old niece she didn’t know she had. Mix those with poison, car bombs, and murderers, and her carefully laid-out plans for a future life become completely upended!

Tragically, her parents died in a place crash, and Dani Rosetti leaves law school behind, heads to Paris, and becomes a chef. And not just any old chef - but a chef who goes on to become the darling of the celebrity chef world.

When a rabid fan tries to kill her, she ends her television career as a celebrity chef to start a catering company for the VIPs of the world. What she never expected, after not speaking with her brother for years, was that he had a child, and when he unexpectedly dies, that she would become that child’s guardian. Suddenly she’s Auntie Dani to a 10-year-old. 

But someone wants to kill her. It takes all the resources her bodyguard, Arthur, who doubles as her sous-chef, has to keep Dani and her niece safe. Whipping up cream for chocolate mousses was a lot easier for both Dani and Arthur! 

This is the debut book in the Chef Dani Rosetti Cozy Mystery series by a best-selling author and Amazon all-star.

©2020 Dianne Harman (P)2021 Dianne Harman

good storylines

I really enjoyed this read, fast paced, action packed, I really liked the characters, Dani and Arthur are a great team, I know I will be reading his series for sure!

Nice premise but amateurish execution. Just bad.

I tried. I wanted to like this book and for 5 chapters I tried, but finally I couldn't take any more.

The main problem was the narration. Anna Wheeler has a lovely voice and I like her North End Boston accent. But she failed to differentiate the voices of the various characters and they all had North End Boston accents, too, which was odd since the main character grew up in Napa, California. She also mispronounced some words when the character wouldn't have. For instance, no one who had been in the Marines would pronounce Corps as corpse, like a dead body.

But to be fair, the narrator wasn't given much to work with. The dialog was stilted, aimed at giving the reader expository material, without regard to whether the characters (or anyone) would actually speak that way. It had an amateurish quality.

I've listened to over a thousand audio books, some that I liked and some that I didn't, and I think this is only the second time I've asked for my money back. It's that bad.

St Regis

New series from Dianne! Dani has her own catering business. She has a partner Arthur who is actually a bodyguard. Dani is concentrating on her business and she has no desire to have any sort of relationship or family. But then she unexpectedly finds herself with custody of her 10 year old niece. Now Arthur’s profession is going to come in handy as it seems that someone wants to kill Dani. Great combination throughout the story. The story is full of new beginnings and exciting drama! I enjoyed the narrator of this.

The start of Chef Dani Rosetti was almost her end!

This is the first book in the Chef Dani Rosetti series by Dianne Harman. It establishes all the characters and the premise of the series. Dani Rosetti has more than a few enemies who may be out to kill her. Her sous chef / bodyguard Arthur is determined to save her life. The book is a good cozy mystery and I enjoyed it. The narrative performance by Anna Wheeler was also very good.

Good cozy mystery

Murder at the St. Regis is a good, clean cozy mystery. It has fun characters and an entertaining storyline. Good start to this series!

Great first book in a new series!

I really liked this book! The characters are all great and easy to sort out! The storyline is exciting and flows great! It begins with Dani who is a tv chef and her souse chef -Body guard, Arthur. Dani finds out her brother has died and she takes on the job of rising her niece. Someone is out to kill Dani and Arthur is trying to find out who! Read the book to find out the rest! I would certainly recommend this! Can’t wait to read number two! The narrators voice did not flow like I would have liked. My own ear may be different than others though!

greed and jealousy turn deadly

Dani seemed very cold and unforgiving. I wish she was more likeable. Arthur was Dani's saving grace and she was lucky to have him. Greed and jealousy are strange and dangerous bedfellows. and seem petty as compared to a life , but I guesse you have to have a conscience first!! I enjoyed this. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator was good.

Life changes makes for a great story

I really enjoyed this book. I have listened to a few Chef Dani Rosetti mysteries and it was great to go back to the beginning and discover how it all began. With this book being the first in the series you learn a little bit more about the characters and there relationships with each other, so the book is more focused on them. Not to say that there isn't a good mystery woven into the story because there was and again the author had me guessing who the killer was. It is the characters that I really like especially the grown up Anna who has gone through so much at a young age, I didn't need tissues but it certainly tugs at the heart. A heart warming cozy mystery.
Dani is happy with her life until an unexpected phone call sends it spinning. Over night she suddenly becomes a single mum to her 10 year old niece who she knew nothing about. She blamed her brother for the death of her parents and not wanting to Have anything to do with him ran off to join a culinary school and become a world famous chef. Years later she is making it on her own and running her own business as a high end cater with the man who was formerly her body guard as her sous chef. Now she will have to put her skills to a different kind of test, bringing up her niece and avoiding a killer. Someone wants Chef Dani dead and will stop at nothing to see the job done, even if it means innocents getting hurt in the process. Can Dani and Arthur find out her wants her dead before it's to late?
I liked the narrator. Anna Wheeler has a pleasant voice that she puts to good use bringing the characters to life. Even a child's voice is child's play for her.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.