Diet of Death: A Reluctant Food Columnist Mystery

by Ang Pompano

Published by: Independently published (June 24 2021) Cover design: Dar Albert

Andy Rooney once said, “The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books — how not to eat what you've just learned how to cook.”

Author, Ang Pompano, serves up a delectable recipe for murder with just the right blend of mystery, mayhem and suspense complimented by a soupcon of humour.

We’ll discover how true this adage is in the pages of Pompano’s Diet of Death. Diet Guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer is dying for a personal interview to promote his latest Westport Diet Book with, the much sought after yet strangely elusive, Betty Ann Green, doyenne of dining, queen of cuisine.

Protagonist, Quincy Lazzaro has aspirations of being an investigative reporter but his chances look slim to none after being conned into becoming assistant to the immensely popular Cooking with Betty columnist for On Topic Magazine. He finds his personal and professional lives inextricably intertwined as he struggles to placate the women in his life, maintain some semblance of cool while catching a killer all without revealing his secret.

After writing for more than twenty years and authoring many short stories, including one in the 2019 Malice Domestic Anthology, Ang Pompano published his first novel, “When it’s Time for Leaving” an Agatha Award nominated crime thriller that delivers an atmospheric tale packed with action, suspense, humour and some surprising twists. Pompano is a skilled storyteller who offers readers a complex mystery of chases, confrontation and introspection. The tale he weaves is, indeed a well crafted murder mystery, set in a turbulent sea of emotions and populated with multifaceted characters.

Diet of Death was a thoroughly enjoyable read from beginning to end. I look forward, with great relish, to his next installment in the Reluctant Food Columnist Mystery series.