To Kill a Cook

Akers (Westside Lights) delivers a witty, fast-paced mystery centered on 29-year-old New York City food writer Bernice Black. In 1972, long before the word “foodie” has entered the lexicon, Bernice is preparing for an early morning chat with her culinary idol-turned-close friend Laurent Tirel, “the best chef New York had ever seen.” After Bernice arrives at Laurent’s restaurant before it opens, however, she finds his severed head suspended in aspic on a refrigerator shelf. It’s immediately clear to Bernice that the NYPD detective in charge of the investigation is ill-equipped to navigate the ruthless world of fine dining. So, with the specter of impending layoffs at her magazine looming, she decides to solve the case herself and deliver an exclusive investigative piece that could help save her job. Complicating matters is the fact that her fiancé is at work, leaving her to care for his two young boys. She has little choice but to ferry them from one high-profile Manhattan restaurant to the next on the trail of a killer. Akers’s evocation of the grit and glamour of 1970s New York is pitch-perfect, and Bernice is a wonderfully winning protagonist. This is pure fun. Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Feb.)