Knife Skills for Beginners

DEBUT Food writer, cookbook author, and media personality Murrin delves into crime fiction with this debut novel. When Paul, a chef, is asked by his friend, superstar chef Christian, to fill in as a teacher at an exclusive London cooking school, Paul sees it as an opportunity to reconnect with his love of cooking and with Christian. But after a grisly murder is conducted using Paul’s chef’s knife, Paul needs to find the killer to clear his name. He investigates between his classes, and it soon becomes clear the school is full of enemies—and that Paul could be the next to be butchered. Though this debut has a cozy-ish cover and is sprinkled with detailed recipes, it addresses serious topics such as the death of a partner, suicide, and child abuse. The plot is focused, but Murrin’s inclusion of many unnecessary and confusing details could muddy the reading experience, and the character development is occasionally lackluster.