Review: Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (December 31, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 0425251810
• Source: Kaye Publicity

White House executive chef Olivia Paras grew up believing her father was a hero, yet during a recent visit to her mother she learns otherwise. Not only was he dishonorably discharged from the army, after his murder evidence was found, implicating him for selling corporate secrets. How had a man, buried in Arlington National Cemetery, be guilty of such charges? Ollie refuses to believe this claims and, with the aid of her Secret Service boyfriend, Gav, she must get to the root of what really transpired decades earlier. They locate a number of her father’s former acquaintances in an effort to find out more.Doing so, however, puts her life and the nation’s security at risk.

In the sixth book in the White House Chef mystery series, I truly appreciated how much of this novel revolved around Ollie’s search for the answers to her endless questions about her father. Fans of this series know how often Ollie gets wrapped up in danger of some sorts but in this novel, readers get to see Ollie up close and personal, quite vulnerable and desperate for answers. That’s not to say the crazy antics of the White House, the First Family and Ollie’s quirky cohorts aren’t portrayed at all, but in this case they serve as more of a backdrop than the main story. In actuality, in Fonduing Fathers readers actually get to see the First Family portrayed as typical people, the First Son, Josh, attempting to remain as normal as he can, pursuing his own passion in becoming a chef.

While I enjoyed every book in this series (my favorite cozy series!) this may be my favorite because readers get to see inside Ollie’s life, even if it does reveal dangerous secrets that should remain hidden. As mentioned above, this is the sixth book in the series. In many cases, I would suggest that readers new to the series pick up at any point but in this case I believe it is paramount to start at the beginning and watch Ollie’s evolution as an individual and as the White House executive chef. Highly, highly recommended.