Title:	The Chef
	Author:	Robin Mahle
	Published:	April 9, 2924, Joffe Books
	No. of Pages:	320
	Cover Price:	$12.99 Paperback

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Chefs Kira and Dante Lucini have just spent their life savings to open a fancy new restaurant in LA, in the second installment of the Secrets and Suspense series, The Chef by Robin Mahle. Kira discovers her head chef using cocaine out in the back of the restaurant and fires him. Getting a new chef is difficult, but Marco Devaney shows up with a very promising resume and is hired on the spot. As he works in the kitchen, it’s obvious he’s very good, but as time goes on, Kira and Dante start to notice problems starting with them and the other employees. When the previous chef is run off the road and murder is suspected, suspense builds and Marco seems to be causing problems in every facet of Kira and Dante’s lives.

Mahle has done an excellent job of developing the characters. Kira is an interesting protagonist, and her marriage has suffered since the restaurant opened, and has gotten worse since Marco started, since he is a manipulator and there is chemistry between them at first. Dante is attracted to the sous chef and so both are adding to the problems. Marco as a character seems very real and most readers most likely know someone just like him. The supporting characters make the story go forward. Mahle is excellent at building suspense while telling the story in a way that puts readers on the edge. The suspense starts to build as soon as the novel begins and goes through to the end. The book is well-written and easy to follow. It is organized and flows easily.

All told, this is an excellent novel, and will inspire readers to read the previous novel in the series, and definitely pick up the next one when it comes out.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.