Blowback by Peter May

Blowback by Peter May
Publisher: Hachette UK
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The penultimate chapter in the Enzo Files, sees Enzo enter the volatile and – now, it appears – violent world of haute cuisine.

PUY-DE-DÔME, FRANCE.

A Silenced Man.

Footprints in the snow lead to the murder scene of Marc Fraysse, France’s most celebrated chef – brutally shot before he could make the revelation of his career.

A Determined Man.

Seven years on and the mystery still raw, Enzo Macleod, forensic investigator, forays into the heated world of haute cuisine to uncover bitter feuds and a burning secret.

A Hunted Man.

The Fraysse family history is as twisted as Enzo’s own. And in his pursuit of truth, the depths of deceit threaten to consume Enzo – and that which he cherishes most.

Seven years ago, local celebrity and world-famous, Three Michelin star chef, Marc Fraysse is murdered under suspicious circumstances. Despite heavy police investigation, the case never went anywhere and was eventually left to grow cold. Now, forensic investigator Enzo Macleod is looking into the case. With the stakes higher than ever, and deeply personal, can Enzo solve this long-cold case?

A family member gave me this book and while I’ve heard of Peter May I had never previously read any of his work. I was intrigued to give him a go and – after the first few chapters hooked me easily in – delighted at this new-to-me author.

I was a little surprised that this book is set in France. While I feel the author did an amazing job with this I’d had the idea this was a UK/British based book so that took a minute to readjust in my mind. Also, I was surprised but really happy to find this is a restaurant/cooking based murder mystery. As such there is a lot of time spent on food/wine/cooking and so readers who aren’t keen with heavy detail along these lines might not feel it’s the right story for them. Personally, I found it interesting and quite easy to read – but I can understand if this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Additionally, this is absolutely a slow-burn kind of murder mystery. I did not find this a fast paced or action-orientated type of mystery. While I wouldn’t quite put this down as a police procedural style of mystery – Enzo is not a police officer and so the usual procedural trappings or team environment and regular police aspect is not heavily involved in this story, this does have that sort of slower, collecting the clues/evidence type of system to it and therefore is not an espionage or action/adventure pace of book.

I loved that there were some good twists and turns to this mystery, and I greatly enjoyed Enzo’s character and all the other main characters in this story. This is a middle book in the series but I easily followed along having never read anything prior by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and found it a gripping read. I’ll absolutely be checking out other books by this author and found it a solid mystery and read. Recommended.