Bell, Cook, and Candle

November 12, 2001
A deranged seer, a family of operatic Italian Americans and a group of Satan worshipers are only a few of the screwball players in Pence's (To Catch a Cook, etc.) over-the-top mystery. While launching her new business, Comical Cakes, culinary adventuress Angie Amalfi stumbles upon an alien world when a prospective client turns out to be the nocturnal proprietor of an after-hours goth club. Though perturbed by her meeting, Angie thinks little of it even after her long-suffering boyfriend, homicide detective Paavo Smith, informs her that a young woman was found raped and murdered in a ritualistic manner. A short while later, another body turns up, setting San Franciscans on edge. Although hard-charging Angie is eager to help with the case, she's so preoccupied with her expanding business that she doesn't even pick up on Paavo's not-so-subtle attempts to propose. Meanwhile, the body count rises, and the police, in their effort to wrap the case up in record time, nab the wrong man. Despite the novel's chaotic organization and self-centered heroine, who's fond of telling everyone else what to do even though she never listens to advice herself, this light confection is sweetened by a colorful assortment of local characters and a sunny location.