I am not really able to review this book positively. I did start it, but it was not to my taste.. I struggled with the writing style and the amount of factual information included in too much detail.

Hi Karen,
My Next review is:-

“The Devils Feast:The Blake And Avery Mystery Series(Book 3)”, written by M J Carter and published in paperback by Penguin on 5 Oct. 2017. 368 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0241966884

London, 1842. There has been a mysterious and horrible death at the Reform, London's newest and grandest gentleman's club. A death the club is desperate to hush up.
Captain William Avery is persuaded to investigate, and soon discovers a web of rivalries and hatreds, both personal and political, simmering behind the club's handsome façade - and in particular concerning its resident genius, Alexis Soyer, 'the Napoleon of food', a chef whose culinary brilliance is matched only by his talent for self-publicity.
But Avery is distracted, for where is his mentor and partner-in-crime Jeremiah Blake? And what if this first death was only a dress rehearsal for something far more sinister?

The story was exciting enough - horrible deaths as a result of poisonings and a desperate hunt for the poisoner before a grand banquet goes ahead. But I prefer the way the author puts characters and setting ahead of this. So many books these days are so plot driven, that is to say the basic characters are two dimensional and yet other elements are hardly researched at all - not so in this book. I know that it is harder work to read books that are so full of well researched detail, but having put more effort in, the reward is that much richer. I enjoyed the book and finished it in a few days as I was so gripped by the story. I’m always keen to find out what happens to the characters in a strong story such as this, but hate to get to the end because then I have to find another good book to replace it!

What I thought was missing is, however, is the character Jeriamiah Blake. At the opening of the novel he is incarcerated in the Marshalsea debtors' prison and so maintains a lower profile in the story than is desirable; the relationship between the detectives is not given the scope for development seen previously, which is a great shame.

The writer M. J. Carter is a former journalist and the author of the Blake and Avery series. The first in the series, The Strangler Vine, was shortlisted for the Crime Writer’s Association’s New Blood Dagger Award and longlisted for both the 2015 Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year. The next in the series was The Printer’s Coffin (formerly published as The Infidel Stain) which will be followed by The Devil’s Feast (Penguin Books, October 2016). M. J. Carter is married with two sons and lives in London.
The author is very thorough in her historical research and I was swept away reading this very gripping and finely written historical mystery story. Strongly recommended.

Best wishes,

Terry
(To be published on eurocrime.co.uk in due course)

A Sherlock Holmes-like mistery, set in London in the last quarter of the IXX century, a time of fierce political and social battles. The dynamic duo here is formed by a former soldier from the heroic past in the colonies and by a strange character, a kind of private investigator with a dark past (probably only for me that I have not read the first two books in the series) and a shady character. The methods of the latter are not exactly scientific, but rather based on the techniques of observation of involuntary movements of the body that allow him to figure out who is lying, and a good dose of intuition. In this novel, the two are struggling, in addition to an industrial dose of personal problems, with a number of death from poisoning among the members of a prestigious and exclusive political club, on the eve of an important banquet whose success is the premise for important events related to international politics. Driving force of this banquet, center of everything that happens in the novel is the eclectic French chef Alexis Soyer, historycal figure and among the geniuses of the cooking of this period.
Great book, especially respect to the historical reconstruction, the setting and the credibility of the characters, a very enjoyable read.
I thank Penguin Books (UK) and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Set in London in the 1840 s this is an atmospheric and erudite detective story. The two key characters and the sleuths started live in the Strangler Vine and the Printers Coffin. Finding out who did it and why ( the Devil of the title )is discovered over a week in a period London when the reader will learn much about what the rich and privileged of the time would eat at the top table of the day (the Reform Club ) and much aboit one of the creators of food for rich and poor .. Alexis Soyer a latter day mix of Heston Blumenthal and Jamie Oliver. I woukd recommend to anyone with a taste for historical fuction, or anyone interested in London. I cant wait for the next two adventure of Blake and Avery.