Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy (White House Chef Mystery, #5)

Affairs of Steak by Julie Hyzy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Affairs of Steak is the fifth book in the White House Chef Mystery Series by Julie Hyzy.  She is another of my very favorite authors and I love reading her books.

This book finds Ollie being teamed with Peter Sargeant, you remember the guy who hates her, in helping the First Lady plan a birthday party for theSecretary of State of the President.  They are looking at locations for the event, off-site, not at the White House and they have visited four places. As they are walking to the last location they run into Peter's nephew, although Peter is none to happy about it, and once they make the final location, they find that the assistant that was suppose to met them is nowhere to be found. As they are looking through the venue and the kitchen, Peter notices something that looks like blood, and Ollie opens a hugh tilt-skillet only to find the missing assistant, dead. They call the police and as they are showing the police the body, they hear talking which turns out to be a cell phone, upon opening the second tilt-skillet they find the President's Chief of Staff, also dead.

As we follow along the story, we learn more about Ollie and her relationship with Gav is explored and the reality of weather they are going to be able to have a relationship or not, or are they only going to be good friends because of their respective jobs.  Also, the tension between Ollie and the first-family's personal chef, Virgil that started in the last book when a new first-family was installed in the White House, continues. Even so far that Virgil leaks information to a newspaper that puts Ollie and Peter's lives in danger!

So many things occur in this book, and this series, we learn about the workings of the White House and the Secret Service, I am sure not the true workings, but so many things that are wonderfully written and explained, like the changing pins that each Secret Service Agent wears on his lapel, that can be changed each day, or if on Presidential detail as often as each hour, to keep outsiders out, even comes into play in this story.

I love the story. I love Ollie and Gav. originally, in the first book Ollie was dating a Secret Service Agent, Tom, but he just could not understand or back her knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and her ability to figure out what was going on long before the secret service or other police agencies did.  I could never understand why Tom was so put off by this, or why he couldn't understand her, but I am glad that she was introduced to Special Agent in Charge Leonard Gavin, or Gav as she comes to call him. He is able to understand her, and to even appreciate her abilities, so much so that he teaches her and encourages her, which I find attractive.

I am looking so forward to more books in this series and to the relationship with Gavin. I love the series. Another awesome author. I actually have two books in another series by this author in my to-read pile.


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