The Proof Is in the Pudding (A Della Cooks Mystery) by Melinda Wells

First line in the book:  "You're going to love what I've done to promote your show!" said Phil Logan, as soon as he finished gasping for air.

Taken from the blurb:

Della's agreed to be on the panel for the Celebrity Cook-off Charity Gala.  The spotlights are fixed on twenty celebrities, amateur cooks for the night, preparing their favourite dishes in a hotel ballroom.  But before the judges have a chance to sample the delights, food columnist and gold-digging playboy Keith Ingram is found dead.  And one of Della's closest friends, LAPD Lieutenant John O'Hara, is the prime suspect.  His supposed motive?  Protecting the heart of his little girl, whom Ingram has recently dumped.  New Della needs to serve the real killer justice - not an easy order to fill when the key ingredient lies within one man's sordid love life...

This is the third and latest book in the Della Cooks Mysteries.  It gets better and better and like I said before, this is an above average cosy mystery.

Wells has deftly drawn out the story in a cleverly plotted puzzle which keeps me from putting the bits and pieces together.  I think the old story in publishing circles about a writer of magazine adventure serials might have played a part in how the puzzle fits together at the end and if you do not already know what the story is, you will have to read the book.

It is a well written and thought out story with an unexpectedly happy ending.  It certainly qualifies as a page-turner.

I hope that Wells will continue to write about Della Carmichael and gang because they are such down-to-earth characters and it is a joy to read about people who have so much love and support for one another.  She writes candidly about the intimacy between lovers and the mutual affection between good friends in a way that strikes a chord in my heart.

Last but not least, we can never underestimate or take for granted the comfort and satisfaction a home-cooked meal can bring us.  If only I could cook like her but that is another chapter for another time, I guess.

Rating:  4/5 (A treat)