The Book of Unholy MIschief

If my copies of The Da Vinci Code and Julia Child's My Life in France had a love child, it would have been The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark. Set in Renaissance Italy, it tries to be a Dan Brown-type thriller. Luciano, a teenage orphan who has been living on the streets, meets the chef to the Doge of Venice and becomes his apprentice. Meanwhile, all Venice is atwitter over a mysterious book said to contain the secrets to eternal youth, love potions, and alchemy. Not surprisingly, the chef knows something about the book, and a network of chefs dedicated to preserving knowledge is uncovered. Like The Da Vinci Code, a juicy secret about Christ is proposed . . . although it is much less juicy than the one in Brown's novel.

While the book strives to be an intriguing thriller, the best-written passages are those describing food. Newmark's father was a chef, and her writing really comes alive when she is describing ripe produce and the melding of flavors in the busy kitchen. I wonder how well researched it is--it seems odd that some of the recipes are still used today, but I suppose it could be accurate. I hope she leaves the historical mysteries to other writers and focuses on food in her next book.

Speaking of Dan Brown, I'm about 50 pages into his latest, The Lost Symbol. It has proved to be very hard to put down--he really is the master of that genre. Don't judge . . . we all need a little brain candy!