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Description
Cranky Mary Ryan has sunk a lot of time and talent into the American Fare, San Francisco’s hottest spot, while grieving over her broken marriage. At work very early, she steps on a laundry bag stuffed with the dead body of one of her employees. The investigation soon exposes all the dirty secrets that the food business would like to keep secret: the philandering chefs, the silly whims of the dining public, the hiring of illegal aliens, and the subsistence-living pay scale. Events begin to spiral that in time take out the restaurant’s celebrity chef and force Mary to use her unique skills to uncover a poisonous scheme. Beat Until Stiff is the first book in the Mary Ryan series.
2003 Booksense Pick and nominated for 2003 Agatha Award for best first novel.
Reviews
"Mary Ryan, feisty pastry chef at American Fare, a trendy San Francisco restaurant, finds murder on the menu in Johnson's delicious debut, which mixes an unglamorized, behind-the-scenes view of the upscale restaurant trade with a plot replete with well-timed shocks. Horrified to discover the battered body of one of her El Salvadoran employees stuffed in a laundry bag on arriving for work early one morning, Mary debates whether to call her ex-husband, Jim, a homicide detective with SFPD. As it turns out, Jim's former partner, Inspector O'Connor, takes on the case. Lonely and emotionally fragile in the wake of Jim's leaving her, Mary comes to rely on the tough, bullying O'Connor, whose job is on the line, as more than just a friend, while innate curiosity and love of justice propel her to investigate the crime and into grave danger.
The down-to-earth Mary, with her keen sense of humor, casts a sharp eye on the novel's flashier characters: American Fare's showman of an owner, an egotistical chef, the suave maitre'd in charge of the wine, the designer-clad, social-climbing manager. Assorted wives and mistresses, immigrants and a high-profile lawyer fill out the bill of fare. The restaurant business--its food, financing and philosophy--is here in all its complexity for discriminating mystery palates." --Publishers Weekly
"Claire M. Johnson's Beat Until Stiff deserves enthusiastic mention as a very special title which offers an unusually frank view of the cooking and restaurant scene in San Francisco. Herself a professional and experienced pastry chef, Claire Johnson presents the reader with a lively style that mixes autobiography with culinary and social insights. Highly recommended!" --Midwest Book Review
"Willy nilly, Johnson takes you there in a fast and furious place, often reminiscent of the theatrical ditto, complete with Hamlets and Greek choruses and magicians who don't quite get it right. Not only is this a treat; I read it through twice to make sure it was as good as I thought." -- Marilis Hornidge, The Courier-Gazette