THE FAT CHEF

As many of you know, I love to read books that are set during WWII. My Father was in the army and left for the European theater several days after I was born. He came home when I was three years old. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, but came home uninjured. He was a very quiet man after the war and never talked about his experiences. Reading about the war has helped me to understand him better. What a horrible war... man's inhumanity to man within the framework of the war was beyond horrid.

 

The Fat Chef caught my attention with it's unusual title for a WWII novel. It takes place in Paris, one of the cities my father spent time during the war. I downloaded it and dove in anyway. Our bitter

cold days have provided time for a lot of reading.

 

In 1940, Paris falls to the occupying Germans. Raoul, Head Chef of Le Metro, the top hotel of Paris, is nonchalant. After all, he need only wait for Pétain to make peace, and everything will return to normal. Then he can get on with life, and admire his demi-sous chef, Natalie, with unrequited love.

But matters soon change. When the Germans begin to cut out the Jewish staff, he hides the refugees everywhere he can in the sprawling hotel. In the end, even the wine cellar is occupied. On the night of a big German military banquet, an SD officer discovers Natalie still working in the kitchens. Raoul, in a moment of panic, kills the officer with a cast-iron frying pan. But where to dispose of the body? Forced into action, Raoul discovers that he has more strengths than his béchamel sauce.

The Fat Chef is from popular novelist Fredrik Nath, author of The Cyclist, Francesca Pascal and the Roman 'Galdir' saga. The Fat Chef is also part of a series.

 

It's a quick read and I'm enjoying it. It's sort of a WWII cozy mystery.

 

Make this a great day!

 

Joni