Great mysterious novel, full of wonderful daily life detail of 1577 Italy, with a focus on food and cooking.

Chef Bartolomeo Scappi, the head cook for the Popes during the 1500's in Rome, dies suddenly and leaves most of his estate to his nephew, apprentice Giovanni Scappi who then steps into the head cook role

Giovanni is given Bartolomeo's cooking knife and a set of keys and is told to destroy what is in the boxes. Giovanni's curiosity gets the better of him and he opens one of the boxes to find his Uncle's journals dating back years, Unfortunately much of the journals are unreadable because they are in codes. Instead of burning the journals, he decides to decipher them to find out what Bartolomeo had been hiding all these years.

Within the notebooks Giovanni begins to see a different person than the kind, loving hardworking uncle he had always looked up to. He discovers Bartolomeo's secrets and even a murder. Bartolomeo, who never married had been carrying on an affair with a woman who was given the pseudonym Stella to hide her true identity. Who could Stella be?

The Chef's Secret is filled with intrigue, suspense, love, deception, and many feasts. The story reads like a juicy soap opera!. Anyone interested in the history of Renaissance life in Italy will be fascinated with the intricate details of the Vatican, the architecture of the day, artwork of the period as well as the massive amount of foods which were consumed during feasts and some of the delicacies' origins.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy. The Chef's Secret will be out on February 12.

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Chef’s Secret” by Crystal King, Atria Books, February 12, 2019

Crystal King, Author of “The Chef’s Secret” has written an intriguing, entertaining, captivating and unique novel. The Genres for this story are Fiction , Historical Fiction with the author’s interpretation, and Romance. The timeline for this story is around the Renaissance and the 16th Century in Italy. The author describes her colorful cast of characters as complex, and complicated.

Bartolomeo Scappi is the first major chef that has served Popes and others in Italy, and also has written a cookbook. Upon his death, he leaves most of his wealth to his nephew and apprentice, Giovanni. Bartolomeo’s last wishes are that Gioavanni burn his papers and journals. Unfortunately, just like Pandoras’ box, Giovanni can’t leave well enough alone, and starts to read his Uncle’s journals and papers. What is inside, is extremely dangerous and can cause devastating consequences to a number of people, including Giovanni. Giovanni also has the threat of his brother and a former apprentice, who both want what Giovanni has inherited.

Crystal King has vividly described many of the feasts and foods and banquets of the time. I appreciate the author’s writing style. There is suspense, mystery, romance, betrayal and loyalty. I would recommend this book for those readers who enjoy the marriage of fiction and history. I received n ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

I received an advanced reading copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Much like her debut novel, Feast of Sorrows, King delights all the senses with this newest release. Her characters are compelling and the food descriptions are breathtaking! King provides us with vivid details into the seemingly mundane chore of cooking for popes and cardinals. There is so much drama surrounding the lives of Scappi and Giovanni that you'll be disappointed when the book ends. A thoroughly enjoyable work that is sure to entertain all who fall in between its covers.

Marvelous historical fiction! From the start engaging and full of adventure. Interesting on many levels; Rennasiance Iltaly, the Vatican, culinary delights, family relationships and intrigue. The story opens with “Barto” recalling the trials of this life;, spanning from young apprentice cook to the Chef for several Popes. It’s the inbetween that is captivating. Forbidden love and the appalling decisions that accompany it. Then we meet his nephew and apprentice Giovanni who is All innocence until he inherits his late Uncles journals. The action never stops and includes numerous twists and turns. This book was hard to put down! Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Net Galley for an advance copy of this book. Crystal King is an authoress to watch.

As a lover of anything Renaissance, I approached this book with high expectations. Wow! I was amazed at the fantastic writing style of Crystal King. I loved this book. I've read about politics, art, religion, even the military actions during this period, but never about the food. Bartolomea Scappi deserves to have had a book written about him long before now. I don't usually enjoy books that alternate between timelines, but it was necessary for the story. I completely enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes food, intrigue, love or Renaissance history.

Thank you to Netgalley and Touchstone for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. What an amazing novel filled with love, mystery, friendship, family, food that will have you salivating, all beside the beautiful sights of Rome. The novel centers around Bartolomeo Scappi, the private chef for the Pope in the 1500's and his nephew Giovanni who starts to discover much about his life after he passes. What a fascinating behind the scenes view into the Vatican and how all the elaborate meals used to be prepared there. You could almost smell the food being prepared and view the surroundings as you were reading - it was so enjoyable! I would highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in the food of Italy and the history behind it.

After the death of his uncle Bartolommeo in 1577 Rome, his nephew Giovanni discovers his uncle's secrets when he finds his journals, including an illicit love affair. Bartolomeo Scappi was a legendary Italian chef to several popes and author of one of the bestselling cookbooks of all time. His nephew, Gio, was his protege and followed in his footsteps after the famous chef's death The setting in Renaissance Italy is rich in history, the plot is also rich in intrigue, passion and rivalries. There are twists and turns everywhere as Scappi's secrets are revealed in his journal! Reading through this book, as a foodie, I found the descriptions of the food and feasts to be sumptuous. These banquets/feasts were for the wealthy and while they were lavish, I much prefer "peasant" food!

The book was interesting, a great read. I would definitely recommend this to any fan of historical fiction. Now I will go to Ms. King's website and try my hand at some of the recipes. I did venture to the author's site and found several recipes that were adapted to today's life and some of which I will certainly venture to attempt.

Retteb.Naht.Angsaal.

My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Crystal King continues her journey through food history with The Chef’s Secret. In her previous book, Feast of Sorrow, she took us back to ancient Rome to explore food at the height of its decadence. In this novel, we visit Renaissance Rome in a story inspired by L’Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi, a chef who served multiple popes.

Giovanni has served as his uncle’s apprentice at the Vatican kitchens since he was a teenager; he loves the man as a father. But as The Chef’s Secret opens, Bartolomeo has succumbed to pneumonia and old age. As Giovanni struggles with his grief and changes in his station, an old friend brings him the keys to Bartolomeo’s strong boxes with instructions to burn everything in them. Bartolomeo had been planning on destroying them before he got ill, but didn’t get a chance. Giovanni, as every good nephew and apprentice does, immediately starts to read the letters and coded journals inside.

In the strongbox documents, Giovanni discovers his uncle’s secret life, secrets that completely undo his understanding of his parentage and his putative uncle. Those secrets lead Giovanni on a wild ride through Rome, Venice, and fifty-odd years of Papal history. This book doesn’t linger on food the way that Feast of Sorrow did, unfortunately, but it does offer plenty of vendettas, scheming, code-breaking, and romance to make up for it.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Set in the 1500's with duo timelines, Giovanni pieces together the details of Scappi’s past and he must contend with two rivals who have joined forces—his brother Cesare and Scappi’s former protégé, Domenico Romoli, who will do anything to get his hands on the late chef’s recipes.


4☆

This book is absolutely wonderful to read. I loved the authors first book and her second is just as good. The one takes place in Italy in the early 1500s and again revolves around sumptuous recipes and meals. There is also a big mystery as well as a love story. I have a new favorite author! It is so fun to read these historical fiction books. I received a complimentary ebook from the publisher in exchange for a review.

I literally devoured this book. I could not get enough of it! The writing was superb, the characters were amazingly complex. I read this book until way past my bedtime. I also read it while making the kids Mac n' Cheese (sorry, kids) and while applying my make up (sorry, eyebrows.) I could not get enough. Rarely does a novel affect me in that way. What a wonderful way to end my year and ring in the new. Crystal King is astounding.

Slight trepidation going on because, you know, food. Just makes me think of all the food shows I’ve watched (never by choice except for the delight that is the Great British Bake Off) and have never enjoyed. In fact the only enjoyable thing about them has always been for me the historical factoids behind the recipes. So I figured maybe it’ll be like that but in a book form. But actually this turned out to be a pleasant surprise in that, while food is mentioned often and in copious amounts and never appetizing (taste buds have certainly changed since those days), the book is indeed a work of historical fiction and the plot has to do with much more than food preparation. It is based on a life of a famous Italian chef of the 1700s and as you’d guess from the title, a life of a secret, or several. Upon his passing it is up to his nephew/apprentice/inheritor to learn these and sometimes quite literally to decipher them from the diaries the man has left behind. Huge invasion of privacy, sure. But in this case it’s somewhat justified by the fact that what the young man uncovers is in every way life changing. The journals chronicle chef’s life and lifelong forbidden love affair with an unnamed princess all set among the gastronomically indulgent who’s who of the era. It’s luxurious, exciting and very romantic, without (kudos to the author) slipping the slippery slope into women’s fiction. The modern portion of the narration is set under the famous comet of the 1577, which makes for a great mood lighting as it were. The diaries cover the decades preceding it. The mysteries and secrets are all pretty exciting. Personally I enjoyed the way the author took a real life person with very limited available biographical data and imagined an entire life for him, often utilizing other real life persons and facts from the era. Pretty clever, albeit occasionally the facts were manipulated to suit the story, wherein arguably the opposite approach would have been more challenging and clever. Either way it was a lovely read, fairly light and plenty entertaining and, unlike The Great British Bake Off, didn’t make me hungry at all. Recommended, especially for fans of historical fiction. Thanks Netgalley.

Bartolomeo Scappi (1500-1577) was the legendary Italian chef to several popes and author of one of the bestselling cookbooks of all time. Not much is known about him. The known facts, such as him dedicating his cookbook to his nephew and apprentice, Giovanni Brioschi, and bequeathing some jewelry to a sister named Catherina, are incorporated into the story. And all the popes he worked for and are involved in this story are true.

After the death of Bartolomeo in 1577 Rome, his nephew discovers Bartolomeo’s story through the letters from a woman named Stella and through Bartolomeo’s journals.

Bartolomeo’s journal begins in 1525 Venice. At the age of 18, he begins his humble journey in the kitchen, working for Cardinal Grimani.

In 1528, he meets “the most beautiful girl in the world.” She is of noble birth. Therefore, he can’t have her, but he can make her long for the food he makes. His creativity in the kitchen arises.

When Stella gets married to cardinal’s brother and moves to Rome, Bartolomeo follows her. In Rome he continues working for cardinals and continues making a name for himself.

As Giovanni unravels his uncle’s story, his own story progresses as well. He follows in his uncle’s footsteps. And not only in the kitchen, but also by meeting the most beautiful woman named Isabetta.

The story involves a lot of intrigue, including poisoning and murders to remove unwanted witnesses. This kind of intrigue reflects the time period and its reality. But it should have a drop less of intrigue. Instead, as it is a story of a chef and his creations, it should involve two important senses of smell and taste by bringing stories of making different dishes. There are mentions of menus, which were prepared for feasts, but they do not awake those two important senses, which are vital when it comes to food.

Overall, it is an engaging story and it is always interesting to learn about a lesser-known person who made a mark in history.

The beginning of The Chef's Secret starts a bit slowly, or maybe I was just disappointed that it wasn't set in ancient Rome like Feast of Sorrow. (I didn't read the NetGalley blurb, I just saw by Crystal King and immediately requested it.) But I like medieval Italy too, with all the dramatic poisonings and vendetta, and this is exactly that style of drama.

Kitchen apprentice Giovanni isn't too surprised to inherit his Uncle Bartolomeo's kitchen tools and recipe books.  But he's shocked to see how much money his uncle the chef has left him, and he's also been left the guardian of several coded diaries that Bartolomeo wants burned. 

Naturally, Giovanni doesn't burn any of his uncle's journals. and that leads him down a path of forbidden romance, theft, secret children, kidnapping, revenge, and lots of murder. The story of Bartolomeo's youth starts out with a sweet crush on an unattainable noblewoman, which blossoms into secret romance, and grows more and more dramatic, until a pope gets murdered in cold blood, and I was basically reading and nodding along, like yeah, that'll happen.  Gotta watch out for secret chambers and poison rings. Gotta watch out for generations of vendetta.

Despite the rising body count, the novel's not gross, though. Sometimes I can't handle thrillers because I don't like when people's internal organs are on the outside (which is quite a reasonable standard for entertainment, although slightly awkward for the wife of a horror writer). This book had a lot of tension (POISON AND VENDETTA!!!) without being gory, and the tension never came from my fear that the story was about to turn gory.  

You'll need a snack, or five, while you read this. Crystal King describes Giovanni and Bartolomeo's dishes with delicious details. Overall, this is a solid page-turner, with warm and believable characters, set just down the hall from the histories of the popes.

I really enjoyed this well written , fast paced historical novel set in renaissance Italy. Long on romance, delicious food and intrigue it is highly recommended, especially for those who like old school romantic historical fiction

Historical fiction at its best a time a place Renaissance Italy the lushness the romance the food.This is the first book I’ve read by Crystal King looking foward to many more.#netgalley #touchstone

This is my first time reading Crystal King, but hopefully not my last. The Chef's Secret is a book of lavishly designed fiction, merging real world and imagination. The book engages from its first line and serves as a fine example of historical fiction. A journey in fiction well worth the time and cover price.

I was truly looking forward to reading this novel but I felt like I truly could not connect with the storyline or this book. I just had to put it down.