3.5 out of 5 
AL DENTE’S INFERNO is the first in the new Tuscan Cooking School Mystery series by Stephanie Cole. I love the premise of this cozy mystery in which the protagonist, Nell Valenti, packs up and moves to Tuscany to help establish a cooking school for a famous Italian chef. The author provides lovely descriptions of the country and its delightful food, enticing the reader to visit. Ms. Cole also inserts pockets of humorous moments plus dialog that zings with laugh-out-loud repartee. There are several well-developed characters that keep the reader entertained with their antics. And the mystery itself is well thought out with suspects to keep the reader guessing. Al Dente’s Inferno has all the ingredients for a great read but somehow falls a bit short with the overuse of the Italian language, especially where the phrases aren’t translated or the meaning isn’t obvious. While the use of foreign language may add a feeling of authenticity to the setting, for me it slowed the pace of the story down too much. I’ll definitely try the second book in the series when it’s released with the hope that the flow will be better.

I was provided an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I adored Chef Nell Valentini! She travels to Tuscany Italy to help Chef Claudio fix his image. When she gets there though she is quite surprised by the run down villa and the fact that Chef Claudio has forgotten basically how to cook. Cozy mysteries never fail to amaze me with their creativity and this one didn't disappoint. I can't wait to snag a physical copy! I appreciated the recipes included and I enjoyed the characters. I will say, the mystery is slightly weak, I figured it out about 45% into the story but I think it's a great first book and I'm looking forward to more!

3.75 stars

A debut mystery by Waiting for God actress Stephanie Cole. The main character is a chef with celebrity  pop psych parents (think Dr. Phil). Nell has flown to Tuscany to help set up a cooking school at one of her chef/role model/hero's Italian estate.

Things aren't exactly as they seem -- the estate AND the chef are a little tired around the edges, and to add insult, she finds out that an ex-boyfriend is arriving any minute to shoot footage for a documentary.

But she is drawn to the beautiful Tuscan countryside, the quirky but appealing cast of characters at the villa, and also perhaps to the chef's handsome and kind son. Nell must hit the ground running, and she and the crew are able to magically transform the villa for a spectacular dinner to present the idea of a cooking school. All goes well until the chef disappears before the main course and the filmmaker is found dead by the fountain.

I found the beginning a little awkward and under-edited, but the narrative flowed smoothly and I was soon drawn into the story and the characters. I would happily read another to catch up with Nell and her co-horts. Thanks to Net Galley and to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A great start to a new series!
Likable and realistic characters, a fantastic setting, a story so good it keeps you turning the pages. And the food!
This is one book that's not to be missed.

This is a cozy mystery series I've really been looking forward to reading. I don't think I've ran across Tuscany or cooking schools as settings for any mysteries, yet, and both had me very intrigued. However, while parts of the book I enjoyed, overall I was left wanting more.

The setting was fairly well described and was a nice change of scenery from my usual American and British cozies I usually read. It came complete with descriptions of small villages, Vespas, and groves of olives.

The characters were decently described where the main characters were concerned. Nell, Pete, and Rosemarie (Chef's assistant) seemed realistic and likable. The character of Chef Orlandini was slightly less developed since he was absent for a large part of the story line. Perhaps he will be a larger character in subsequent books. There were a group of nuns that seemed to play a decent role in the story, yet they were difficult to distinguish from each other. This was unfortunate simply because if there had been more characters that the reader could get to know the murderer wouldn't have been so easy to identify so early in the story.

The reason I gave the mystery novel a 3 star was I simply didn't enjoy the writing style. The author added quite a bit of Italian phrases, and at times entire sentences, often without subtly letting the reader know what was being said. After the first chapter or two this began to get tedious and I started not caring what was said enough to look up the meanings. Also, the book is fraught with cliches. TONS and TONS of cliches. I won't begin to suppose why the author did this, but I suspect it might be to inject humor into the story. I love a snarky main character, but this was just too much. Between the two of these, the book lacked a consistent flow to the story which made the book disjointed.

If you’re looking for a new culinary mystery series, you may want to pick up the first installment of the Tuscan Cooking School Mysteries by Stephanie Cole. The first book, Al Dente’s Inferno introduces Nell Valenti, whose career as a professional chef, as well as her love life are not the best, so she jumps at the chance to move to Tuscany and transform an old villa into a state-of-the art cooking school for a world-renowned chef, Claudio Orlandini. Nell learns that her previous boyfriend has also come to Tuscany to film what is going on at the villa. Unfortunately, he is murdered, and since the chef is the number one suspect, Nell must find the real murderer or she’ll be out of a job.

Cole’s good storytelling skills are evident in this novel, and while introducing characters, she does a good job of developing them into believable people. Nell’s command of the Italian language isn’t very good, but she’s saved by Orlandini’s son, Pete, who was educated in America and has excellent English. There are dozens of Italian phrases throughout, which are translated the first time they are used, but then when used again, readers are expected to remember what they mean; this may be helpful to some, but confusing to others. Italian isn’t the easiest language to master, and the way it’s used in this novel may make it difficult for some readers to understand. There are mouthwatering references to food throughout the novel, but the recipe at the end isn’t for any of the ones made famous by Chef Orlandini and isn’t the one that the readers most likely want (most readers actually want several recipes). 

All told, this is a cute series with a likeable protagonist. Fans of culinary mysteries will enjoy this new series, and will anticipate the next installment. 

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This debut cozy Mystery has a nice Tuscan, Italy setting in a vineyard. When Chef Nell Valenti moves there from the U.S. to help revive Italian Chef Claudio’s image, she’s unprepared to find a rundown old villa and a Chef who forgets how to cook.

I figured out the murderer before halfway through the story so the mystery is somewhat weak. While I feel some of the characters were people I could grow to like; the frequent use of foreign language was difficult for me to understand. There is some humor sprinkled throughout which I enjoyed. Overall, I simply had problems connecting to the storyline and characters. Recipes included.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishers for an honest review. Thank you.

A solid cozy mystery, perfect for anyone who loves food or travel to curl up with.  The scenes of the Italian countryside were absolutely wonderful, and the characters were delightful.  Can't wait to read the next installation in the series.

Interesting premise with good mixture of unique and expected character types within a culinary mystery set in Italy. Will look forward to the next one!

This story had more cliches in it than you can shake a stick at. 

A cozy mystery involving a murder by bludgeoning. The victim was Nell's former boyfriend. There were a lot of Italian phrases in the conversation and descriptions and often there was not a translation. One has to guess at what was being said or meant. Nell plans to start a cooking school here, with the aid of the owner, a world famous chef. There is, of course, a hunky son of the chef, Pete, but that relationship just kind of hangs there.  It comes together at the end, but the action was not always clear.

This is a GOOD start to a brand new cozy mystery series and I am looking forward to the next one in the series. While there were a few little things that bothered me about this book, I think as a whole it's a good story. Readers who are looking for a brand new mystery series to start may want to try this one! I love how it's set in Italy!

I liked the storyline and the characters of this book, but I was confused several times by the analogies and the action. I think the tone the author was going for was a bit of a lighthearted, cozy mystery (as light hearted as murder by bludgeoning can be, that is), but a little more background information would have been helpful, especially of the main character. It comes together at the end, but the action was not always clear - the language barrier, the description of the location, even why the main character, Nell, acts and reacts to the action in the story; I was never quite certain why she automatically decided she would leave the villa as soon as she arrived, and I was not quite clear at first that her attraction to Pete was genuine. It was also not quite clear the details of Bu and Nell's relationship, and I was a little hard pressed to understand her attraction to him, or even the depth of his personality; he was a corpse, but it was hard to gather empathy for him or his death. Despite a bit of confusion, I did end up liking the story, and am glad for a chance to read and review it.

This is a delightful beginning to a new cozy mystery series set in Tuscany with an American chef who is hired to establish a cooking school.  Cooking, romance, murder and Tuscany---what is not to love?