First of all, I'd like to thank Ms. Hyzy for giving us a female protagonist who is intelligent, strong, very likable, and most of all, believable! This heroine doesn't stubbornly throw herself in harm's way over and over again because she refuses to listen to reason again and again, causing the reader to want to shake some sense into her. None of that nonsense for Assistant White House Chef Olivia âOllieâ Paras! What a breath of fresh air!

In State of the Onion, the first in a new series, Ms. Hyzy has married a culinary cozy with a spy/thriller novel - two of my favorite mystery subgenres - and she has done it well. We meet Olivia Paras, an assistant chef at the White House who is auditioning for the position of Executive Chef - a position held by Ollie's mentor and friend, Henry Cooley. As she is returning to the White House after picking up Henry's retirement gift, Ollie finds herself caught up in a foot chase between Secret Service agents and an unknown male intruder on the White House lawn. When it appears that Ollie is the only thing standing between the intruder and freedom, she comes out of hiding and wallops him with Henry's gift, an engraved skillet. After a short debriefing, Ollie is happy to leave the matter in the capable hands of her friends, agents Thomas MacKenzie and Craig Sanderson, and the rest of the Secret Service, that is, until she watches a news clip of the incident that evening.

What follows is a veritable smorgasbord of intrigue and fine dining. Ollie witnesses a murder, and to complicate matters, auditioning against her for the executive chef position is Laurel Anne Braun, a master chef with her own TV show who is well known to the White House Staff - having worked there previously as a sous-chef. To say she is a prima donna is putting it mildly, and her antics add a lot of interest and angst to the story.

Ollie's love interest, Secret Service Agent Thomas MacKenzie, is a very likable character who adds tremendously to the overall story line, and his and Ollie's relationship is fleshed out quite nicely without any resemblance whatsoever to a trashy romance novel, so no skimming necessary - thank you very much for that, Ms. Hyzy!

The book has a very satisfying ending that will sate the reader's appetite for happy endings and fair play, while leaving the reader hoping for more. I'll be anxiously awaiting the next installment of White House Chef Ollie Paras et al. Well done, Ms. Hyzy, well done.

C.A.H. 2/29/2008

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'State of the Onion' is an excellent start to a new series. Very fast paced, lots of details about the inner working of the White House kitchen and enough diversity in characters to keep things interesting. I'm looking forward to the next one in this series!

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State of the Onion is the first book in a planned new series to feature Olivia ("Ollie"), a chef in the White House kitchen. Ollie is busy juggling a possible promotion (the head chef is about to retire), a secret boyfriend (who is doublly secret because he is in the Secret Service), and her grief over missing her deceased father when she finds herself embroiled in an international assasination plot!

I enjoyed this book very much. Ollie and the other characters are enjoyable, and this book offers a good mix between humor, romance, and action.

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Excellent read. Looking forward to the author's next book. Recommend

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I really liked this book! The characters were very colorful and the premise was well thought out. Ollie Paras is a chef in the White House and is in line to become the first female Executive Chef in history. But when she gets caught up as an intruder and possible assassin gets onto the White House property just as she is coming in, and ends up being the only one able to stop him...with a frying pan, her chances start to look dim. And when an assassin marks Ollie as well, her promotion is the least of her worries.
There was intrigue and mystery, a little romance, and lost of yummy sounding food.
The recipes sound wonderful and I liked the inside peek at the domestic side of White House life.
I'm looking forward to reading the author's next book!

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I liked the characters. Will continue to read this series. Interesting look at the White House kitchen.

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I really enjoyed this first book in the White House Chef Mystery series by Julie Hyzy. It is well-written and characters are also well-developed. This is a page-turner and a great mystery to start off a series.

When the White House Assistant Chef, Olivia (Ollie) Paras, happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, she witnesses a man who jumps the White House fence and leads the Secret Service on a wild chase which ends right in front of her. The subject tells Olivia that he is trying to warn the president that he is in danger.

Ollie loves her life in the White House kitchen, but her life is now in danger, too, because she has seen the face of an internationally wanted assassin. She's hoping to become the next Executive Chef, but so is another woman who has it in for Ollie, but she just hopes she lives long enough to help prepare for the huge state dinner that is coming up very soon.

An excellent mystery!

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Cute story especially that it focuses on the White House kitchen staff. I think I like this series better than Margaret Truman and Elliott Roosevelt mysteries.

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Love this book; it's fun and well-written!

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