Too Many Women in the Room (A Gilda Greco Mystery)

Gilda Greco may have won the lottery, but she will never be the kind of woman to sit idle. Her newest investment venture, a Greek restaurant called Xenia, seems to be a dream come true, given the expertise of owner and head chef, David Korba. Gilda plans to let her best friends in on the secret she's been keeping at an exclusive dinner party scheduled close to the restaurant’s opening date. But when David invites sleazy photographer Michael Taylor, who has managed to wrong each of the eight women at the party, the whole night falls apart from the ensuing fighting. Even worse, Michael is found dead the next day, stabbed to death by a kitchen knife from Xenia. Can Gilda help detective boyfriend, Carlo, solve the case?

Readers from Ontario will delight in the nod the author gives to the many Canadian locales in this well-written mystery. Gilda’s methodical voice and detail-oriented mind offer a tale which far exceeds the bare bones of storytelling convention, offering the reader well-rounded characters and a narrative that doesn’t skimp on the details. The mystery relies much more on the exploration of each suspect’s motive, rather than a collection of clues, and each instance is thoroughly explored. Some readers may find the excessive focus on Gilda’s day job at her ReCareering Office drags down the pace of the murder investigation, and members of the Goth subculture may feel a tad vilified, but all in all, the novel delivers a well-executed mystery full of characters with which readers will enjoy becoming acquainted.

Claudette Melanson