Stephanie Jane recenzis Add Cyanide To Taste de Karmen Špiljak
A deft culinary noir collection
4 steloj
I'm not sure that I've read any Culinary Noir fiction before, but thanks to Karmen Špiljak's new short story collection, Add Cyanide To Taste, I'm now a firm fan of the genre. Each of the fourteen tales has a foodie theme so, as Špiljak suggests in her introduction, keeping snacks to hand is a good idea. I don't think too many of the tales will ruin your appetite!
My favourite stories included the mystical Three Roses and the poignant The Recipe. In fact, the reveal moment in The Recipe is brilliantly done. I actually gasped out loud. Of course, as the stories are short, there isn't a great deal of space for character development, but I appreciated how well Špiljak captures the essentials in order to make each person feel authentic and believable. I could empathise with Hanneke in Pass The Ketchup and found myself getting quite het up on …
I'm not sure that I've read any Culinary Noir fiction before, but thanks to Karmen Špiljak's new short story collection, Add Cyanide To Taste, I'm now a firm fan of the genre. Each of the fourteen tales has a foodie theme so, as Špiljak suggests in her introduction, keeping snacks to hand is a good idea. I don't think too many of the tales will ruin your appetite!
My favourite stories included the mystical Three Roses and the poignant The Recipe. In fact, the reveal moment in The Recipe is brilliantly done. I actually gasped out loud. Of course, as the stories are short, there isn't a great deal of space for character development, but I appreciated how well Špiljak captures the essentials in order to make each person feel authentic and believable. I could empathise with Hanneke in Pass The Ketchup and found myself getting quite het up on behalf of the unnamed woman at the heart of Let It Rot. Špiljak portrays unsettling atmospheres really well too and that is absolutely the making of Add Cyanide To Taste. Luka Rejec's little illustrations are a lovely touch as is the inclusion of a number of receipes at the end of the book, almost all of which are for dishes mentioned in the stories. I'm looking forward to veganising that courgette strudel!