Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders: The Neil Flambe Capers #1

Fourteen-year-old wunderchef Neil Flambé can cook anything, and patrons pay top dollar and wait months for reservations at his tiny boutique restaurant. What many of Neil’s patrons don’t know, however, is that he’s also a budding detective, code-named “The Nose.” It all started when he used his knowledge of cooking and his incredible sense of smell to acquit his mother’s client of murder. Now, however, some of the best chefs in town are turning up dead, the cops are stumped, and the crime scenes aren’t helping. The only real clues are a mysterious smell and some equally mysterious notes — in Italian! — that have something to do with the great explorer Marco Polo. As more and more chefs fall prey to the killer, and more and more notes turn up, Neil finds himself working not only to solve the murders, but to eliminate himself as the prime suspect!