Suki and I are so close. We talk for hours; we talk for hours in real life. Yesterday morning, she came and got into bed with me. It was so cosy. We chatted; we chatted for – I don’t even know for how long.’ No - because, well, it was very simple. I mean, I didn't gues who did it. I was thinking hard together with Prudence and I think that actually I've accused every single character in this book, but in the end I didn't guess, as there was no right motivation to this whole murder thing. A lot of things were falling perfectly into places, people appearing at the right moments, great ideas coming out of the blue. The way it was written and explained, well, I wouldn't guess it in a million year. The other thing is, would I want to guess it? Every single characters has been taken to the table and thoroughly analyzed, only so that we would suspect all of them. Prudence is the Prue Leith I suppose to Deirdre’s Mary Berry, Deirdre got the good telly shows and Prudence got the ones that she did not want but Prudence doesn’t seem to mind as she has made a good life for herself while Deirdre is not very well liked. The main characters were reasonably well crafted, though stereotypes were over played. The granddaughter and Numbers characters stood out as the weakest, the narrator’s voice characterisation of these I also found jarring. Because reading her own real-life story is an eye-opener. If you didn’t know – and she’s an open book about this – Rosemary Shrager’s life hasn’t always been brilliant/amazing/lovely at all.

Her mother, already with three children of her own, adopted a fourth child. ‘There was something wrong with her. She needed the adulation. She had a challenging mental problem. She was born with it; genuinely born with it. I don’t know where it came from. Everybody knew what was going on in our home but nobody could do anything about it. Nobody intervened. Then there’s granddaughter Suki, giving the reader the impression that all teenagers do is get drunk and stay in bed till lunchtime….OK, maybe I’ll park that one for now. The irresistible debut novel from celebrity TV chef Rosemary Shrager where cosy crime and cookery collide! National treasure Rosemary Shrager endeared herself to the nation when she took part in I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! where she proved she could cook just about anything, anywhere. Her most recent tv appearances have been equally well received - Netflix's Best Leftovers Ever!, Cooking with the Stars, where Rosemary mentored Johnny Vegas throughout the series , and Fishing Scotland's Lochs and Rivers for Channel 5. A great yarn – Shrager knows her food and she’s cooked up a storm. Murder is the main course but the side dishes fascinate. A fascinating conclusion – Rosie can write and Prudence Bulstrode is here to stay. I look forward to more in this series.’ Miriam MargolyesShe's staring in the face of a very modern murder. . . Praise for The Last Supper'A great yarn - Shrager knows her food and she's cooked up a storm. A Golden Age classic for the modern era – Rosemary Shrager has come up with a recipe to die for’ Anton Du Beke It was really funny because it was like the lights went out. We lost everything literally overnight. We lost everything… On the train, with her suitcase, she bumped into a local who casually asked where she was going. As if it were an exciting few days away.

Rosemary is one of the most positive and resilient people I know. I love her spirit as I love her cooking. Now, I have to admire her writing too’ Pierre Koffman And Numbers. Irritating name, irritating way of speaking – just irritating all round. In fact I probably preferred the guests and that’s really saying something. Crime/Detective fiction is my favourite genre. Also as a food lover and country dwelled, The Last Supper looked a winning combination for me. Rosemary Shrager has created a welcome addition to the ranks of female amateur sleuths. The Last Supper is a witty, light-hearted mystery, in which the author has served up a tasty treat' Simon Brett I’ve long admired Rosemary as a woman of many talents. I just hadn’t realized that writing is one of them. The Last Supper has pace and style and a very interesting cast of characters’ Richard VinesIt's about to get a sensational present too. Because, the more she scratches beneath the surface of this manor and its guests, the more Prudence becomes certain that Deirdre Shaw's death was no accident. Hers was a childhood of boarding schools, nannies, and a John Nash house in Regent’s Park, with garden cascading down to the old canal. Think bolshy Mrs Beeton meets Miss Marple, our rambunctious heroine, Prudence, hilariously stomps her way through a riotous and unpredictable plot. Witty, warm and so enjoyable' Jo Brand I liked Prudence, and if you have ever seen any of Rosemary Shrager’s programmes then you will most definitely see her personality in Prudence and if I am honest I quite often heard her voice every time the character spoke. She had a no-nonsense approach to everything except when it came to her granddaughter who she clearly loved and at times quite possibly overindulged. Suki is your typical teenager who doesn’t want to take life seriously but despite her initial complaints she seems to quite enjoy spending time with her gran and loves digging into the mystery of the past of Farleigh Manor and the events of the past certainly made things both more interesting and more complicated. It was very cathartic. It was a moment of just saying, ‘I love you’. We’d been through a lot; we’d done all this. All this was incredibly important – memories of the children and fun days; just remembering.

The Last Supper is a charming, hugely entertaining book. Retired chef Prudence Bulstrode is cranky, stubborn and insightful; an utterly brilliant creation. I can't wait to see what she gets up to next' M W Craven

Christmas Gifts

The supporting characters, especially Suki (Prudence's granddaughter), work well together and help to enhance the story when Prudence is brought to Farleigh Manor in light of an old rival's untimely death. Was it natural causes that took Deirdre Shaw's life? Or was murder on the menu? Called in to rescue the shooting party's reunion weekend, and cook up a feast, all is not as it would appear at Farleigh Manor. All this stuff, but we had no love. I tried to take some pills at 14 years old, but not to commit suicide; just to get attention. Another cry for help.’

So, this book. Yes and no. Yes - it was light - hearted, not too demanding and engaging. The characters were sometimes frustrating, sometimes lovely, for a long time I wasn't sure who is who in the Farleigh Manor party to be honest, but it's not a thing that bothered me too much. That – though her novels are beautifully light-of-touch – any murder story by default has to flirt with the fragility of life; the resilience of human beings left behind. The knowledge that, out of the blue, one event can change a life in the blink of an eye. Prudence is only too happy to take up the position and soon she is working in the kitchens of Farleigh Manor. But Farleigh Manor is the home to secrets, both old and new. There are plenty of foodie references without it turning into a cookbook, (although some of the food is mouthwatering in description and if there was a reference section at the end linking to Ms Shrager's cookbooks i'd be very tempted), the murder element is definitely on the 'cosy' side and actually the descriptions of the shooting party's weekend activities are grizzlier than the actual murders themselves. Prudence and her aversion to Suki’s use of modern technology did start to grate after a while and I was wishing she would shut her mouth and open her ears to what Suki was trying to tell her. Suki may have been a bit of a liability at the start with her behaviour but her and her friend Numbers were putting the work in behind the scenes to solve not one but two possible murders.When Deirdre Shaw is found dead in a rhubarb patch at the Cotswolds manor house, Farleigh Manor, near Nutwood St Knowle where she was catering for a prestigious shooting weekend, Prudence gets involved in the investigation after being offered the chance to take Deirdre's place as the caterer.