From Publishers Weekly
In her third excursion into culinary crime (after Murder on the Gravy Train and the Agatha-nominated The Butter Did It) Richman throws in the requisite ingredients for a tasty whodunit, but with mixed success. Food editor Chas Wheatley is fuming over the Washington Examiner's latest hire: slick, slimy Ringo Laurenge. He may have the stuff of great reporters, but he also has a knack for annoying just about everyone else on the staff. Chas has been working on a story about America's most expensive restaurants, but she makes the mistake of telling her new colleague about it. She soon discovers that Laurenge is worming himself into a position to take over the story and leave Chas out in the cold. Her best friend, African-American theater critic Sherele Travis, encounters a more vicious side of Laurenge when he brutally assaults her. As Richman goes to tedious lengths to build a damning portrait of the obnoxious reporter, Chas and Sherele delve into Laurenge's past, trying to find some way of spiking his guns. Long after many readers will have given up on ever getting to a dead body, someone on the staff resorts to murder as the solution, when Laurenge dies from apparently lethal Virginia ham served at a work function. Though the author writes with clarity and passion about food, she explores character at the expense of suspense. The anticlimactic solution to the crime comes too late. Most readers will have put the book down and gone in search of food, thanks to the mouth-watering descriptions of the goodies Chas likes to eat. Agent, Bob Barnett. 7-city author tour. (May 3)Forecast: With The Butter Did It to be a CBS-TV Movie of the Week this fall and other film adaptations to follow, Richman should make a delicious leap in sales. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In her third culinary mystery (Murder on the Gravy Train, The Butter Did It), Chas Wheatley, food critic for a Washington, DC newspaper (and amateur sleuth), reels with shock after the paper's new hire, a charming but dangerously ambitious and deceitful young man, tries to put one of her favorite restaurants out of business. Fortunately, Chas, by now knowing the score, goes on the offensive, digs into his past for ammunition, and counterattacks. The man's murder, already foreshadowed, comes as no surprise, nor does the lengthy list of willing suspects. Very nicely written, with plenty of attention to food, character, and motive; an excellent selection. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Count on entering a realm of intrigue and murder in the third of Phyllis Richman's chronicles of "Chas. Wheatley." Exquisite cuisine is the perfect backdrop for the superb plot. Wheatley, a renowned food critic for the WASHINGTON EXAMINER, becomes obsessed with his nemesis, co-worker Ringo Laurenge. Susan O'Malley shows her singular talent by lending seriousness and breadth to Wheatley's character, complete with deft "stage whispers" throughout the narration. Phyllis Richman deserves thumbs up for her serving of an excellent whodunit. M.F.D. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Taking a darker and more textured turn from her previous foodie mysteries (including The Butter Did It, 1997), Richman, recently retired as food critic of the Washington Post, places her heroine, Chas Wheatley, on the staff of the fictional Washington Examiner. Chas, midlife and up-tempo, loves her job as restaurant reviewer; her romance with the paper's investigative reporter; her best friend, the sleek and beautiful theater critic; and her slightly daffy, twentysomething daughter. When a slick young reporter named Ringo oozes into the newsroom and begins to write brilliant stories, Chas tries to keep her wits about her. Ringo charms with one hand while stealing ideas with the other, and the plot is a case study in offhand viciousness--and how hard it is to define and defuse. What with food tidbits, tips on how to run a restaurant, newsroom paraphernalia, and reflections on the tides of friendship between women, the world of the novel is fascinating even without crime. When Ringo is finally done in, we can all breathe a sigh of relief--or can we? GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
An ambitious young reporter with the looks and brains to become a star, new hire Ringo Laurenge is poised for a great future with the Washington Examiner. Too bad most of the staffers -- including Chas Wheatley -- wish the arrogant, back-stabbing creep would get his just desserts. Not only does this egomaniac steal other reporters's stories, he's also determined to destroy a restaurant Chas is researching. Her worries over Ringo have even begun to cut into Chas's love life. It's only a matter of time before the cheesy writer headlines the obituary page. But the insatiably curious Chas -- a journalist with a taste for sleuthing and scoops -- isn't sure she wants to find out which of her colleagues, and the rest of the capital, finally had enough...


About the Author
Phyllis Richman has been the Washington Post food critic for more than twenty-two years. She's the author of the Agatha-nominated Washington bestselling dining books including The Washington Post Dining Guide. She been an award-winning syndicated columnist and food editor and serves on the executive committees of the James Beard Restaurant awards and the Julia Child awards. She lives in Washington, D.C.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The indomitable Chas Wheatley is back, in a tale of restaurants, rivalry, and murder most-hoped-for.

Ringo Laurenge is the new hire at the Washington Examiner, an ambitious young reporter with the looks and the brains to become a star. The trouble is, a few staffers at the Examiner would characterize him as an arrogant and sadistic back-stabbing blowhard who deserves to die. And Chas Wheatley is obsessively, shamefully among them. Her worries over Ringo have even begun to cut into her love life. Not only does this guy steal other reporters' stories, he also has a fascination with power, and is determined to destroy a restaurant that has become the focus of Chas's latest research.

While Ringo runs rampant at the Examiner, plots to crush Chas's friends, and cooks up ways to horn in on her territory, the question becomes not whether he will be taken out, but when and who will finally be driven to do it? For Ringo has made more than one enemy since arriving in town, and in a case like this, Chas isn't even sure she wants to find out which one of them has finally had enough.

For mystery lovers and foodies alike, Who's Afraid of Virginia Ham? is a deliciously wicked whodunit with all the right ingredients, served up by the restaurant and newspaper worlds' consummate insider, Phyllis Richman.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In her third excursion into culinary crime (after Murder on the Gravy Train and the Agatha-nominated The Butter Did It) Richman throws in the requisite ingredients for a tasty whodunit, but with mixed success. Food editor Chas Wheatley is fuming over the Washington Examiner's latest hire: slick, slimy Ringo Laurenge. He may have the stuff of great reporters, but he also has a knack for annoying just about everyone else on the staff. Chas has been working on a story about America's most expensive restaurants, but she makes the mistake of telling her new colleague about it. She soon discovers that Laurenge is worming himself into a position to take over the story and leave Chas out in the cold. Her best friend, African-American theater critic Sherele Travis, encounters a more vicious side of Laurenge when he brutally assaults her. As Richman goes to tedious lengths to build a damning portrait of the obnoxious reporter, Chas and Sherele delve into Laurenge's past, trying to find some way of spiking his guns. Long after many readers will have given up on ever getting to a dead body, someone on the staff resorts to murder as the solution, when Laurenge dies from apparently lethal Virginia ham served at a work function. Though the author writes with clarity and passion about food, she explores character at the expense of suspense. The anticlimactic solution to the crime comes too late. Most readers will have put the book down and gone in search of food, thanks to the mouth-watering descriptions of the goodies Chas likes to eat. Agent, Bob Barnett. 7-city author tour. (May 3) Forecast: With The Butter Did It to be a CBS-TV Movie of the Week this fall and other film adaptations to follow, Richman should make a delicious leap in sales. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal