Book Bites

Irna van Zyl, Penguin, R230

Death Cup ★★★ A notoriously waspish food blogger drops dead in a Hermanus restaurant. The fatal meal was made with the toxic death cap mushroom. Van Zyl’s detective Storm van der Merwe has to unravel the mystery while coping with the usual afflictions suffered by fictional cops the world over: troublesome bosses, irritating colleagues and lacklustre love interests. It makes for an adequate meal, but one that could do with just a touch more spice.