The Chef Who Died Sauteing is the first mystery in a series featuring Ariel Quigley, a young English professor who is also an Army veteran, a poet, and a psychic detective who reads Tarot cards and talks to ghosts. Early in the book Ariel moves in with her friend Bernice Wise, a psychotherapist with a large Colonial house in Alexandria, Virginia, college-age twins-and a resident ghost from the pre-Civil War era, whose murder Ariel uncovers. Bernice introduces Ariel to the crew at the Riviera, a nearby French restaurant, where the famous chef Daniel Lafayette creates magic with food while the waiters entertain the guests with Monty Python humor. The head waiter takes a shine to Ariel and asks her out. But before their romance can begin to bud, a bombing, a murder, and a suspicious accident occur. Is someone out to destroy the staff of the Riviera? And will Ariel find the killer with the help of the resident ghost?