Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Tart of Darkness

  • The Chef-to-Go Mysteries, Book 1
  • By: Denise Swanson
  • Narrated by: Melissa Moran
  • Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (218 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Tart of Darkness

By: Denise Swanson
Narrated by: Melissa Moran
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Right when Dani thinks she's hit a dead-end in her career, she unexpectedly inherits an enormous old house in a quaint college town. This gives her the perfect opportunity to pursue her true passion - cooking! So Dani opens Chef-to-Go, preparing delicious, ready-made meals for hungry students attending the nearby university, as well as providing personal chef services and catering events for the local community. To help support her new business, she opens her home to a few students, renting them rooms and becoming almost like a big sister figure in their lives.

But just as Dani is relishing her sweet new life, the friend of one of her boarders is murdered, and Dani becomes one of the primary suspects! She'll have to scramble to clear her name and save her business before the killer reappears - perhaps to silence the new chef forever.

©2018 Denise Swanson (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Dead in the Water cover art
The Zion Sawyer Cozy Mystery Box Set cover art
Sleuthing for a Living cover art
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 cover art
Murder Is Binding cover art
The Path of the Crooked cover art
Party Crashers cover art
Brownies & Betrayal cover art
Shades of Pink cover art
Armed and Fabulous cover art
Center Stage cover art
Dying for a Date cover art
Eat, Pray, Die cover art
Iced: A Resort to Murder Mystery cover art
A High-End Finish cover art
Misadventures of the Laundry Hag Box Set: Books 1-4 cover art

What listeners say about Tart of Darkness

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    112
  • 4 Stars
    51
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    114
  • 4 Stars
    51
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    9
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    102
  • 4 Stars
    43
  • 3 Stars
    37
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    11

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Easy listening

Quite easy to listen too, not Earth shatteringly gripping but just enough of a story to enjoy driving with it in the background

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A bit long for what it is

I did listen to the end as wanted to know, but it should be 3-4 hours max really… I kept wanting to fast forward the ‘fluff’ A bit like skim reading. Still 100000 times better than what I’ve done though!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Better than expected

I would not have chosen this title if it had not been included with Audible. The plot was familiar: a young woman changes her corporate career for one in catering, becomes involved with a policeman, helps to solve a crime, both are reluctant to take a relationship beyond friendship because of past hurts. There is a mixture of nice and nasty characters. The ending is abrupt signalling that there is a sequel. There is a reasonable amount of menace. The main storyline isn't too unrealistic. The pace is good but too much repetition of the feelings of the main characters and too many deep breaths. It is well read, easy on the ear. The one thing missing is a cat or dog or house rabbit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

enjoyable listen

I really enjoyed this story, I almost passed on it from some of the reviews talking about the narrator being hard to listen to but I found completely the opposite, her telling of the story was very good and easy to listen to.
the story itself was an easy well paced whodunnit which is a genre a really like so I'm happy this and the next in the series are included in the plus catalogue, it's hard to find good books included, so happy I gave this a try regardless of other people's opinions

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Spoilt by strange reading

The story is entertaining enough but the reader has a weird intonation that spoilt it for me. plus, she clearly was reading it for the first time and there were several spots where she emphasised the wrong word and totally changed the meaning. Irritating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but gauche

The idea was fun, lightweight fluff, easy to read. I enjoyed the narration.
Story was a bit draggy- felt more like setting up a series.
The links to other characters and places were appreciated.
The occasional lapse into penny romance territory spoiled this for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

lovely story very different

loved the story line very different the food being prepared made me hungry at times, will definitely be reading another of her books. voiceovers was great as well

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Sweet Mystery of Life

Sad little story of a rich girl who didn't deserve her fate set in a University town

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

twists

Not a fan of the narrator, but enjoyed the story. good characters throughout. Enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Sweet not tart

I enjoyed this book. This is the first book by this author I have read or listened to but it won't be my last, in fact I have already downloaded the next book. The reason is because I liked the characters, especially the teenage sidekicks when they stood up against the bullying detective, the author had me hoping the killer wouldn't turn out to be one of them. The idea to set the book in a college town worked well. I also liked the budding romance between the main character and the police detective uncle, it added a sparks of drama and sweetness. The mystery was good but did get a bit slow in the middle as the catering side took off and we were told the food she was cooking. There was plenty of suspects and even a few side stories going so it quickly took off again. Off to start the next book.
Dani has to make some drastic life changes and when she inherits a mansion she is finally able to quit the job that was sucking the life out of her and follow her dream. To start her own catering firm and with the mansion she is even in the position to help out her collage friends when they get kicked out of there lodging and for room and board they even offer to help with the work. The only downside is that one of the teenagers uncle with be checking in on them every week. As Dani's reputation gross so does her business and she soon finds herself catering to the rich. One of the rich and spoiled teenager is found dead after a party Dani had catered, the same party she was fired from. The police detective in charge seems to have a grudge against Dani and is determined to get her to confess. The uncle is called and although he is only the head of campus security he still has friends and connections with the police force. Can be keep Dani and her young charges out of jail? Only if Dani and a nosey reporter join him in finding the real killer.
I liked the narrator. She used a wide range of voices for the characters making the story easy to follow along with.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!