Skip Moore and James Lessor were pulled into a murder case when an old friend of Emily’s, Skip’s girlfriend, was found murdered in the alley behind L’Elfe restaurant. Amanda Wright was a sous-chef who had just been promoted to a head chef position in a plush South Beach restaurant until someone stabbed her to death with a kitchen knife.

The owner and head chef of L’Elfe hired James to go undercover at the restaurant as Amanda’s replacement to see if he could find out who might have killed the up and coming young chef. When the restaurants dishwasher didn’t show up for work, James talked Skip into helping out, against Skips adamant protests.

As the two friends sought the murderer and dodged danger, Emily also looked for clues as she started working closely with the detective on the case; a little too closely according to Skip. They also found out that there was a secret between Amanda and Emily from the distant past that played more of a role in the recent murder than anyone thought possible.

The guys soon find themselves targets as someone tries to end their involvement in the restaurant and as detectives. They also find out that the growing list of possible suspects includes the lowest dishwasher on staff all the way up to the owners themselves.

Hot Stuff is the sixth mystery in the Stuff Series written by Don Bruns. The adventures of Skip and James continue to entertain readers as they attempt to open their own detective agency. The want-to-be detectives have learned a lot since their first case, and are not as bumbling as they used to be.

That said, they still have a ways to go before they can be considered professionals. In the meantime they are a lot of fun to watch as they work their way through clues and get tangled up with the wrong element.

Bruns has shown a growth in their character and their dedication to success over the run of the series, although they are not yet ready for the big time. It has been enjoyable to see how they have matured.

Hot Stuff is also the best written of the books so far, and fans of the series will certainly enjoy this story while looking forward to the next case.

A special thank you goes to Oceanview Publishing for providing a complimentary copy of Hot Stuff for our review. If you are interested in purchasing any of the books in the Stuff Series, they are available at Amazon.com.