Book Review Murder in the Generative Kitchen

Title: Murder in the Generative Kitchen
Author: Meg Pontecorvo
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

With the Vacation Jury Duty system, jurors can lounge on a comfortable beach while watching the trial via virtual reality. Julio is loving the beach, as well as the views of a curvy fellow juror with a rainbow-lacquered skin modification who seems to be the exact opposite of his recent ex-girlfriend back in Chicago. Because of jury sequestration rules, they can’t talk to each other at all, or else they’ll have to pay full price for this Acapulco vacation. Still, Julio is desperate to catch her attention. But while he struts and tries to catch her eye, he also becomes fascinated by the trial at hand.

 At first it seemed a foregone conclusion that the woman on trial used a high-tech generative kitchen to feed her husband a poisonous meal, but the more evidence mounts, the more Julio starts to suspect the kitchen may have made the decision on its own.

Murder in the Generative Kitchen has got to be one of the most original scifi books I’ve ever read. First, imagine it’s not a perosn who kills another person – it’s a kitchen. Then, jury duty basically being a beach holiday where you watch the trial via virtual reality. Suddenly jury duty sounds a lot more interesting, doesn’t it? That’s what happens to Julio, who after a bad break-up with his girlfriend, finds himself interested in one of his fellow jurors. But talking to her is strictly forbidden.

The question on whether the kitchen did the killing, or the person did, was what intrigued me the most about this book. The characters were well-developed, in particular Julio, and the writing was engaging. An intriguing view on a high-tech, futuristic world.

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