Ms. Mebel Goes Back on the Chopping Block ⭐⭐⭐💫

Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto



Cute cover but I have to admit, that is not the picture I had in my head of Mebel. This looks more like a Mexican Abuela to me. No offense intended to the cover artist.

G👀dreads About Summary

A nearly divorced housewife enrolls in culinary school to win back her husband, only to start questioning the strange antics of her classmates in this new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.
Retirement should mean long-awaited trips to the sapphire waters of Santorini or careening down a sand dune in Dubai. For sixty-three-year-old Mebel, retirement means her husband of more than forty years announcing that he's leaving her for their private chef. Mebel isn’t sure who's the bigger loss.

Not to worry, Mebel has the perfect plan: she’s going to win back her husband. No one knows what he needs better than her—after all, she's been anticipating his needs their whole marriage. And if he wants a wife who can cook (why else would he leave her for a chef?), she will simply go to cooking school. Luckily, class at the renowned Saint Honoré School of Culinary Arts in France starts in just four days!

However, Mebel quickly realizes that her culinary school is not in illustrious Paris but rather in England—and some small village outside of Oxford no less. Despite the less-than-warm welcome from her much younger classmates, Mebel manages to befriend Gemma, the breakout star of the program, who offers to help Mebel on their first day. When Gemma stops showing up to class, Mebel knows she must figure out what—or who—caused her friend’s sudden disappearance. After all, Mebel may not know the first thing about how to cut a potato, but she certainly knows how to identify a fraud, and there’s definitely something fishy going on.

Genre: Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Humor

The How/Why: Prior to the publishing date (April 2026) it was being heavily advertised on SM. I requested it from NG but was rejected. 😞 They don't indicate why so it could have been because my account was too new, they didn't like my profile or prior JQS reviews, or there were no more ALCs available. Either way, I'm not holding a grudge! 😏

⭐⭐⭐💫 

🎉 Overall Storytelling? 🎉🎉🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣

🗣️Would I recommend it to anyone? Maybe 🤷 If you like humor an a cozy mystery that really isn't a mystery at all.

🕮 Would I want a sequel? No ➖ 

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author? Maybe 🤷 So far my track record with JQS hasn't been great.

  • Dial A for Aunties >here was a DNF for me. Too much slap stick comedy and the Aunties doing juvenile unrealistic things.
  • Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advise for Murderers >here was a 3 Star. I liked Vera and her unfiltered humor. I didn't care for any of the other characters and was not invested in the murder mystery. 
I consulted Librarian Google who felt that if I liked Vera I would most definitely like Mebel. Also indicated that this story is better than the juvenile Aunties. I was convinced to give it a go.

💣💥 📢 Content Warnings? Google says: MiŞoǥyny and SɇxiSm, Sɇxuɐl Hɐrɐssmɇnt

🌶 Spice? No, but Mebel *DID* make a reference to the expression "A way to a man's heart is through is stomach". She said always thought a way to a man's heart with through his PɇniŞ, so now she'll try the stomach. Her new Gen Z friend and classmate tells her to never say PɇniŞ again!

🌪 Plot Twist? Not really, more like a gentle breeze

👟 Pace? Average

💻 Tidbits ~ Mebel prides herself on being a trophy wife. She trained for it her entire life. She enjoys her pampered and luxurious life and her designer wardrobe from her makeup to her toes.
How could her husband possibly run off with the 20-ish year old private chef that SHE hired? She decides to enroll in culinary school convinced that a way to a man heart is through his stomach. She previously thought it was another route but let’s keep this PG-13!

Off she goes to Paris only to find out the school she’s enrolled in is in a small town in England, Oxford adjacent. Take a train and a bus?  This princess has never had to find her way around on her own. “You can do it” she tells herself. She talks to herself a lot providing motivation and determination.

Day 1 in class she shows up in her Hermes custom chef outfit, designer heels and a Birkin on her arm. She quickly learns that you don’t automatically get respect because you are older, as is the way in her country where people automatically respect their elders. She doesn’t like that they call her Mebel instead of Mrs. Tanadi. She certainly didn’t like being called Mebs until she warmed up to it realizing it was a term of endearment rather than disrespect. Hearing the younger generation’s lingo she was very naive with zero street smarts. She is not afraid to ask questions to learn this new vocabulary. She’s starting to get the hang of learning to fit in with her co-students, young enough to be her grandchildren.

This book was all over the place going from divorce drama> turns comedy> turns mystery> turns self-discovery. 
Mebel/Mebs goes from a very subservient trophy princess wife to an independent woman exploring her own wants, needs, and desires. 
Her journey took her from not being able to cut a potato to curating and executing a perfect meal, while trying to solve the mystery of her missing student-partner for the class finale, all while being wooed by a handsome and charming suitor.
Did I mention the course was only two months? 

The dish did sound amazing!

When a millennia writes a boomer with a dash of Gen Z you get a 63 year old who seems substantial older than her years, sometimes exhibiting childlike behavior.
I imagine she gets her influence from her real life Aunties. Maybe they are old souls trying to stay up with the youngsters. 

Side Note: Don't let the genre label Mystery Thriller fool you. It's a low key mystery that doesn't happen until later in the book when her student/partner leaves unannounced. There is no edge of your seat heart racing situation happening that is typically associated with the label. It's barely even a Cozy Mystery.

🎧 Narrator: Eunice Wong

🎧10.0 hours (Libby) 🕮 290 pages

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