Neil Flambe and the Duel in the Desert: Volume 6

Neil, the flamboyant, irrepressible chef (Kirkus Reviews), hits the road in his food truck and drives right into a new case in the sixth book in The Neil Flambe Capers, the culinary mystery series celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey calls good fun. Neil has lost his beloved restaurant. Though he misses it dearly, he and his friend Larry are headed on a new adventure. They are travelling to the Salsa Verde ranch in Arizona with their new food truck to participate in the legendary food truck gathering, the Broiling Man Festival. Once he arrives, Neil discovers that the Verde ranch is in danger of foreclosure, at the mercy of a developer who wants to turn it into housing and a factory farm. The only hope for the ranch is a treasure map left behind by the very first Verde, a chef who discovered a mine while escaping from a murderous army colonel. Neil and Larry are on a quest to find the treasure, but each time they think they’re close to finding something, they come up with nothing. Will the boys find the mine–and the treasure–in time to save Salsa Verde ranch?