In the Kitchen by Monica Ali

The author of Brick Lane' digs beneath the contemporary London's glamorous surface. Hoping to set up his own restaurant with the aid of high society backers, chef Gabe finds that the death of one of his staff draws him into a web of brutal exploitation.

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

'Who ends up in the kitchen, Gabe?' 'Misfits', he said, 'psychos, exiles, culinary artists, and people who just need a job'. "In The Kitchen" is Monica Ali's stunning follow up to Brick Lane. It opens with a mysterious death in the cellars of a smart, cosmopolitan hotel and over the course of the ensuing pages, peels back the layers of polyglot London to reveal the melting pot which exists below. Once again it confirms Monica Ali not only as a great modern storyteller but also an acute observer of the vagaries of a contemporary culture.