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Mark @ Carstairs Consider
, August 02, 2023
(view all comments by Mark @ Carstairs Consider)
When Sally Solari hears about the farm-to-fork fundraiser that the new restaurant in Santa Cruz is hosting, she immediately volunteers to help with the cooking for the event. As a result, she on hand when someone steals one of the auction items – a signed set of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking – killing a member of the restaurant’s staff as well. Can Sally figure out what happened?
The book takes a bit of time setting up the suspects, but it isn’t too long before the body is found and things really pick up. There were several puzzling twists on the way to the satisfying climax. I was anxious to see how Sally’s relationship with her new boyfriend was going to go. I appreciated that their storyline didn’t drag their conflict out too much. The rest of the cast was great; we mostly focus on the suspects, and they kept me guessing. The book touches on the issue of the homeless, and I felt it did a good job of presenting the concerns fairly, which I appreciated. We also dabble a little with the sixth sense in this book, but it didn’t go so far that it bothered me or took this book out of the real world. There are five gourmet recipes at the end to enjoy later. This series was always intended to be a six book series, and if the author does stick with that, fans will be happy with where Sally winds up here.
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