Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496719485
Kensington Publishing
340 Pages
$7.19; $6.83 Amazon
September 24, 2019
⭐⭐⭐
Things are finally looking up for Sarah Blair following her unsavory divorce. Settled into a cozy carriage house with her sassy Siamese cat, RahRah, she has somehow managed to hang on to her modest law firm receptionist job and -- if befriending flea-bitten strays at the local animal shelter counts -- lead a thriving social life. For once, Sarah almost has it together more than her enterprising twin, Emily, a professional chef whose efforts to open a gourmet restaurant have hit a real dead end...
When the president of the town bank and city council is murdered after icing Emily's business plans, all eyes are on the one person who left the scene with blood on her hands -- the Blair girls' sharp-tongued mother, Maybelle. Determined to get her mom off the hook ASAP, Sarah must collect the ingredients of a deadly crime to bring the true culprit to justice. But as neighbors turn against her family, can she pare down the suspects before another victim lands on the chopping block?
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Sarah Blair's mother, Maybelle, is going to the bank to tell the president that her daughter Emily's business plan needs to be accepted -- after being rejected for a loan once -- and demands that her daughter Sarah Blair go with her. Sarah doesn't want to, but Maybelle wants to use her as leverage, since Sarah is caretaker of Siamese cat RahRah, a very wealthy customer (which was explained in the first book). When they see Lance Knowlton, there's a slight argument, but then he assures them that the loan should have been approved and he will see to it before the council meeting he is to attend that morning.
But he never does so, because after they leave, Maybelle tells Sarah she's going to make sure he signs the papers, and when Sarah returns, she discovers that her mother found Lance slumped over his desk, and he's been killed. The police chief (acting) decides that Maybelle must be the killer, but since he doesn't have enough proof to bring her to trial yet, she's allowed to leave. Sarah is determined that her mother isn't going to be railroaded for a crime she didn't commit.
Along with this, she's trying to convince her twin Emily, who's a chef, not to take a temporary job with Thomas Howell, as she thinks Emily will be used; but Emily tells Sarah she needs the money for repairs on her new pub that is to open soon; also, Sarah's neighbor Mr. Rogers is having troubles of his own -- one of his nephews is trying to put him in a retirement home; and Sarah's late ex-husband's girlfriend, Jane, wants to open a restaurant near Emily's -- and Sarah can't stand the woman. On top of everything else, she has a charity function for the animal shelter that she's trying to coordinate, which is only bringing more problems along the way. But her main concern is Maybelle -- if Sarah doesn't find out who had a better motive, the sheriff is going to put her away for good...
This is the second book in the series, but even though it can be read as a standalone, I suggest you read the first one because it really doesn't explain everything about Jane and why Sarah dislikes her so much. However, the mystery was fairly decent, giving us enough suspects to sift through and try to decide the guilty party.
I do wonder, though, how Emily can be so clueless while her twin can see beyond the surface of things. You'd think she'd at least listen to Sarah instead of blowing her off entirely. Of all the characters, I like Maybelle the most -- she's not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for what she believes in. Her two daughters seem to have a little less backbone.
When the murderer is discovered, it wasn't really a surprise, since the clues were leading toward this person throughout the book; but I did find the climax interesting nonetheless. It was done a bit differently, and the reason for the murder was something a bit different, too.
But the reason I only gave it three stars was because of the very ending itself. Now, for those of you who haven't read the book, I'm not going to ruin it. I will hide this below so you can only read it if you want to:
https://www.amazon.com/Bites-Many-Sarah-Blair-Mystery/dp/1496719484/ref=
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3227010037
More on Debra H. Goldstein's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/debra-h-goldstein/
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