Book 88, 2020
Three Treats Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
About 15 minutes ago, I finished reading Three Treats Too Many by Debra H Goldstein. It's the third installment in her "Sarah Blair" mystery series.
While the restaurant owned by Sarah's twin sister, Emily, languishes, awaiting its final inspection, rival Jane's Place opens across the street. Jane is the bimbo whom Sarah's late husband cheated on her with, and the woman who tried to claim custody of Sarah's cat, Rah Rah. Nevertheless, Sarah, Emily, and Emily's boyfriend, Marcus, go to check out Jane's grand opening. Although not a great cook herself, Jane has hired Riley, a sous chef whose vegan dishes are exceptional.
However, when Riley rushes out of the restaurant after her boyfriend of the week, she never returns. Instead, she's found dead outside with her ex (and Sarah's friend), Jacob, hovering over her. Now Jacob is the prime suspect in Riley's murder, and his sister, Anne, wants Sarah to investigate. Sarah would prefer to leave the investigating to the professionals, but her loyalty to Jacob and her own innate curiosity lead her to begin asking questions. She hopes that by finding others who may have wanted Riley dead, she will at least give the police some other suspects to look into.
As they say, curiosity killed the cat, and it must just prove true in Sarah's case as well.
Good story, although not really engrossing. I enjoyed Sarah's sense of humor, and I liked reading about her interactions with her pets (Rah Rah and the puppy, Fluffy). Characters are believable, whether they're likable or not. The plot sort of meandered from point A (the murder) to point B (the resolution), but everything was plausible along the way.
Favorite lines:
♦ Her cat asked so little of her but gave her so much joy.
♦ "...he told me I was a pickle and he didn't like sour tastes."
This really deserves 3.5 stars, but I'll give it 4 as a nod to the series.