California Restaurant Scene

Sally Solari gives up her law practice to return home to help her father run the family restaurant in Leslie Karst's Dying for a Taste. Managing the front of the house is hardly a challenging job, but when Sally's aunt Letta is found murdered in her own restaurant, Sally is thrust into managing Gauguin and dealing with her father. With the sous chef under suspicion, the mission complicates itself.

Sally must clear her chef to keep the restaurant open, but what she learns about her somewhat secretive aunt leads her to more secrets. As Sally is reviewing the books for her aunt's restaurant she stumbles across an old photo of a woman and two threatening letters addressed to her aunt.

The letters threaten violence if Letta does not stop using factory-farmed chicken and other mass produced meats. Sally also finds invoices for fresh produce ordered from Bolinas Farm, 100 miles from Santa Cruz. What is behind this odd behavior? Who is the woman in the photo and what is her connection to Letta?

When Javier is arrested, Sally steps up her investigation to clear him so he can remain as chef of Gauguin and she can appease her father by continuing to work at Solari.

I enjoyed this book and the characters very much although I worry about a young woman in her 30s experience hot flashes and symptoms of menopause, as Sally does. The solution leads the reader in different directions before it is solved and I enjoyed the chase.

The next book in the series is A Measure of Murder.