Two Bites Too Many

All their lives, it has been their mother guiding them through to adulthood. Now Sarah and Emily Blair have become "the Parent" as they try to clear their mother of murder.  In Two Bites Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein, Maybelle is found with blood on her hands leaning over the body of the bank president. (Two Bites Too Many was published by Kensington Books on September 24.)

That's bad enough, but Lance Knowlton had just rejected  Emily's plans for a bridge loan to remodel her burned out restaurant and also open an upscale one in Sarah's vintage house. Lance claims his loan officer Bailey turned them down, even though Maybelle had guaranteed the loan. 

As they are leaving Lance's office another angry bank client tries to force his way into the office. It seems Lance and Bailey had called Cliff's loan for no apparent reason, angering him as well as Maybelle. 

When Lance is found dead in his office, there are plenty of suspects but none as apparent as Maybelle. While trying to clear her mother, Sarah discovers some interesting facts about Cliff, Thomas and her neighbor George Rogers that might make them all suspects. While Emily waits for her loan to be approved for the restaurant repairs, she unwisely decides to work as a chef for Thomas Howell at his Birmingham Howellian luxury hotel. Sarah warns her not to do it because she believes the hotel's restaurant might be competition for Southwinds and Emily's association with both might be confusing. 

Debra H. Goldstein has written another witty, charming mystery featuring her intrepid amateur sleuth Sarah Blair. 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

One Taste Too Many

Sarah Blair is newly divorced and she has traded her luxury lifestyle for a cramped apartment and a receptionist job in a law office. In One Taste Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein, the only thing Sarah has to show for her 10-year marriage is a Siamese cat named Rahrah.

Although she wasn't that keen on cats, Rahrah has grown on her and keeps her company. When Sarah's twin sister Emily calls with some dreadful news, Sarah rushes to her side. It seems Bill, Sarah's ex-husband, was found dead at the trade show where Emily was working. Worse still it appears he died from eating a rhubarb tart made by Emily.

Sarah knows this isn't possible because Bill never ate Emily's rhubarb tart because she added nuts and he never ate anything with nuts in it. Of course, there is some doubt about Emily as she and Bill were in the Food Expo center at midnight.

A wild card in the drama is Bill's newest girlfriend Jane who seems all of a sudden to be desperate to

own Rahrah. While the police investigate, Sarah finds herself in the midst of a legal battle for control of the cat and possibly a suspect in his murder. She also learns that Bill had a partnership interest in Chef Marcus' restaurant, the one in which Emily worked. This seems to make the police suspect Emily even more.

Emily asks Sarah to fill in for her at the Expo booth, but Sarah knows she isn't the least bit skilled with food prep. What ensues is a hilarious comedy routine that keeps everyone laughing while Sarah tries to clear Emily and herself from Bill's murder, and get her cat back.

This is the first in a new series by Debra H. Goldstein, but you can bet Sarah will not be able to stay out of trouble in the next book.

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