Restaurant Weeks are Murder

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Gluten-free devotee Poppy McAllister is asked to help her former fiance Tim prepare desserts at a local contest in New Jersey. Restaurant Weeks are Murder by Libby Klein finds Poppy as the third member of Tim's restaurant team for the event. (Restaurant Weeks are Murder will be released by Kensington Publishing on February 26.)

The Restaurant Week competition is being hosted at the Cape Community College in the brand new culinary school kitchen. There are six chefs from different local restaurants as part of the event and it is being filmed for local TV and judged by well-known critics. Among the contestants is Adrian Baxter, a former classmate and adversary of Tim's at the Culinary Institute of America. Twenty years ago, he accused Tim of tampering with ingredients in a competition before they graduated. He still holds a grudge.

On the first day of the competition, someone replaces the ingredients with non-toxic replacements such as talcum powder for flour and soy sauce for vanilla. Poppy gets wind of it right away and rectifies the problem for her kitchen, but doesn't tell anyone figuring chefs would catch on themselves like she did. Unfortunately some do not catch on and most of their preparations are ruined by the mix-up. Naturally Adrian blames Tim.

Things go from bad to worse when appliances begin malfunctioning and then one of the judges dies right after eating Poppy's cannoli. An exploding oven and a deep fryer accident don't stop the competition nor Poppy as she continues to investigate. Someone has a secret they want to keep hidden and will stop at nothing to do it.

Poppy is a terrific character and her Aunt Ginny and her crazy friends crack me up.

Class Reunions Are Murder

Newly widowed and in the depths of junk food despair, Poppy McAllister resists returning to Cape May, New Jersey for a 25th high school reunion. In Class Reunions Are Murder by Libby Klein, Poppy only thinks they figuratively are murder. 

Coerced back by her friend Sawyer and knowing she hasn't visited her elderly aunt Ginny in years, Poppy heads up to the Jersey Shore. Everything she packed is too small for her and her latest binge of eating nothing but cookies hasn't helped her weight.

If she has to go to the reunion, she reasons, she might as well go in style, but the hideous dress that fits her makes her more of a target for the "mean girls" than in her high school days. She cannot figure why Barbie, the queen of mean, sent her friends a special invitation to the event.

After a very visible fight with Barbie, her friend Sawyer takes off for some air and Poppy tries to find her. What she does discover will cause her more trouble
than she bargained for. Dead in front of Poppy's old high school locker is Barbie. As Poppy bends over to investigate, Amber, one of Barbie's mean squad, flashes a badge and arrests Poppy on the spot.

Complicating matters is problems with Aunt Ginny. Someone if trying to force her into an assisted living center claiming she cannot take care of herself. With Poppy facing jail and her aunt under threat of eviction, Poppy and her friends band together to find out who killed Barbie.

There are plenty of suspects including her husband who is running for Senate, his campaign manager, the coach at the high school, the high school nurse, an ex-boyfriend or two and many others. Seems no one really liked Barbie.

Poppy is a terrific character and we can all empathize with her grief-driven depression, but her resilient personality shines through. This is the first in a series by Libby Klein.

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