Restaurant Weeks Are Murder by Libby Klein is the third book in the “Poppy McAllister” cozy culinary mystery series. Publisher: Kensington Books, February 26, 2019.

Cape May, New Jersey, is the site of a big culinary competition—and the knives are out . . .

Poppy McAllister is happy about opening a Jersey Shore B&B—but working in a professional kitchen has always been her real dream. Now it’s coming true, at least briefly, as she teams up with her former fiancée, Tim—and his condescending partner, Gigi—during the high-profile Restaurant Week challenge. Poppy’s specialty is pastries, despite her devotion to a Paleo diet. But if anyone can make glorious gluten-free goodies, it’s Poppy.

Things get heated quickly—especially when some ingredients get switched and Tim’s accused of sabotage. Relatively harmless pranks soon escalate into real hazards, including an exploding deep fryer. And now one of the judges has died after taking a bite of Poppy’s cannoli—making her the chef suspect . . .

Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!

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This was an exciting, fast-paced drama that I could not put down, quickly becoming a page turner. I was completely immersed in all that was happening as Poppy juggles being a pastry chef, having one of the judges die after sampling her cannoli, and sifting out clues while nefarious shenanigans are plaguing the set of the restaurant week competition TV show.

The author did a great job in staging this tightly-woven and well-executed whodunit where the pacing was on par with how well this story was being told. The narrative was visually descriptive with meal preparation that was appetizingly appealing and comedic interludes that added to my reading enjoyment. Each chapter added dimensions to the cast of characters exposing their foibles that would help narrow down the clues for Poppy. There were some surprising twists that was perpetrated by a few characters that was done to distract what was going on in the story. . . all the better to serve on a platter. In the process of it all, Poppy learns more about herself and what she wants. Overall, this was one of the best books in the series and I can’t wait to see which team wins – #TeamTim or #TeamGia.