Death al Fresco by Leslie Karst is the third book in the “Sally Solari” mystery series. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books, coming March 13, 2018
When her father is fingered for murder, it’s up to Sally Solari to serve up the real killer before their new restaurant’s reputation goes up in smoke in the delectable third Sally Solari mystery.
It’s Indian summer in Santa Cruz and restaurateur Sally Solari decides an open-air painting class is the perfect way for her to learn more about Paul Gaugin, the inspiration for her family’s newest restaurant. But the beauty of the Monterey Bay coastline is shattered when Sally’s dog Buster sniffs out a corpse tangled up in kelp.
The body is identified as Gino, a local fisherman and a regular at the Solaris’ restaurant until he disappeared after dining there a few nights before. Witnesses claim he left reeling drunk, but his waitress swears Gino only had two beers with his dinner. And then the fingers begin to point at Sally’s dad for negligently allowing an inebriated customer to walk home alone at night.
From a long menu of suspects that includes Anastasia, the mysterious woman who dined with Gino that fateful night, Gino’s deckhand Bobby, and bocce player Frank who accused Gino of cheating, Sally must serve up the tall order to clear her father’s name in Death al Fresco, Leslie Karst’s third culinary cozy perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier.
Sally is at it again, investigating a murder to clear her father’s name. I enjoyed this latest adventure where nothing is as it seems, the more Sally digs into the murder. The mystery was appetizingly flavored with plenty of suspects and a sprinkling of clues throughout that added to my reading pleasure. The narrative was visually descriptive with verbiage that gives enough to keep me involved in all that was happening. A nice little page-turner, with strong character development, engaging conversation and a savory mystery that was delectably entertaining.
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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
I think I still have the first in the series on my list. I will probably never read all of those, but I keep trying.
Intriguing!