Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
Murder from Scratch is the fourth installment in the A Sally Solari Mystery series set in Santa Cruz, CA and featuring restaurant owner, Sally Solari. Sally is settling into her new role at Gauguin, the restaurant she inherited and is looking forward to having the head chef Javier officially become a co-owner.
At the request of her father, Sally welcomes her distant cousin Evelyn Olivieri into her home. Twenty year old Evelyn who was born blind, discovered the body of her mother Jackie, in their living room when she'd returned from a friend's house one morning and is now scared to staff at the house by herself. Happy to help Evie readjust, Sally is surprised when after a brief visit to pick up a few personal belongings at the house, the girl announces that despite the police ruling the death a suicide, she knows that her mother was murdered. Misplaced cranberry juice, an incorrect name on the suicide note and records not put back in the correct spot are just a few of the clues that someone had been in the house with Jackie the night she died.
Despite the repeated warnings from Detective Martin Vargas to stay clear of his investigation, Sally finds herself in the middle of a dangerous investigation. Suspects include Jackie's ex husband, her former boss and past co-workers, and two of her current employees in her pop up restaurant.
A fast paced, easy afternoon read. I have not read any of the other books in this series and was able to follow along, so can recommend the book as a stand alone. However, I did feel that I was missing background information on some of the main characters so will go back and start at the beginning.
At the request of her father, Sally welcomes her distant cousin Evelyn Olivieri into her home. Twenty year old Evelyn who was born blind, discovered the body of her mother Jackie, in their living room when she'd returned from a friend's house one morning and is now scared to staff at the house by herself. Happy to help Evie readjust, Sally is surprised when after a brief visit to pick up a few personal belongings at the house, the girl announces that despite the police ruling the death a suicide, she knows that her mother was murdered. Misplaced cranberry juice, an incorrect name on the suicide note and records not put back in the correct spot are just a few of the clues that someone had been in the house with Jackie the night she died.
Despite the repeated warnings from Detective Martin Vargas to stay clear of his investigation, Sally finds herself in the middle of a dangerous investigation. Suspects include Jackie's ex husband, her former boss and past co-workers, and two of her current employees in her pop up restaurant.
A fast paced, easy afternoon read. I have not read any of the other books in this series and was able to follow along, so can recommend the book as a stand alone. However, I did feel that I was missing background information on some of the main characters so will go back and start at the beginning.
