Three
months have passed since Sally Solari’s Aunt Letta was
murdered in the kitchen of the Gauguin restaurant. Sally inherited
the restaurant and is running it while still working part-time
at Solari’s, her family’s Italian restaurant.
As if this isn’t enough to keep her busy, her friend
(and ex-boyfriend), Eric, has persuaded her to audition to
join the Santa Cruz Community Chorus. The chorus session runs
for only three weeks, so what could go wrong in that short
amount of time?
What
can go wrong does go wrong, at the very first rehearsal when
one of the tenors, an unlikable fellow, falls out of a tall
church window to his death. The police chalk it up to a tragic
accident. The window frame was rotted, and even though there
was a sign affixed warning not to open it, obviously Kyle
didn’t heed the warning. Sally isn’t so sure.
The position of the body doesn’t look right to her.
Kyle’s girlfriend doesn’t believe it was an accident
either, and soon Sally finds herself investigating another
murder, despite her misgivings after all that happened when
she investigated Aunt Letta’s homicide.
Sally
leads a busy life, what with working at two restaurants, her
cycling workouts, the chorus, and a murder case. I wondered
how an author could make a character so active and keep it
believable. Then I read Leslie Karst bio on the back flap
of the cover. It seems that Karst holds degrees in English
literature, law, and culinary arts. She worked for twenty
years as an attorney, and now in retirement, she enjoys cooking,
gardening, cycling, and singing in the choir. Yet she finds
time to write, too!
My hat
is off to Ms. Karst for bringing a complex character to life
with her ability to turn her true life experience into a work
of fiction! Of course, I’m certain that Sally’s
murder investigations are purely the result of her intelligent
imagination!
I really
enjoyed A Measure of Murder and I recommend it to
all mystery lovers. It is well-plotted, paced nicely, and
the cast of characters is unique. There are even some delicious
looking recipes at the back of the book. Highly recommended.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
A
Measure of Murder #2
Death
al Fresco #3
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