My favorite book in the series to date! The author did a great job creating full and dynamic characters. She really gave the reader a glimpse into the world of a blind person, which was interesting. The mystery kept me engaged and I found myself guessing between several suspects until the every end. This book is a treat for any cozy mystery fan.

Sally is very busy running the restaurant she inherited, trying to keep her employees happy and working well together, and just taking care of regular duties. When her father asks her to take in her cousin whose mother had just died, she feels a bit resentful. She's blind and will need to have someone around to tour the house, learn where everything is and help around town. How's she going to be able to do all that in addition to running a restaurant?

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published April 9th.

Evelyn may be blind but she learns new surroundings quickly and settles into a routine with Sally. She manages on her own when Sally works. She also confides in Sally and tells her she doesn't think her mother committed suicide as the cops think. Things are out of place. She keeps everything she uses in the same place so she can find it again. Several things were out of place and she thinks there was someone else there. She was at her girlfriend's home and wasn't home then. Even the suicide note was addressed to her full name and her mother never called her that. Sally finds herself agreeing with her and they begin to do some investigating themselves.

There are several people who become suspects. Her old boss thinks she took recipes from his restaurant with her. She fired another cook and Rachel hasn't forgotten that. Max is her friend or is he?

Sally searches until she finds a motive but she makes the mistake of getting too close to the

Sally Solari has her hands full with her cooks, staff and other issues of her busy restaurant, Gauguin. Her dad persuades Sally to take in her blind cousin, Evelyn, whose mother has just been found dead in their home. Evelyn is not convinced that her mother's death was an accident or suicide as the police suspect. Can Sally and Evelyn provide this was a murder?

Although this the fourth book of the Sally Solari series, it is the first one for me. I had no problems following the storyline even though I had not read the previous books. I will definitely be adding the rest of the series to my TBR list. The characters are interesting especially Evelyn, this is the first book I have read where they included a blind character. I found how she was able to help prove that her mother was murdered very intriguing. The mystery has its twists and turns to keep the reader invested in the storyline. As a bonus, there are recipes included in this book.

I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.

MURDER FROM SCRATCH is book four in the series of the Sally Solari Mysteries of which I look forward to reading more. It’s a delicious mixture of mystery, family, and irate chefs and a fun, fast and interesting read. I haven’t read the other books in this series yet, however, I don’t think that this spoilt my enjoyment of this novel. That said, there is nothing more exciting than picking up a book that is the first in a new series.

Santa Cruz restaurateur Sally Solari’s life is difficult enough at the busy Gauguin restaurant. So she’s worked up when her dad persuades her to take in Evelyn, her estranged blind cousin whose mother has just died of a drug overdose.

But Evelyn proves to be lots of fun and she’s a terrific cook. Back at the house she’d shared with her mum, Evelyn’s heightened sense of touch tells her that various objects - a bottle of cranberry juice, her grandfather’s jazz records - are out of place. She and her mum always kept things in the same place so Evelyn could find them. So she suspects that her mother’s death was neither accident nor suicide, no matter what the police believe.

The cousins’ turn detective and Sally and Evelyn are thrown into the world of male-oriented kitchens, and the cut-throat competitiveness that can flame up between chefs. With a long list of suspects in the frame, will Sally be able to find the perpetrator or end up getting burned?

Leslie Karst’s delightful writing style is well-paced and complemented by some interesting characters, some of whom were annoying but helped to make the story as good as it was. There was some romantic and spicy love entanglement, too. Written in the first-person narrative and sharing Sally’s innermost thoughts, Leslie Karst includes some wonderfully amusing moments and vivid descriptions especially of some of the food, such as fall-off-the-bone pulled pork and salmon with habanero-lime butter. An ex-lawyer, the highly organised and extremely likeable Sally demonstrated admirable sleuthing techniques and her cousin Evelyn, although with her own problems, exuded warmth and friendliness.

The book had a natural, steady pace and I was kept guessing right until the surprising reveal. Delightful and entertaining, MURDER FROM SCRATCH is a quick, light, highly recommended read for all cozy mystery fans.

{Thank you to #NetGalley, #Crookedlanebks and Leslie Karst for the free copy of #MurderFromScratch and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}

I received a copy of Murder From Scratch from Netgalley and the publisher.

I really enjoyed this book. My main issue is that all the food talk made me so hungry and as "issues" go that's not bad at all!

I really appreciate the writing of Evelyn. She's actually written as an adult with interests and not as a tall child who brings light to able-bodied folx.

I liked the mystery a lot. The way it was set up as an "obvious" suicide but a family member knows what's up? Definitely my thing!

Murder from Scratch is a good, solid cozy mystery with some likeable characters. It gives me a chapter to get comfortable with the main character before introducing the murder. The reason that she gets involved in the investigation makes sense.

Because of references to another death, I suspect this isn't the first book in the series, but I had no problem getting into the story and nothing was bogged down with background dumps. I also never felt left out of things.

I especially liked the secondary character of the victim's daughter. She was unusual and added interesting perspectives. I hope she reappears elsewhere in the series.

Overall I'd give this book a solid 4 stars and recommend it to cozy fans. It upholds genre expectations and feels like it adds nice twists to things. I'd definitely like to get my hands on more of the series.

Although this the fourth book of the Sally Solari series, it is the first one I have read and a new author for me. I was pleasantly surprised as it held my attention until I finished, many books about do I will read this author again and look for the earlier books.
Sally takes an estranged blind cousin, Evelyn. Her Mother had just passed due to an overdose of drugs. away and Evelyn was alone. She is 20 years and had a good education. It was fantastic reading about how Evelyn was able to live her life with the minimum of help The police feel the death was suicide and are ready to close the case. Evelyn feels her Mother would not have committed suicide and Sally agrees with her. Sally begins to explore what happened and finds a number of co-workers that had a motive for wanting dead. The ending will please you. I highly recommend this book.
Recipes are included.

Disclosure: Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for a copy through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an advance digital copy of MURDER FROM SCRATCH by Leslie Karst in exchange for an unbiased review. This is the fourth book, my first read, in the Sally Scolari series. The mystery stands alone and is fully contained within this novel. There are some secondary relationships that appear to carry over from one book to the next, however it is not necessary to have read the earlier books to get a sense of how the relationship stands at present.
In this novel, Ms. Karst has created the character of Evelyn, a blind young woman. It was refreshing to have a person with a disability portrayed accurately and without either special “superhuman” traits or almost insurmountable problems. In this book, Evelyn, the daughter of the murder victim, is a welcome addition in providing a reason for Sally to try to solve the murder. She also provides some well-researched, accurate information for how a blind individual functions in a sighted world. I particularly appreciated that, for Evelyn, her blindness was just a part of who she was in a way similar to the reality that we all have individual challenges and strengths. Not to trivialize blindness, it does present unique problems to overcome. However, in this novel, Evelyn does so with a calm, attitude that indicates it’s just part of who she is, not something that needs to be singled out above the rest of what makes her who she is.
The book is well plotted, although I found it easy to solve the mystery and found myself wondering why it took Sally so long to discover the murderer and the motive. One of the drawbacks was that instead of detective work that led up to the possibility of several individuals being guilty, Sally would focus on one suspect above the other, decide they were guilty, then discover her error because of an alibi, etc. The result was that one by one suspects were eliminated rather than maintaining the possibility of their guilt for the final denouement
In this novel, Evelyn’s mother is found dead of an overdose in the living room of the house she shares with Evelyn. The police think it’s suicide, pointing to a letter from her mother to Evelyn that says she is sorry. As Evelyn points out, the note is directed to “Evelyn” but her mother never called her that, preferring to call her a diminutive, such as “Evie”. She and Sally are convinced that it is murder and Sally sets out to solve it with little or no help from the police, although she is friends with the detective in charge of the case.
There are some interesting characters I would like to see further developed, such as Javier, the chef and co-owner of Sally’s restaurant, Detective Vargas, Sally’s father and her nonna, Eric and even Sally herself. As they are written here, they are not deep enough to fully engage me as a reader, leaving the impression that this is a series that is good in concept with some good plotting and a need to develop a bit more depth.
There are some interesting recipes included at the end of the book. Someone who is looking for a strong culinary hook in their cozy mysteries might find this enough reason to read this series. If you are looking for a strong mystery that contains some tension, even if it is within the typical confines of the cozy genre, this book has potential, but may come up slightly short of the mark.

This latest Sally Solari mystery is an entertaining read. As with many series entries, it would probably be beneficial to read them all for background, but I think this could work as a standalone as the author provides family and setting background.

Sally is a restaurateur in Santa Cruz. She and her father, also a restaurant owner, are saddened to discover that a distant relation has died, possibly by suicide, and left a 20 year old daughter. The daughter, Evelyn, discovered her mother's body and needs a place to stay while things are being sorted out. Evelyn is blind and is studying computer science. The matter of fact information about tech aids for the blind and just daily accommodations are interesting.

Evelyn is convinced that her mother was murdered and the more Sally learns about the circumstances of her death, the more she agrees. There are several possible suspects and Evelyn and Sally go about gathering information to determine who the killer is.

The wonderful food and restaurant setting and recipes are an added bonus. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

This is the 4th installment in this series and my first opportunity to read this series. The series centers on Sally Solari who is a restaurant owner asked by her Father to take in her cousin Evelyn (Evie) who is blind and needs assistance as her Mother has been found dead in their home of an apparent suicide. Sally takes Evie to house she shared with her Mother and finds several things out of place which would never happen due to Evie’s blindness. Sally begins an investigation to determine if it was murder or suicide. An enjoyable read.

The theme of the forth volume of the Sally Solari mystery series is touch. Hence the title “Murder from Scratch”

Karst's novel features Evelyn (Evie) a distant relative of Sally. Blind from birth, Evie has stumbled over her mother's corpse after returning from an overnight visit. Mario, Sally's father, sheltered her after the police investigated the crime. He has a severe allergy to dogs. Evie has a dog. He asks Sally to share her home, overcoming her objections: “She's family”

To Evie's dismay, the police are sure her mother committed suicide. All the signs are there, empty pill bottles, a life in turmoil, even a note left. Unwilling to accept all this, she asks Sally for her help. Sally, of course, agrees. Together they investigate; Despite her blindness, Evie is fully integrated into the seeing world. Karst's research shows here, skillfully demonstrating that blindness need not be a block to living integrated with the rest of the world. Informally and formally she teaches, including teaching Javier to make homemade egg pasta.

At Gauguin, Javier and Sally will formalize the partnership, maybe, Brian has become erratic. The B plot very puzzling, revealing more insider information in the restaurant industry. Murder from Scratch features restaurants who offer food from South East Asia plus a soupcon of India. The workers at these pop up and formal restaurants include many of our suspects. Here again Karst shows her strength in plotting, the perpetrator is not obvious.

Coupling and uncoupling is another theme. Is Mario dating? Where is Eric? When is a restaurant become a joint venture? Who is included in a family, who really decides concerning family membership. Karst asks the questions, leaving the reader the right to find the answers.

I enjoyed the book, and look forward to her take on the sense of smell.

Full disclosure I received this e book from netgalley.com and Crooked Lane Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review.

*I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley in hopes that I would read and review my honest opinion *
I have never read any book written previously by L. Karst. My opinion was this book lacked the intensity to finish the novel. As a murder mystery I wanted less of a filler story more of a mystery. Overall the ending was predictable, the story lacked the depth of the investigation and a lot of moments was dealing with the restaurant scene. Although I do love food and restaurants, recipes and food talk wasn’t what I expected overall from a murder book.

Sally Solari is back in another caper, this time involving a family member. The mother of her distant cousin has died, was it suicide or murder? Sally isn't so sure and sets out to get proof one way or the other. What follows is an interesting ride that leads Sally through the restaurant world and lets her draw on her own position as owner of Gauguin. It takes her investigating in other restaurants from established eateries like Tamarind, an Asian place to pop-ups. Pop-ups are such a new concept in the food world and interesting to read about. She connects with this cousin throughout the book and makes new relationships and she continues to deal with old ones- what is going to happen with her ex, Eric?
This latest installment of the Sally Solari mysteries has just gotten even better than the previous books. I enjoyed this book immensely. I really feel like the characters are well rounded and you get to know who they are. You are drawn in and feel involved and care about how the story progresses. This is a great cozy in which the author stays on track and is believable. I will be on the lookout for the next installment!

Sally's next case has a family connection. Sally's dad asks her to take in her blind cousin Evelyn and her dog Caro, after her mother Jackie was found dead of a suspected overdose. Sally is glad to oblige and finds that she enjoys Evelyn's company.

When they make a quick trip back to Evelyn's house to gather more of her things, Evelyn discovers a number of things out of place. She and her mother always kept things in the same place so that Evie could find them. And when she is told the contents of her mom's supposed suicide note, Evie becomes convinced that her mother was murdered.

There are lots of suspects and Sally soon finds herself deep into another murder investigation. Could it be the owner of Tamarind, the restaurant Jackie left to start her own pop-up restaurant? Could it be the ex-husband who has been paying spousal support and who owns half of their house? Could it be the former friend that she fired from her job in her pop-up? Could it be the friend who got Jackie the job at Tamarind?

Between the descriptions of the delicious meals that are cooked at Sally's restaurant Gauguin or at Tamarind or at the new pop-up restaurant, Sally keeps busy checking alibis and frustrating Detective Martin Vargas who really wants her to keep out of the investigation.

This was an entertaining mystery filled with interesting characters and great food. The recipes at the end sound really tasty but a bit above my cooking level.

Title: Murder From Scratch



Author: Leslie Karst



Genre: Murder Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Sequel,



Plot: Sally Solari grew up in the restaurant business and is still heavily involved with it. Except instead of working for her dad in the family restaurant, she now runs her very own establishment. Inherited from a great aunt, the Gauguin is a tidy trendy little place filled with irate chefs and plenty of delicious smells. When Sally gets a craving for some family cooking, she drops by her dad's place and gets more than she bargained for. A distant cousin needs a place to live with her dog and Sally has an available couch.



It turns out that cousin Evelyn is super sweet, blind and recently in the news. Her mother was found dead in the house one day. But because of Evelyn's disability, she has plenty of reason to think her mother's death wasn't an accident. Sally, every resourceful and just a tad too nosy for her own good, takes up the case.



Likes/Dislikes: I love cozy murder mysteries and foodie stories. This sounds like the perfect combination with the added element of a blind character essential to the plot. Unfortunately, Sally didn't jump off the page at me and the mystery set up wasn't enough to hook me and draw me in to finish the story. The writing style was cozy but also a bit slow and off. It felt like a lot of the descriptions and dialogue taking place were only there to hit the word count and did nothing to paint the scene or propel the story forward. Ah well, there's always a hit and a miss with mysteries.



Rating: PG-14 and up, mainly for content (it's a murder mystery).



Date Review Written: February 14th, 2019



I received a copy of this courtesy of Netgalley for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions in the above review are my own.

Sally was reluctant to take in her cousin Evelyn for a few weeks but did so cause family sticks together. Evelyn was sure someone had murdered her mom even though the evidence the police had proved otherwise, but Sally believed her and together they started seeking answers. When things become a bit dangerous with her near strangulation, Sally started looking closely at their suspects and boy what a twist. Intriguing, entertaining and somewhat captivating.

An interesting story with food that wets your appetite for following the cooks to solve the murder. The police are not inclined to see the murder. Otherwise the story is intriguing, interesting characters. Lots of twists.

The Sally Solari mysteries are more "traditional" than "cozy." Although they contain recipes (great ones, in fact!) they don't strike the cutesy tone that some other culinary mysteries do. The author is a chef and a former attorney, and knows how to tell a story in a way that's smart and engaging. Highly recommended!

I  received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read by this author but it won't be the last. Even though I was able to guess whoodunnit, this was a fun cozy mystery!

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.

I received an advanced copy of Murder from Scratch from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Books. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.