Things are certainly interesting during Cape May's Restaurant Week - and Poppy is smack dab in the middle of everything! Poppy has joined Tim's team as pastry chef for the competition, she's got a B&B full of judges - some nice, some not so nice - and all this food is wreaking havoc with her paleo diet. Tim and Gia are vying for her affections (this particular reader is 100% Team Gia!!!) and someone is out to sabotage the chefs. When one of the judges is poisoned in the middle of taping an episode, Tim begs Poppy to investigate. An absolute roller coaster of a mystery, Restaurant Weeks are Murder, Libby Klein's 3rd Poppy McAllister book, had me guessing whodunit right up until the big reveal. Loved it!

I really enjoyed Restaurant Weeks Are Murder by Libby Klein. I feel connected to the main character, Poppy, because I also have Hashimoto's. This is the third book in this series and I've been hoping for a resolution to the love triangle between Poppy, Gia, and Tim. I have to admit that I'm Team Gia. Mostly because I think a majority of people who go back to exes in real life are making big mistakes. But, also, I think Gia is a more likeable character than Tim. This book didn't change my opinion on that at all. As for the murder mystery, it was very clever. There was no shortage of suspects and motives, but I liked how it all came together in the end. To be honest, I didn't suspect the character that the killer turned out to be. If I have any complaints about this book, it's just that it seemed to take too long to get to the murder. I was beginning to think no one was going to die. Other than that, it's a great cozy mystery. With the way this one ends, I'm definitely looking forward to the next book to see what happens next for Poppy.

Note: I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.

I enjoyed reading the latest novel in this series - even though I hadn't read any of the previous books. The setting of a cooking contest is rather unique and gave the author plenty of opportunity to introduce novel twists to the plot. In the first part of the book, we get to know the principal characters before anything mysterious happens. But from then on, the intrigue and dirty tricks occur thick and fast. There are quite a few larger than life supporting characters and also a gentle romantic backstory. The character who ultimately emerges as the murderer came as a bit of a surprise to me.

Title: Restaurant Weeks Are Murder



Author: Libby Klein



Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Murder Mystery, Food Competition, Romance, Sequel,



Plot: Poppy McAllister is busy opening a cozy little Bed and Breakfast on Jersey Shore with her aunt Ginny while baking delicious gluten-free and other Paleo treats with her Italian boyfriend Gia in his little shop. Thus her hands are quite full, but she still agreed to join her ex-fiance Tim and his assistant in an intense cooking competition meant to boost his restaurant's publicity.



In a convenient twist of fate, the four celebrity judges and two chatty hosts end up staying in Poppy's little b&b for the intense competition week. This gives her some handy publicity as well as some insider clues as to everyone's personalities. On day one, sparks are flying with ingredient sabotage. This only escalates into fist-fights, equipment sabotage and finally, cold-blooded murder. Who could possibly committed such a cruel crime and is anyone else in danger?



Likes/Dislikes: This is a sequel and throws us into the chaos at the beginning, so several characters aren't clearly introduced but we are expected to just roll with them. It was an easy read that had a big enough pool of suspects to keep me guessing while not overwhelming with all the different characters to keep track of. I loved the use of accents to help differentiate the characters. I don't like love triangles though and the cliffhanger was very frustrating, but it added an extra element to the story which was nice. It was hard to tell how old Poppy is. And I loved her aunt Ginny and her cat; they were a riot! All in all, a very entertaining and humorous story. I'm definitely going to look up the prequels now.



Rating: PG-14 and up, mainly for content (hints of affairs, nothing graphic)



Date Review Written: January 24th, 2019



I received a copy of this book 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.

This was such a fun, laugh out loud read. Colorful characters and the killer was a surprise. You won't want to put this down. Highly recommend!

Pastry chef Poppy McAllister has agreed to team up with her ex fiancé Tim for a cooking challenge down the Jersey Shore. Right out of the gate she should have known this was not going to be a piece of cake with the third chef on their team has eyes for Tim and make her intentions known. But things begin getting interesting when the chefs are being sabotaged and hurt during the competition.

When one of the judges ends up dead, Poppy finds herself trying to save the competition and find the killer before the killer finds her and makes her victim number two. Add to that two men that are vying for Poppy’s affections and things get even hotter and stickier for her.

This is a fun book and the first I have read in the series, though it won’t be the last. I love Poppy’s snarky Jersey sense of humor and the entire cast of characters. The characters are mature and the plot is solid. You won’t know whodunit or why until the very end.

I received a free copy of RESTAURANT WEEKS ARE MURDER (A Poppy McAllister Mystery Book 3) by Libby Klein in exchange for an honest review. Poppy McAllister is excited to be helping her high school boyfriend and former fiancé, Tim, compete on a television special called Restaurant Week. When the competition is plagued by sabotage, people are injured, and one dies, Poppy, at continuing odds with local law enforcement, decides to find out what’s going on. Can Poppy survive to the finish or will she be “Chopped?”

I giggled throughout this book. I loved the sassy senior citizens who served as the Greek chorus in this tale. I really liked this one and plan to read the first two books since this was my introduction to the series.

#RestaurantWeeksAreMurder #NetGalley