I enjoyed the fact it jumped right into the mystery. Interesting female protagonist that isn't nosy and and no love triangle. This was an actually mystery thank you.

Awesome story. Can’t wait to read more from this author!!!

I was happy when A MEASURE OF MURDER, the second book in Sally Solari Mystery series, by Leslie Karst was released earlier this month. I’ve been looking forward to it for several months and I found this to be a nice addition to the series. Leslie combines a clever murder mystery (even the police think it’s a tragic accident) with a tenacious restaurateur, and inspiring music. Sally Solari is a very energetic protagonist…I wish I had half of her energy! But despite how much she’s involved in, Sally finds time for her family and friends while creating new friendships, showing she is a very caring person. The characters surrounding and supporting Sally add to the appeal of the book. The murder plot provides plenty of viable suspects to keep the reader guessing but interspersed in the plot is a lot of detailed information about performing in a choral performance of Mozart’s Requiem. I found it interesting (I enjoy learning new things while reading cozy mysteries) and it inspired me to search out a YouTube video of this classical piece. The author brings a passion for music and how it speaks to your soul to her book.

With Sally owning her own restaurant and working in her family’s Italian restaurant, A MEASURE OF MURDER has many mouthwatering mentions of delectable dishes! Fortunately for the reader, Leslie includes several recipes at the back of her book. I tried her recipe for Grilled Salmon with Papaya and Avocado Pico de Gallo and it was every bit as delicious as it was beautiful!

A Measure of Murder by Leslie Karst is the second book in the Sally Solari Mystery series. Since I enjoyed the first I was looking forward to this book. Sally finds herself joining the local chorus singing Mozart's Requiem. The chorus is thrown into chaos when one of the singers falls to his death during the first rehearsal. Sally sets out to solve the murder when running two restaurants. While I enjoyed the mystery, I wish Sally's life was a bit calmer. I have no idea how she can do have of the things she does: chorus, two restaurants, active social life, and extra long bike rides. Just reading about everything exhausts me. This is not enough to be a negative - yet. I do think it could become annoying if it does not change in future books.

A Measure of Murder by Leslie Karst is the second book in A Sally Solari Mystery series. Sally Solari owns Gauguin, a restaurant that she inherited from her aunt. Sally is also still managing the family restaurant, Solari’s (but she is training someone to take over her duties). But when Sally hears that the Santa Cruz Community Chorus is going to be perform Mozart Requiem (with a newly discovered piece written by Sussmayr), she knows she has to audition. Sally has wanted to do this musical piece since high school. Sally is accepted into the choir and it will be an intense three weeks of rehearsals (three a week). At the first rehearsal, just after the intermission, a woman bursts into the church where they practice. The woman has found a man hurt in the courtyard. Everyone runs out, but it is too late. The dead man is Kyle, the cantankerous section leader of the tenors. The police rule it an accident, but Sally is not convinced. It turns out that Kyle’s girlfriend, Jill, is of a similar mind. Jill asks Sally to look into Kyle’s death (Sally’s reputation proceeds her). Sally starts digging around, but the investigation is fraught with danger. Will Sally be able to uncover the truth or end up in hot water?

A Measure of Murder is a very busy book. I am not sure how Sally managed to get all her tasks accomplished. Sally was working at Solari’s and Gauguin, learning to cook on the line at Gauguin, working on the new fall menu for Gauguin (and all that it entails), rehearsals for the choir, investigating the murder, watching the Tour de France, having drinks with friends, information on Mozart Requiem and cycling. Normally running one restaurant is a time-consuming endeavor. There is just no way that one person could do all these tasks and find time to sleep. I was tired just reading about all her activities. These various tasks slowed down the pace of the book. I hope the author cuts back on Sally’s activities in future books in the series (to make it more believable). There are many characters in A Measure of Murder and it can be confusing (especially in the first part of the book). There are the restaurant workers, the chorus, ex-boyfriend, best friend, and people Sally questions as part of her investigation. I liked the mystery that the author crafted, but I was able to puzzle out the killer before I was halfway through the novel. If you do not read a lot of mysteries, the killer may come as a surprise. I give A Measure of Murder 3 out of 5 stars. While A Measure of Murder is the second book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. The author provides information from the first novel and background details on Sally. I wished the author had put the murder in the forefront of A Measure of Murder. It took a backseat (maybe even further back than the backseat) to everything else going on in the book (especially the chorus). I preferred Dying for a Taste (first book in the series) more than A Measure of Murder.

This is the second book in the Sally Solari series. I always appreciate when an author gives enough detail that I can come into a series with any book, and not feel as if I missed a good bit of important information. This works well as a stand alone.

For those of you who have a career in music, study it or just enjoy reading about it, a good bit of this mystery revolves around the members of a chorus who are practicing a piece by Mozart: the Requiem. Everyone is excited because a new version of this was found. A good bit of the book is about the rehearsals.

I enjoyed how the author made the characters come to life. There was some personality clashes within the chorus, and rumors that the main character, Sally, needed to investigate to find the culprit. There were also a few of those moments where I help my breath because of something Sally did or said.

I’m looking forward to reading more books by this author.

Classic cozy with an intrepid female amateur detective and a restaurant. Don't get me wrong- this is a good combination and Karst has found ways to make Sally stand out, I learned a bit about choirs, which is a plus. I did not read the first book but I don't think that was a problem because all of the characters just seemed to work together well (or not as appropriate.) Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Try this for a pleasant read with good characters and a well thought out plot.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

As if running the front end of her father’s restaurant and taking over her aunt’s restaurant weren’t enough to keep Sally busy she decides to join a local choir. Granted they are performing one of her favorite pieces and it is just for a few weeks of rehearsals and the performance, but taking it on has both her father and her chef a little freaked out. When one of the choir members falls to his death in the middle of the first rehearsal even Sally starts to wonder if it is all too much. The police rule it as an accident but Sally thinks it was murder and so does the victim’s girlfriend. Sally starts doing a bit of investigating and soon she has several suspects. Does she have a recipe to catch a killer? Maybe if she can stay alive long enough to see if her theory is half baked or fully boiled.

In this second installment of the Sally Solari Mysteries, the author takes us beyond the restaurants and introduces several new characters, members of the choir and its director. At first it seemed like too many characters but she quickly focuses in a few that had interactions with the deceased, but still when added to the characters we already knew at the restaurants, it is a lot to keep track of. Several have back stories that we need to learn to follow how they were involved with the deceased and several are holding things back or have secrets that are yet to be revealed.

The variety of characters leads into the flow of the story which is a little rocky at times. The author needs to find ways for Sally to interact with the her suspects and while one comes to work at one of the restaurants, the rest have to be met before, during or after rehearsals and somehow Sally finds time to go on long bicycle rides with another. It was Sally’s use of time that really tripped things up for me. My parents ran a restaurant, doing so takes tons of time even if you had a competent staff. My parents missed out on so many things in my life because they were tied to that business most of the waking hours each day. Sally deciding to take so much time off for the choir and still have time for bike rides and searching for a murderer would stretch a real person way too thin. But this is fiction, so I just needed to suspend reality for a while.

The mystery was solid and the ending was a bit surprising. There was quite a bit of time spent on the musical part of the theme. We followed Sally through the intense training of learning her part and how it related with other parts of Mozart’s Requiem. Not an easy piece to learn. This was in addition to the things Sally was learning about the restaurant she inherited from her aunt. She wants to learn to cook on the line, she needs to learn about ordering, pricing and menus, she needs to deal with staffing issues at both restaurants. For me the murder part of the plot took a back seat just a little too often.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series better than this one. Sally is a strong character but this time she just was not as engaging. In fact, I was just tired “chasing” around with her. The theme was good but Sally’s life needs a little editing to make it at all believable. One person can only juggle so many things. I hope the author narrows her focus in Sally’s story in upcoming books.

Sally is already doing double duty by working in her family's restaurant and now running her recently deceased aunt's restaurant Then when she had the opportunity to join a choir production of The Mozart Requiem she could not resist. But during a rehearsal a much disliked choir member, Kyle, was found dead after falling out of a window. The police think it was an accident but Kyle's girlfriend and Sally both think it was murder.

This is the second story in A Sally Solari Mystery series. It has a good story line with relatable characters. Unless you are a choir music enthusiast, it does go a little too heavy with the music terminology.

Sally Solari is busy juggling work at her family’s Italian restaurant, Solari’s, and helping chef Javier plan the autumn menu for Gauguin, the restaurant she inherited from her aunt Letta. Despite her hectic schedule, Sally agrees to join her ex-boyfriend Eric’s chorus, which is performing a newly discovered version of her favorite composition: the Mozart Requiem. But at the first rehearsal, tenor Kyle Copman falls to his death on the church courtyard. His soprano girlfriend Jill thinks hs death was not an accident and begs Sally to do some investigating. A good blend of musical and culinary highlights.

A food based cozy with a Italian twist. A easy two hour read with many supporting characters. Many do not relate to the sleuth but were interesting. . The basis of the story is a expensive Italian family restaurant that centers around murder and family issues as well as a easy inheritance . Its not a believable story at all and very different tone from most cozies. Not really of interest to read about someone bragging about their inheritance throughout the book but rated it 3 stars rather then 2 for effort. .

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book 2 in the series.

I liked it. But there are a few things that still annoy me. I've worked in restaurants and I know the profit margin is slim to none. Most restaurant owners I know work loooong days, every day, working the front of the house, in the kitchen, doing paperwork, where ever they are needed, because payroll is tight. Yet Sally can manage TWO restaurants, go on bike rides, sing with a chorus and investigate a murder, all without passing out from exhaustion.

But I guess the average reader doesn't have that background. Once I managed to suspend my disbelief about that, the story line was interesting and fun. I like Sally, I like the other primary characters, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

A Measure of Murder .. Book 2 in the Sally Solari Mystery series by Leslie Karst

What I loved:
The recipes.. the grilled cheese recipe was phenomenal!
The mystery.. it was a solid story..
the characters.. believable, likeable

What I didn't love :
The musical jargon .. I expected a little, not quite so much
A whole lot of Italian..
the will storyline.. felt like it got forgot about and then thrown back in at the end

Overall, I enjoyed A Measure of Murder and will continue with the series I would like to thank Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing with with a copy for review.