Four Cuts Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein is the 4th book in the Sarah Blair Mystery series, and another fun addition. Sarah and Emily are twins who are very different. Sarah is divorced, and is working at a law firm as a receptionist. Emily is a chef, who is high achieving. Due to an inheritance Sarah was able to invest in Emily's new restaurant. Grace the sous chef at their restaurant is teaching knife skills at the cooking college. When the school director is murdered, Grace becomes the prime suspect, and Sarah begins sleuthing. Once I started this book I could not stop reading it. It was a quick read that kept me guessing. I look forward to the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book/series for all cozy mystery book lovers.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

FOUR CUTS TOO MANY by Debra H. Goldstein
The Fourth Sarah Blair Mystery

When Sarah Blair agrees to meet sous chef Grace at the community college, she has a feeling it has something to do with her nemesis, Jane. But Grace, also an adjunct professor at the school, deems the reason for the secret meeting no longer relevant after what happened. After describing a run in with the interim chairman of the culinary program, Grace asks Sarah to accompany her back to her classroom so she can clean up. When they return they find their entry to the classroom barred and the chairman dead inside. Seeing the writing on the wall, as well as hearing Grace being called the murderer, Sarah not only gets Grace a lawyer, but starts to do a little digging on her own. With the nickname Malevolent Monster there must be plenty of other people who wanted the man dead! Sarah begins snooping while also sorting out her love life, caring for her two beloved pets, and figuring out what Jane has up her sleeve now.

Sarah knows that Grace couldn't have murdered the Malevolent Monster...couldn't she? What's an amateur sleuth to do when she's not completely positive her friend isn't the murderer? Look deeper. I love how Sarah keeps things real. While she believes Grace couldn't be a murderer, there's still a sliver of doubt that she's willing and able to acknowledge. There's a well thought out mystery in FOUR CUTS TOO MANY with enough twists to keep things interesting.

I like most of the characters found in the Sarah Blair Mystery series, from Sarah, the men in her life, even Mom, Maybelle. I despise Jane. I really hope she'll be a murder victim at some point, but in order to maintain conflict, I suppose I'm stuck with this woman. I love Rah Rah and Fluffy and am especially pleased at the awareness brought to shelter animals.

FOUR CUTS TOO MANY is a delicious mystery dealing with ambition and greed delectable for both foodies and those inept, or at least not too adept, in the kitchen.

This is the fourth book in this series by Debra Goldstein but it is the first one that I have read. The cover is eye-catching and that plus the description is what made me want to read the book. Great characters and lots of action keep you guessing who the murderer is. I definitely want to go back and read the rest of the series now. Thank you Net Galley, Kensington Publishing Company and Debra H. Goldstein for an ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Four Cuts Too Many is the second book i've read in this series - it's enjoyable with fun characters and incredibly intriguing murder mysteries! I love the dynamic between Sarah and the other characters - especially RahRah and Fluffy, of course.

I'd recommend this to any fan of cozies looking for a new series to get into!

This is the 4th in series and a delightful fun read . Thank you to the publishers and to Net Galley. My review opinion is my own. The author has created a fun series with all the right cozy elements we cozy readers enjoy.

I love the charcters in this series and our protagnist Sarah who is a savvy smart investigator . Sarah is a fun main character wearing many hats in her professional life. She works as a paralegal and co owns her restaurant with her sister where she creates wonderful food. She has a adorable Siamese and rescue dog who are a enjoyable part of the series. Sarah is devoted to animals and has a big heart.

As she investigates a murder at a local college she finds clues abound as well as red herrings. I loved the sleuth that kept me guessing to conclusion, This is a well plotted fun addition to the series. i look forward to the next in series.

Between paying attention to what Southwind nemesis Jane was up to and investigating a murder that Chief Gerard seemed satisfied to pin on Emily's sous chef, Sarah was kept hopping this time. I love how cute her mom and George Rogers have become together. As I said after the last book, if someone told me in the first book or two that I'd end up liking Maybelle's character, I would have thought they were nuts, lol. But she and George are two of my faves now. I like Grace's character a lot too, so I was really pulling for her, and I knew as Sarah did that Grace wouldn't kill anyone. Now Jane...if she ever turned up as a victim or the killer, I would never be heartbroken, lol. The turmoil she can cause for Sarah and her sister is just endless. The author did an excellent job of creating someone detestable, that's for sure.

The showdown was pretty scary, and I hadn't really guessed the killer until Sarah did. I wanted to shake Sarah for even going alone, but her heart was in the right place, since she heard someone vulnerable was with the killer. Sarah's heart for others is gold, but she really needs to start thinking of her own safety once in awhile. It's been so weird between her and Cliff and hard to tell where they were going in their relationship or if they either one even wanted said relationship. But I think they've ironed things out now in a good way.

It was great how the ending told all the little details of the wrap-up. Harlan is one of the kindest and most generous characters in any of the books I've read, and this book was no exception. He never does these good things for personal gain either, and I love that about him. You'll see what I mean when you read the book. I'm eager to see what adventures face the crew of Southwind next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

This is another installation of a great series. I enjoyed the insight into the inner workings of both food service and legal practices. RahRah and Fluffy add charm and motivation to Sarah Blair's interest in the local animal rescue center.

This is the fourth book in the Sarah Blair series. I hadn’t had the opportunity to read the earlier books in this series, but didn’t feel lost. As in most series, I think the reading experience would be enhanced by starting at the beginning. (I have the first three books in my TBR pile now. ) The characters are realistic and relatable. The small town setting and sense of community, family and friendship added another pleasant element to this solid mystery. I’m looking forward to catching up and following along with this series!

In this case one cut ended up to be too much for the college bully. Now Sarah finds herself trying to save her friend Grace from being the top suspect in the murder yet none of the suspects look as guilty as Grace.

This is an entertaining cozy with relatable characters and you can't help but root for Sarah. Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

Such a fun series. Murder. Food. Rah-Rah & Fluffy. Mysteries to solve and people to irritate 🤣

Sarah is a fun character. She is smart, determined, and loyal. She loves her friends and despite the many, many...many warnings she sticks her nose where it doesn't belong and saves the day.

There hasn't been one book in this series I haven't enjoyed so far. Definitely looking to enjoy more.

I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

Sarah Blair, first met in One Taste Too Many, is a woman at the crossroads. The unpleasantness of her divorce is firmly in the rearview mirror and lingering memories of her late ex-husband have dissipated. It’s unfortunate that her ex’s lover, Jane Clark, is ubiquitous in the fictional town of Wheaton, Alabama, located in the outskirts of Birmingham. The theme of Four Cuts Too Many is violence, particularly of the unexpected variety.

Went upstairs to get my knife. Made a mistake and stabbed my wife. Sarah Blair hadn’t thought about that horribly worded jump rope rhyme in twenty years. What was worse, she realized, was that most of the jumping rhymes her mother taught Sarah and her twin sister, Emily, had been violent. Sarah doubted the idea of sending children out to play in rhythm to Lizzie Borden’s axe and whacks would be considered politically correct today, but landing on them at the right moment certainly was fun then.



As she waited on the wood bench in front of Carleton Junior Community College’s culinary arts building for Grace Winston to finish teaching her knife skills class, Sarah let her mind wander to some of the other rhymes and scary fairy tales her mother read to the twins. It was better exercise than repeatedly checking the time.



Sarah wished Grace would hurry. She sent her a quick text and waited.

Sarah is always on a tight schedule because she’s a member of the gig economy. She’s a receptionist at a law firm, her sister Emily frequently enlists her to work at Southwind, the restaurant Sarah co-owns, and she’s a pet-mama to two demanding pets—”regal Siamese RahRah and rescue dog Fluffy.” Sarah is also on the shortlist to run fundraising events for the local animal shelter. You would think that would be enough, but her friends put claims on her time. The one thing they don’t ask her to do is cook—unlike her restaurateur sister, Sarah is culinarily challenged. Now, her friend Grace seems very anxious to talk with her.

“Please, can we meet tomorrow somewhere away from the restaurants to talk?”



Sarah had quickly agreed for two reasons. First, it seemed that whatever Grace wanted to talk about was important, but secretive, because Grace obviously wanted to ensure Emily and Marcus didn’t hear what she had to say. Apparently, Grace didn’t equate Sarah as being an equal partner in Southwind because her interest was only tied to the building’s ownership.

Underestimate Sarah at your peril folks—yesterday she spotted Grace walking into Jane’s Place. Jane’s Place is Southwind’s chief competitor in Wheaton and its owner, Jane Clark, is Sarah and Emily’s biggest nemesis, both personally and professionally. Finally, Grace rushes out of the building. Her hand is bleeding, and her apron is speckled with blood. Sarah starts asking questions as she bandages Grace’s hand. Grace really isn’t making sense—she tells Sarah that Dr. Douglas Martin made her cut her hand.

Grace wasn’t the type of person who’d hurt herself because someone told her to. There had to be more to the story.



“Dr. Martin is the new interim chairman of the culinary program. If it gives you a better idea about him, Malevolent Monster is what the faculty calls him behind his back. He’s known for surprise visits and scathing critiques. This morning, he made one of his unexpected visits to my classroom. He shook my students and me up so much, my hand got sliced.”

Sarah is a gifted observer who doesn’t miss a beat. Why was Dr. Martin so unpleasant to Grace Winston? Sarah decides that turmoil-creating Martin is into controlling others. Grace wants to straighten up her classroom, but they’ve barred her from entering.

A man’s body was sprawled spread-eagled over the edge of one of the tables. From the way his arms and head lay, he could have been asleep, but a thin line of blood running down his neck from where a short, pearl-handled knife rested next to him made her doubt that possibility.

The Malevolent Monster won’t be ripping into another colleague. Suspicion immediately falls on Grace—several observers overheard her bitter altercation with Dr. Martin. In Two Bites Too Many, Sarah’s mother was accused of murder. Proving her mother’s innocence was a crash course in how to navigate a police investigation. Wheaton Chief Dwayne Gerard knows Sarah’s propensity to crime-solve on her own so he’s not surprised to see her at yet another murder site. Sarah makes sure Grace lawyers up and then the hard work of tracking down the real murderer begins.

Goldstein deftly presents the precariousness of working in a college environment if you’re an adjunct instructor: you’re a gun for hire with no office and no support. That makes Grace vulnerable to personal observations, like when Martin criticized Grace’s living situation (her partner is female). Grace likes working at the Southwind Restaurant, but she is seriously considering a job offer from unpleasant Jane Clark. Why? Because employment at Jane’s Place comes with health insurance. Four Cuts Too Many is very of the moment, crystallizing the elements that factor into job and lifestyle choices.

For readers who are curious about Sarah’s personal life, it’s in flux. She wonders if her relationship with longtime beau Cliff Rogers doesn’t seem a tad safe. When veterinarian Dr. Glenn Amos asks her out, she’s immediately tempted. Far from juggling the two gentlemen, she forthrightly tells Cliff she intends to re-enter the dating world. Sarah is honest to a fault.

I’m looking forward to learning more about Sarah and her fascinating circle of family and friends in the next Sarah Blair Mystery.

Four Cuts Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein is book four in the 'Sarah Blair Mystery Series' and was a great read! My first in the series I got to meet Sarah who is a receptionist at a company of lawyers as well as doing her bit as co-owner of her twin sister, chef Emily's restaurant, Southwind. She even volunteers at the local animal shelter. I found busy cat lover Sarah extremely likeable and always willing to help. In this instalment, Emily's sous chef, Grace Winston has asked Sarah to meet at the local college, where Grace is teaching knife skills. Grace arrives late then informs her that she has just had an argument with her department head. He is later found dead having been stabbed.

With delectable dishes, such as Sal and Laurie's Tiramisu and also a generous portion of suspects, a Siamese cat named RahRah, rescue dog Fluffy, and murder this was a thoroughly enjoyable page-turner. The plot was solid and entertaining and the characters were a very likeable bunch of folk.

The writing style of Debra H. Goldstein was very appealing and I was perfectly comfortable reading this cozy as a standalone novel. Events and occurrences kept me invested in the story until its fulfilling conclusion. Overall, a delightful cozy read that I highly recommend so dive in as soon as you can!

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Can anything else happen to poor hapless Grace? She gets a job as an adjunct professor at the local community college. During her knife cuts’ demonstration, her boss, Dr. Martin, comes in and causes chaos. He and Grace both get minor cuts. After Grace leaves the classroom, Dr. Martin is found stabbed to death there with knife cuts only a professional chef could achieve. No wonder that Grace is the prime suspect in Four Cuts Too Many.

Sarah, Grace’s boss at her “real job”, has some experience with (amateur) detecting so she vows to find the real killer to keep her friend out of jail. Luckily, Dr. Martin was deciding who would get tenure and who would be out of a job so there are plenty of suspects!

Another great character-driven smooth Southern cozy mystery. See if you can beat Sarah to solve the crime! There are also three recipes: egg salad, tiramisu, and stained-glass jello. Four Cuts Too Many is recommended to cozy mystery fans who want to gently sink into a friendly Southern lifestyle. 4 stars!

Thanks to Kensington Books, Great Escapes Book Tours, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The fourth in the Sarah Blair Mystery series. This book is well plotted, the characters are terrific, and the story line is interesting. It kept me turning the pages.

We have over worked and stretched to the limits, Sarah Blair investigating the death at the college to clear her friend’s name. Sarah is involved in this small town’s community and we see it as the story goes on. I don’t always know why a killer committed the crime, but I am thankful for the amateur’s sleuth list and recap of suspects to keep me in the loop.

Can’t wait for the next installment. This one kept me engaged.

I was given an advanced reader’s copy by Netgalley and am not required to leave a positive review.

I fell in love with this series from the first book. Sarah having to deal with an (late) ex-husband situation, the other woman situation and her fight for Rah-Rah the cat. From there each book has made me love it even more. This time Sarah is trying to keep her friend Grace, a sous chef, out of jail when she is accused of stabbing the nasty director of the culinary school in the back...with her own knife. She was teaching a class so of course her prints are all over the place but then there is the dead man's blood on her chef's jacket. Sarah has her work cut out for her this time but not to worry, with a friend like Sarah and her boss Harlen, a lawyer on her side, the killer won't stay at large for long.
Sarah has come a long way since the first book and I would be happy to call her a friend. Add various other recurring characters like her twin sister, Emily and her mother and this is a series that makes me miss my bedtime every single time a new one comes out. The mystery is always satisfying and has some social issue as part of it. In this case turning an animal shelter into a no-kill shelter and the social lives of senior citizens. Number five in the series already has a spot on my TB R list.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Four Cuts Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein
Publisher: Kensington Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Publication Date: May 25, 2021

Four Cuts Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein is the fourth book in the Sarah Blair Mystery series. I had not read the previous books, but was easily able to read this as a standalone mystery.

This was a fun cozy mystery. There was a lot of moving parts and that made the book really interesting. The mystery was fascinating and kept me guessing until the end. I really liked the characters and look forward to reading more about them.

I look forward to reading the other books in the future!

I'm so grateful to Debra H. Goldstein, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Four Cuts Too Many is another solid addition to Debra H. Goldstein’s Sarah Blair Mysteries. All of my cast favorites are back including Rah Rah and Fluffy. I really enjoyed the scenes with the senior citizens and I love that Goldstein seems to change up the locations in every book, although they still happen in the same Alabama town. The first part of the book had a lot of interesting scenes and development of new characters, which is always fun.

Towards the later half of the book it slows down with Sarah having a lot of introspective moments and going over the suspects again and again. And this book definitely had a lot of suspects, which is a great way to keep the reader guessing as to whodunnit. Another thing that just kind of stood out to me was how apathetic Grace was when it came to being accused of murder. She just gave up, which is unusual since she seemed to be such a fighter in previous books.

Is it horrible to say that I enjoyed when Sarah finally stood up to Jane… for those of you who have been with the series from the beginning??!!

Looking forward to the next book in the series and to seeing what Sarah decides to do when she goes back to college.

Another fun entry in this series about food, cooking and murder. Sarah Blair doesn’t know how to cook and doesn’t want to learn. But as co-owner of her twin sister's restaurant she always seems to be in the middle of something food-related. And lately, crime-related. This time around it’s proving the innocence of sous chef Grace Winston, whose cooking knife is found in the back of the director of the cooking college. Sarah jumps right in to clear Grace’s name. What follows is a fun – and dangerous – adventure full of interesting characters, secret motives and some unexpected revelations. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of Four Cuts Too Many in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This series gets better with each book. I love how Sarah, the main character, has grown in confidence and in the process of finding herself as she has progressed through the books. Her knack for "snooping" keeps her in the center of things especially when a friend is in the limelight as a prime suspect, but following her outside of the mystery is just as entertaining to the reader. The supporting characters, including the animals, are all unique and interesting as well. This plot was even better than the last as there were multiple potential suspects that kept you guessing as you read. I absolutely can't wait to read what comes next for Sarah as she continues on her journey to find her career and ultimately herself.

Four Cuts Too Many is 4th in the Sarah Blair Mystery series by Debra H. Goldstein. The pace is fast and the setting id in Alabama, just outside Birmingham. I have been there several times, and enjoyed the feeling it gave me as I read this installment. Sarah is in a quandary when her friend is suspected of murdering her head of department in her own classroom. She knows Grace couldn't possibly be guilty---but she has to prove it; Sarah has a full plate with her personal life heating up, and the "no kill" animal shelter. The story line is busy, which I love, adding to the fun of untangling the clues to find the culprit. The characters are well fleshed out and keep me excited to read more about them.