This was a fun mystery! I have heard great things about the rest of the series and look forward to reading more. I would like to get more of the backstory that comes in the series. Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Chef Sally Solari inherited the French-Polynesian restaurant, Gauguin, after the death of her aunt. Her father was none too pleased that she left the family’s Italian seafood restaurant located on the historic Fisherman’s Wharf. He’s got another gripe now—customers don’t like stepping over homeless people who are sleeping in the doorways and hurting business.

When a fundraiser is set up to help the unhoused and seniors, Sally is happy to help. The event is a farm-to-table dinner at the hot new restaurant and culinary bookstore, Pages and Plums. A highlight of the evening is the auction. One hot item up for bid is a signed boxset of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. It’s kept inside a locked case so bidders can see but not touch.

There’s a rather ugly argument but it’s settled quickly—or at least, it appeared to be. Sally goes into the restaurant for more supplies and finds the manager dead on the floor and the locked case empty. Julia has left the building.

The question is, was Julia worth killing for. The item was likely to bring in a couple thousand dollars but that hardly seems to be sufficient motive. When Sally finds the autographed pages loose in the alley, it really becomes a puzzle.

In the meantime, Sally’s boyfriend, Eric, is on enforced rest after a run-in with a surfboard. He is not the type to sit quietly and watch daytime talk shows. He’s unhappy in his job but loathe to make a change—or accept suggestions.

Eric and Sally were a couple, then not, and are now together again. This time it looks like it could be for good. Sunday dinners with Nonna and the rest of the family, the camaraderie in the kitchens, and Sally’s dog liven up the pages.

At the back of the book are recipes for Salad Nicoise, seared bok choy with Asian-inspired glaze, risotto with chanterelles and peas, grilled steak and veggies with creamy garlic-lime sauce, and grilled peaches with balsamic plum black pepper reduction.

This is book six in the series. Between the characters, the current events storyline, and the recipes, you’ll be hungering for more.

The book starts strong and it's very engaging and the mystery is there.

I am afraid as the book went on I lost my interest. I found it becoming a bit tedious and instead of picking up pace it just slowed it. I dnf it on like 75%. I just couldn't get into it after that much.

Sally runs a restaurant, but keeps finding bodies and problems. The problems stem from the number of homeless people in the area she lives in and whether they are connected to the murder of the dining room manager of a restaurant who was hosting a charity meal to raise funds to address the problem. My main criticism is how does Sally manage to run a restaurant and spend all her time looking for clues!

A Sense for Murder by Leslie Karst is Book 6 n the Sally Solari Mystery series.

I really enjoy Sally as the main character. She is a great amateur sleuth.

I love the setting and Sally's strength from being a lawyer to following her dreams to be a chef/restauranter.

The mystery was great.

I loved it!

Characters were relatable and fun. Loved all the details on the Italian food. Love this story and look forward to what the author has in store next.

Sally Solari becomes involved in a fundraiser culinary event in which there is a dead body. This book brings in the problems surrounding the homeless we have now. There are some interesting scenes in her restaurant that work as background. Most of the actual sleuthing seems a bit forced. Sally goes around asking lots of obvious questions. The conclusion seemed a bit far-fetched to me. It was an okay read if you don't want to think too much and just have a beach read.

To do a little bit more for homeless people than to show respect for them as human beings, Sally Solari volunteers to help with a benefit dinner where proceeds will for to projects for the homeless. Sadly, at the end of the dinner one of the employees of the restaurant that is hosting the event is found dead, and one of the silent auction items - a signed first edition of <em>Mastering the Art of French Cooking</em> - is missing.

The lead detective asks/tells her not to get involved. One of the owners of the restaurant cum bookshop that hosted the event asks Sally to get involved. Sally is torn, not much, and starts to ask some questions left and right.

Meanwhile she also has to deal with her boyfriend, Eric. He suggested to move in together, but neither likes to live in the other’s place. Then Eric suffers a blow to the head while surfing.

Eh, what to think of this story? It was number six of a series, so many established characters and relationships. It was easy enough to read as a stand-alone, though there were lingering moments of “there’s more to that backstory than explained here”. It’s probably meant to entice to read the previous books. It worked in a way (I though about it), but I don’t think I will in actuality. I didn’t get much of a sense for Sally Solari, other than that she is a bit of a do-gooder and always the right person in the right place.

Okay, except when she was attacked while walking her dog. Or when she went to confront the murderer. Despite Nicole’s assertions that could have ended differently.

And how do you hide a phone in your bra? These days phones are huge, and men notice breasts (and rectangular things sized 3 by 6 inches near them). Men in relationships too. Just saying.

As much as I wanted to enjoy this one, I had to DNF it after 50 pages. The writing was too flowery for my personal liking. I'd recommend it to readers who do enjoy the lighter writing style with their murder mysteries. With the MC being a chef and owning her own restaurant I think fans of Joanne Fluke or Vivien Chien would enjoy this. What I did enjoy was the recipe included in the book to try.

Thank you to Severn House for the digital ARC.

In my opinion, this was not great. It was okay, the descriptive writing was good, especially about the food and it was nice to include recipes at the end. Unfortunately, the dialogue was terrible. There were so many times when someone said something and I thought 'who says that?' or 'no one would say that', whether it was a specific word (like when a character said 'simply scrumptious' and the MC was like 'ah yes she picked that up in the UK'... as a UK reader... what??). This bad dialogue really took me out of the story and had me skipping over most of the talking parts, which unfortunately was the majority of the book. But I persevered, hoping that the plot would kind of make up for the bad dialogue.

However, I thought that most of the 'detective work' that Sally did in this book made no sense. All that she did was go and talk to someone, find out one piece of information, and tell everyone around her this information. Not a very good idea to tell your prime suspects everything you've found out. I also didn't connect to or like any of the characters in this. This is the 6th book in the series though, so maybe I would've liked the characters more if I had read the other books. But Eric seemed like a terrible boyfriend, Sally was annoying, I didn't particularly like any of the side characters. I did love her dog though.

Plot-wise, I liked that there was an underlying theme of helping the homeless. I was interested in the fact that there was a murder and two very expensive cookbooks were stolen. Unfortunately, the cookbooks didn't end up being that important, and I didn't like that the person who ended up being the murderer did so through hypnosis... it's just not believable. So overall, I had to give this 2 stars because I struggled to get through it due to the slow, dialogue-heavy plot and the badly written dialogue. I do think the author did a great job with some of the plot, including giving us a few red herrings to keep us on our toes about who the murderer was. I just think it could've been improved some more.

One of the worst things I’ve ever read in my life

After chapter 2 I was done with it- yes, that early on in the book I began to hate it

When Sally Solari hears about the farm-to-fork fundraiser that the new restaurant in Santa Cruz is hosting, she immediately volunteers to help with the cooking for the event. As a result, she on hand when someone steals one of the auction items – a signed set of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking – killing a member of the restaurant’s staff as well. Can Sally figure out what happened?

The book takes a bit of time setting up the suspects, but it isn’t too long before the body is found and things really pick up. There were several puzzling twists on the way to the satisfying climax. I was anxious to see how Sally’s relationship with her new boyfriend was going to go. I appreciated that their storyline didn’t drag their conflict out too much. The rest of the cast was great; we mostly focus on the suspects, and they kept me guessing. The book touches on the issue of the homeless, and I felt it did a good job of presenting the concerns fairly, which I appreciated. We also dabble a little with the sixth sense in this book, but it didn’t go so far that it bothered me or took this book out of the real world. There are five gourmet recipes at the end to enjoy later. This series was always intended to be a six book series, and if the author does stick with that, fans will be happy with where Sally winds up here.

Another murder and Sally was on the case again, this time with Eric who was getting kinda disgruntled with his own job and didn’t seem as anxious to get her away from the case this time. I had someone in mind once the pieces started falling together and I was right about whodunit. It was great to visit a little with Nichole and Mei this time too and while they weren’t in the book for much of the time, the time they did spend was very useful!

The showdown was really awesome! Sally came prepared with backup, so said backup effectively took care of the perp while the police got there. The side story of Sally missing her Aunt Letta was kinda sad and sweet because of what she and Eric were planning as far as moving in together. They’d kept coming to a standstill since Sally absolutely wouldn’t give up Letta’s house, and I can’t say I blame her for that. Leave it to Dad to have an awesome solution that made everyone happy.

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

Gauguin's Sally Solari is surprised to find homeless people near her family's Italian seafood restaurant. She seizes upon the chance to volunteer at Pages and Plums' fundraising dinner to have an organization aiding the homeless. The top auction item is a signed boxset of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Sally's culinary hero Julia Child. But before the auction starts, the dining room manager turns up dead & the books are missing.

There are plenty of possible suspects at the fundraising dinner. Sally is a determined, feisty amateur sleuth who balances work responsibilities with finding the killer.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Severn House. All opinions are my own.

Another solid mystery featuring Sally Solari. I was glad to catch up with the characters, had fun and the mystery kept me guessing.
Very enjoyable and entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Sally Solari is a chef and an amateur sleuth.
She is invited to help cook at a charity evening in a fashionable new restaurant/ culinary bookshop but as you may have guessed all doesn’t go to plan and a murder and robbery takes place. Sally can’t resist looking in to the case and trying to find the perpetrator.
This book is an enjoyable and easy to read cosy mystery.
A mixture of murder and cooking make for the perfect combination.
A must read for lovers of the cosy mystery genre .
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House.

A Sense for Murder is the first book I’ve read by author Leslie Karst, and I’ll be back for more, especially since this is the sixth book in the series. With likable characters, lots of Italian food, an amateur sleuth, and a great setting, what’s not to like?

The book had multiple stories being told and quite a few characters, all of whom had depth. Sally and Eric made a nice couple. They have a history together and were good for each other while usually having the other’s best interests in mind.

Sally is an amateur sleuth, a former attorney, and a chef at an upscale restaurant she co-owns. She has a clever mind and a way of sorting through the details of whatever crime she’s trying to solve. She even gets Eric to help her and provide backup. She’s always one step ahead of the detective—someone she used to date—on the case. I liked Sally’s relationship with her family and their Sunday family dinner tradition.

There were twists and turns throughout, along with a few inconsistencies. There were several clues to sift through, timelines, jobs and careers, friendships, family, Sally’s dog, which added another layer, homelessness, and lots of food, both at the various restaurants in the story and at their homes.

The descriptions were vivid and brought the story to life. There was closure, of course, when Sally solved the crimes, but the whodunnit had me fooled. I look forward to seeing what she’s up to next. I enjoyed the recipes at the end and liked that some background information was given for each one. I definitely plan on giving a few of them a try.

With a murder, lots of suspects, good food, and clues to sift through, A Sense of Murder had me turning the pages of this cozy mystery to find out what would happen next.

Sally Solari is at it again! After an argument with her dad around the underhoused in their community, Sally, a lawyer turned chef/restaurateur decides to put her money where her mouth is, and volunteers at a benefit for a charity raising funds for the underhoused community. Among the delicious offerings at the event are a signed set of Julia Child cookbooks. Unexpectedly, one of the restaurant staff members turns up dead. Despite being warned off by her former beau, the investigating detective, and her current beau, a lawyer chafing at his current job, Sally ends up pulled into helping solve the mystery.

If you are a foodie, you will get some extra enjoyment out of this culinary cozy mystery. The descriptions of the food are lush, and recipes are included. This is an engaging read, and the author makes an effort to bring the serious issue of housing shortages into the mystery, with some success. There is a variety of supporting characters but they are not as well drawn as they could be, and that can make it challenging to keep them straight. Some of the strongest writing in the book is the terrific sense the author gives of what it's like to work in the kitchen of a popular restaurant, and keeping all the balls in the air in that process. Unfortunately, those scenes and characters aren't terribly pertinent to the plot. Overall, this is a charming beach read, which might provoke the reader into thinking more about the housing crisis, or trying a new recipe or two. 3.5 stars.

Sally thought the fund raiser for the homeless would be, if not fun, at least a good thing but then there's a murder and a priceless (well, there is a price for most everything) set of signed Julia Child cookbooks is stolen! Who in Santa Cruz would killed a dining room manager - was it to get the books or for some other reason? Sally can't help herself; she must investigate! This is classic cozy territory with a good protagonist, a restaurant, and a romantic interest so even those reading this as a standalone should be able to hop in and appreciate it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A nice addition to the series.

A SENSE FOR MURDER by Leslie Karst

I’m now coveting a signed first edition of Julia Child, a fictional treasure, within a work of fiction that feels almost too real. I’m also coveting some of the meals, and eying the recipes in the back. There’s serious crime to solve, friends to help, dangers to face . . . a satisfying mystery and resolution.
On a more real and serious note, the issue of homelessness or “the unhoused” is very real and likely to become more so as housing costs rise and earnings do not. It’s a problem that cannot be solved easily, but raising awareness is a start.