I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. The main characters are not likeable to me. There's just too much toxic atmosphere for me. yfamily is composed of disagreeable, dishonorable, unhappy people. No one to like there. She has no real friends. She has the obligatory gay couple next door, one of who she hates. Her long-time boyfriend has just been caught with another woman and dropped by Poppy, and he's the only friend she hangs around with. She has a argumentative, egotistical step-sister who she's trying to save from a murder conviction. Who cares? Not me.

The clues about the eventual perpetrator(s) are there, but the ending was, for me, really, really unsatisfactory. SPOILER ALERT -- SPOILER ALERT -- don't read the rest of this paragraph if you're going to read the book! SPOILER ALERT! I simply do not buy into the villain-du-jour, the real estate developer. Who many doggone books have I read where the bad guy(s) turn out to be real estate developers? What a crock! (No, I am not in the real estate business.)

There are dozens of implausabilities and plot holes. Things that would never really happen routinely occur. It's just not believable.

The book did not hold my attention. I read it in fits and starts, hoping for something to finally show up that I could enjoy, but it never did. I've come to learn that my prejudice against small presses may be deserved... This was a publishable book, but not really good enough to sell to a mainline publisher.

I didn't like it.

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This is one of the best books I have read all year. This is the first book written by Robin Allen, but it seems like she has been writing for years, the writing style is great and there is pretty good character development for a first novel. The MC, Poppy Markham, is a restaurant inspector for the city of Austin, TX. Her father owns a restaurant and is having a grand re-opening after renovations and has a Michelin Star French chef to help out. Poppy is pressed into service on the big night to assist. Of course murder and mayhem follow. The cast of characters is good, the plot is excellent, and there are several subplots that make the book more interesting. I did not figure out "who done it" until the last. One of the really good things about this book is that there is no bad language. None. The closest the author gets is "dang." Recommend it highly.

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