Reviews

• This is the first book I have read from this author but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters and the little village where they live is well described. Makes me want to visit this beautiful spot. I am currently reading the second book Crime Rib and it is just as good.

• Pour le lire

• Small-town flavor embraces this cozy mystery set on a beautiful lake in northwestern Montana. If you go looking for the town, you may well find a place very similar. But even in the idyllic fictional village of Jewel Bay, paradise has a problem. Erin has just left a job in the city of Seattle to return to her hometown and help her mother run the Merc, a food and gift shop that’s been in the family for a hundred years, built by her great-grandfather, who opened it as the town’s first grocery store. Erin wants to upgrade the shop, selling healthy Montana foods and locally made gifts. But she and her mother clash immediately over the changes. As in any small town, certain conflicts arise between the citizens, but when a former employee shows up dead in the alley behind the Merc on the night of their big festival, conflict has risen to a new level. Erin’s girlhood friend Kim, now in law enforcement, takes on the case. But their friendship has cooled, and now Kim seems focused on Erin’s mother as the probable killer. Erin can’t believe that, and because of her doubts about Kim, she takes it upon herself to search for the killer herself. A dangerous decision. Author Leslie Budewitz leads the reader through many a twist and turn as Erin follows clues that lead into a tangled mess of secrets in the lives of people she thought she knew. Erin also loves good food, and Budewitz offers some of her favorite recipes in the back of the book. It’s a good read and will leave cozy mystery lovers anxious for the next in the series, Crime Rib.

• This was a fun read. It's the first in a very novel offering of cozy books set around a food theme. First of all, it's set in Montana, Second, Erin Murphy is the protagonist who comes home to help her mother run an Italian influenced mercantile store. In other words, don't let the Murphy throw you. She comes by her Italian roots honestly from her mother's side of the family. I loved this book, the characters, and the plot. Budewitz starts with a tight group, then hurls the net wide. This is a tourist town after all. Gradually, with the skill of a true fisherman, she draws the net closer to the protagonist, putting her and all around her in danger. By the last few chapters of the book, you'll find yourself furiously turning the pages unable to stop until you know the killer, and the motive. Wonderful job by a first time author. I would have given this a five star rating. I enjoyed it that much, but I wanted to have room to grow for book two - Crime Rib. As an aside, Budewitz's settings are so real that the night before I finished the book, I dreamt of the characters and found myself shopping in the mercantile. Good job.

• After several restarts of this book, I have to say that I wasn’t entirely sold on ‘Death Al Dente.’ My first issue was that I didn’t particularly connect with the novel’s characters. I especially found Erin to be slightly narcissistic and pretentious; seemingly concerned more about the murder's effect on her business than on the actual victim. As a reader, it struck me the wrong way. As for the actual plot, I felt that there wasn't a lot of action or investigation; a lot of the mystery aspect of the book appeared to take place inside Erin's head which was disappointing. However, with that in mind, once the story did pick up in the last quarter and the ball started rolling, I found that I started to enjoy myself - it just took way too long to get to that point, though. Overall, I was somewhat let down by Death Al Dente, but I'm willing to give the series a second chance by

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