What do you do if you’re a restaurateur who has lost your sense of smell? In the case of Sally Solari, the amateur sleuth in Leslie Karst’s The Fragrance of Death, she sticks her nose in everyone’s business.
It was only a cold, followed by a sinus infection, but Sally, co-owner of Gauguin, lost her sense of smell and taste. Anytime is the wrong time for someone in her business to lose that, but Sally is about to compete in Santa Cruz’ Artichoke Cook-Off. Hopefully, her food will turn out okay.
Oh, Sally’s food turns out fine, but the competition is over for the owner of a neighboring booth. Sally knew Neil Lerici since she was in high school and a friend of his sister, Grace. But, first one of the baskets of Neil’s fried artichokes burned. Then, he was found dead behind the booths in the trash area. Of course, Sally went to the wake for Neil. And, maybe the conversations she overheard will help Detective Martin Vargas in his investigation. In fact, he even asks Sally to keep an ear out.
But, Sally is a little too zealous, and she risks alienating everyone, even Vargas. She follows people, lies to others, and suspects everyone, even her own father, of being involved with the Lerici family. And, the more she digs up about arguments about the family property, the more invested she becomes in the case.
The Fragrance of Death is the fifth Sally Solari mystery. I certainly felt sorry for someone in the food business who can’t smell or taste food. But, Sally herself was a little too fanatical when it came to investigating the case. She hadn’t been around anyone in the Lerici family for years, but her friendship years earlier with Grace encouraged her to snoop. But, she took unnecessary risks that encouraged a killer to track her. Sally’s meddling and blabbing in the wrong places put her in danger. It was just a case of TSTL, Too Stupid to Live.
Fans of the series will be eager to pick up the next book, and follow Sally’s continuing investigative adventures. She’s just not my kind of amateur sleuth.
Leslie Karst’s website is https://www.lesliekarstauthor.com/
The Fragrance of Death by Leslie Karst. Severn House, 2022. ISBN 9781448309030 (hardcover), 224p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a copy from the publicist, with no promise of a positive review.
Back a little over a decade ago, I knew a guy who quit teaching to open his own restaurant in the area. Made it through the first year and things were going great. He then got a cold and used that zinc based spray up the nose deal that was sold over the counter and all the rage. Wiped out his sense of smell and taste as happens to some folks. He ended up having to sell out and quit working as a Chef as his taste and smell never came back. As one who lost his for nine months due to Bronchitis, the idea that could happen forever and does, is horrible.
Oh, that’s awful, Kevin. And, I’m sorry that it happened to you as well as him.
Omg! Kevin, that is beyond horrible. I have lost my sense of smell except for a few things. Can still smell pipe and cigarettes, laundry detergent and few others cannot smell many flowers and a lot of foods.