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Fran throws Matt a birthday party at the cafe and invites all of Cape Bay to attend. Halfway into the party, many of the guests become sick, and some end up in the ER. Fran fears the cause was food poisoning, but Detective Mike Stanton informs her that it was actual poison–someone at the party intentionally poisoned the pastries or punch.

Did the perp mean to target one person or to hurt as many people as possible? Did they want to shut down the cafe and destroy her business? Was it someone she knew or a sick stranger?

Whoever it was, Fran had likely met the culprit at her party. And that makes her shudder. When another partygoer ends up dead days later, Fran is on high alert. She must find the murderer before anyone else gets hurt.

I’m a big fan of the Cape Bay Cafe series (obviously–I’m still reading book #9). This one didn’t quite have the punch that the previous books had, though. Some of it could have been the narrator (I listened to the audio, and they switched narrators for this book–it was a hard adjustment). But some of it, I think, was the book itself. For example, Fran and Matt have their biggest argument yet, but we don’t actually get to see it; Fran describes it for us.

Despite the lack of urgency that I felt in this book, I’m hooked and invested in the characters. I still enjoy reading about them and love knowing that the stories will never include content that I have to sensor around family or friends.

Rated PG.

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For more cozy mystery series, check out:

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
Crossed by Death by A.C.F. Bookens