After attempting to read the previous book in this series, which I put down due to the blatant & unmitigated stupidity of the characters, I'm surprised that I liked this book. Heck, I'm surprised that I even picked it up to begin with.... I was desperate and out of things to read....

Sarah Booth has lost the child she was carrying, her fiancee Graf, is back in Hollywood working on a film. So her best friend Tinkie & her husband Oscar pay for a luxurious spa & cooking school vacation for both Sarah Booth & Tinkie. They find themselves in the midst of a Beauty & Cooking Pageant, the winner will be Miss Viking Kitchen spokesperson.

There are a bevy of bitchy contestants, rude pranks, and murder all pointing to the same contestant. Sarah Booth & Tinkie take her on as a client, intent of proving her innocent... but then things go awry!

This was another fast, easy & enjoyable read. Nothing in depth, no great literary piece, just pure entertainment. ( )

I think I liked this one the least of all the books in the series. The plot was good, but I missed Zinnia and the ending was a bit of a stretch - even for a series with a ghost in it. Still, this series is a favorite and I'm looking forward to future books. ( )

upgrade from paperback

Sarah Booth and Tinkie try to get away for a few days of rest and relaxation at a cooking school and spa, only to find themselves smack in the middle of a beauty pageant gone terribly wrong with contestants dropping dead all around them. They are hired by the top suspect to prove her innocent and are soon tearing the lid off dirty secrets hidden by a wealthy Delta family that just might be potent enough to spark a string of murders. ( )

Sarah Booth is still trying to recover from her last adventure. Tinkie decides that a trip out of town and some cooking classes would be just the thing. And it would be if a there was not a beauty/cooking contest going on and the the contestants would just stop dropping dead.

Still loving Sarah Booth and all her cast, but there was just too much going on in this book. Cooking classes and beauty queens who cook. There is all the stuff with boyfriends and dogs. I think so much of this was a distraction so we would not solve the murder. Or maybe it was just to keep the stories going. I just wish it had stayed on the mystery more. ( )