"Bad news for Samantha Warren: The plucky Houston, Texas, reporter lost her job and her fianc??? in rapid succession. But Sam has a way of making lemonade out of the bitterest of lemons. At a meeting of the local historical-homes council, she serves up the homemade bitters that she made as gifts for her wedding party. She intends to use that as her "in" to become an in-demand party mixologist. But the party's over for one of the council members, who keels over dead soon after he sips the bereft bride's bitter brew. It turns ...
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"Bad news for Samantha Warren: The plucky Houston, Texas, reporter lost her job and her fianc??? in rapid succession. But Sam has a way of making lemonade out of the bitterest of lemons. At a meeting of the local historical-homes council, she serves up the homemade bitters that she made as gifts for her wedding party. She intends to use that as her "in" to become an in-demand party mixologist. But the party's over for one of the council members, who keels over dead soon after he sips the bereft bride's bitter brew. It turns out that the victim, Mark, was poisoned--his drink spiked with oleander Sam mixed the drink that Mark imbibed right before his demise, she finds herself at the front of the suspect line. Now, she'll have to use all of her reporter's wisdom and wiles to clear her name. Who could have wanted Mark dead? His wife, Gabby? His girlfriend, Darcy? Someone who wanted his seat on the council? Or another citizen of this sweet Texas town that holds some seedy secrets? Job hunting, building her mixology business, and fending off late-night phone calls from her nearly betrothed don't leave much time for sleuthing. But if Sam can't "pour" over the clues to find the killer, it may soon be last call for her"--
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 304 p. A Cocktails and Catering Mystery. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
Fine. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 304 p. A Cocktails and Catering Mystery. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Minimal signs of wear. Corners and cover may show wear. May contain highlighting and or writing. May be missing dust jacket. May not include supplemental materials. May be a former library book.
Readers are introduced to former Houston reporter Samantha Warren and her friends Marisa and Beth. Samantha was supposed to be getting married but her fiance decided to back out of his commitment leaving her with a ton of heartache. She does have a very interesting hobby of making unique bitters to add to drinks. She had made and bottled a huge batch to use as party favors for her wedding. Stuck with 300 bottles of cherry vanilla bitters Beth and Marisa talk her into being a last-minute replacement to serve cocktails at the Highland Historic Home Tour. She can get rid of her surplus and may find someone interested in buying her products and hiring her to be a party mixologist.
The historic homes party is very well attended and patrons are loving Sam's drinks until one of the council members becomes ill and later dies. While cleaning up and emptying glasses as the party ends Beth finds a glass containing oleander, a deadly poisonous flower. While Sam would never even consider bringing that flower to any party she still becomes a prime suspect in the man's death. She quickly realizes she needs to tap into her reporter talents to find out who would want the man dead and how they did it in the middle of a crowded event. She is also dealing with her ex's phone calls and the feelings she still has for him. Add to that building her mixology business she has her hands full.
Growing up my parents owned a tavern and helping out behind the bar I learned that a dash of bitters was important in drinks like an Old Fashioned. Since then the bitters field has grown to now include several different flavors. In A Dash of Death Samantha is passionate about coming up with as many new and exciting flavors as she can and developing signature drinks to use them in. I was very intrigued by this new cozy mystery theme immediately. Samantha comes up with some crazy concoctions and most of them really work.
Samantha is an interesting protagonist. Losing her reporter job nine months prior to losing her fiance really turned her life upside down and she really needs time to adjust. That may be why I had such a hard time connecting with her at first. She was starting to grow on me by the end of the story. As her life gets more on track I know she will be more identifiable. Thankfully the author surrounded her with a strong supporting cast. Her friends have her back and I really enjoyed any time the three of them were together. Samantha also meets someone new that could be pivotal in her life going forward.
The mystery was well-plotted. Samantha's reporter skills come in handy as she tried to find the killer. A surprise lawsuit shakes things up a bit but my focus was continually drawn to one person. For the life of me though I couldn't figure out their motive without a bunch more clues being revealed. I really did enjoy following along with Sam step by step until everything clicked into place. Ms. Klump did an excellent job of giving Samantha different theories to present to the police in hopes of drawing their attention away from herself. It is clear to see the author's journalism background in the way her protagonist attacks her investigation. I really enjoyed the descriptive style of writing that brought the story to life in so many ways.
Ms. Klump has set this series off to a wonderful start. I really want to get to know Samantha better and to see her succeed and be happy. She and Beth seem to have a plan and I hope they can make it work because you know with a cozy mystery series they are going to face their share of dead bodies. I think this author and this series have a lot of promise and I am looking forward to wherever she takes her characters next.
