February 15, 2022
Middle-aged Poppy McAllister, proprietor of the Butterfly Wings Bed and Breakfast in Cape May, New Jersey, has her hands full with an obstreperous cook, a useless maid, her former mother-in-law, an eccentric aunt and her friends, and a group of challenging, somewhat nutty guests and their cats. Plus, her hunky Italian boyfriend's family seems determined to keep them apart, and he is hit on whenever they go out. To make matters worse, she is present once again when a body--that of a local antiques dealer--is found at an auction she is attending. She investigates, at the request of the victim's aunt and against the wishes of the police, becoming even more determined to solve the crime when she is threatened. Is the killer a family member, another antiques dealer, or someone to whom the victim owes money? Poppy handles her many challenges with grace, becoming surer of her boyfriend's love in the process. A cast of wacky characters, plenty of humor, and the antiques and B&B frame provide the appeal. The story concludes with a selection of gluten-free recipes.
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Starred review from December 15, 2021
A Cape May B&B looks more and more like an insane asylum. Poppy McAllister runs the Butterfly Wings Bed and Breakfast with her eccentric Aunt Ginny, whose Victorian home is perfect for the purpose. Aunt Ginny's oddball friends are always getting Poppy in trouble, and this time, Thelma Davis, whose relatives are deep into the antiques trade, involves her in yet another murder. Thelma's brother, prizewinning gardener Courtney, has two children who are already fighting over their inheritance and a stepdaughter desperate to get pregnant. There seems to be nothing Courtney's son Auggie won't do to inherit the family antiques business, so when his lifeless body tumbles out of an armoire in the middle of an auction at Adams Galleries, stabbed with a priceless stake from a vampire-hunting kit, Poppy has a plethora of suspects. Nor is murder her only problem. A widow with a body image problem, she can't believe her gorgeous boyfriend, Gia, really loves her. Her latest group of guests are all kooks, her cook hates her, and the chambermaid has such a bad case of sunburn that Poppy has to press her late husband's mother, who's never cleaned anything in her life, into service. Competing dealer Grover Prickle certainly had it in for Auggie, as does Blake Adams, the auction house owner, and yes, there are even more enemies. Overrun with Courtney's gifts of kohlrabi and her nonstop annoying guests, Poppy struggles to crack the case. Suspects and recipes galore don't make up for zanies who strain belief in a story ripe for some judicious pruning.
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