Death greets Clyde almost immediately as a guest dies from an apparent heart attack. Clyde’s reporter instincts kick in and as she begins researching background for her show, she learns the CEO’s death may not have been the first death at the resort, nor is it likely to be the last.

Murder a la Carte isn’t able to settle into what kind of mystery it wants to be: it is part culinary cozy, part romantic comedy with a strong police influence and a very diabolical conclusion that few will see coming. While readers may suspect the who, the why and the how are pretty shocking.

It is pretty hard to get a read on Clyde. At times she acts the sophisticated, successful career woman, at others the spurned ex-wife and sometimes the coquettish flirt. These different sides don’t necessarily make her more multi-faceted and interesting, just confusing.

The cozy backdrop of the cooking show, complete with recipes (containing some ingredients that are most likely very hard to procure north of Florida) belies the darker, more sinister motives behind the crime. Add some light-hearted flirting with Sam that get suddenly very serious and it’s almost as if there are two separate stories competing for the same space.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry