Four Cuts Too Many

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By Debra H. Goldstein

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Publisher Description

Sarah Blair gets an education in slicing and dicing when someone in culinary school serves up a main corpse in Wheaton, Alabama . . .

Between working as a law firm receptionist, reluctantly pitching in as co-owner of her twin sister’s restaurant, and caretaking for her regal Siamese RahRah and rescue dog Fluffy, Sarah has no time to enjoy life’s finer things. Divorced and sort-of dating, she’s considering going back to school. But as a somewhat competent sleuth, Sarah’s more suited for criminal justice than learning how many ways she can burn a meal.

Although she wouldn’t mind learning some knife skills from her sous chef, Grace Winston. An adjunct instructor who teaches cutlery expertise in cooking college, Grace is considering accepting an executive chef’s position offered by Jane Clark, Sarah’s business rival—and her late ex-husband’s lover. But Grace’s future lands in hot water when the school’s director is found dead with one of her knives in his back. To clear her friend’s name, Sarah must sharpen her own skills at uncovering an elusive killer . . .

Includes quick and easy recipes!

“The Sarah Blair mysteries are such a perfect blend of wit, fun, intrigue, and mouth-watering food descriptions that cozy fans will be eager for another helping.”
—Ellery Adams, New York Times bestselling author

4 Reviews

4.0

Lisa Gillette-Martin

Created over 3 years ago

“Debra H. Goldstein has come up with another winning entry in the Sarah Blair mystery series. In "Four Cuts Too Many," Sarah once again puts on her amateur sleuth hat in an effort to help her friend Grace Winston, a sous chef at the Southwind restaurant owned by Sarah and her sister Emily. Grace has been teaching a class in knife skills for the culinary program at the local college and following her dustup with a widely disliked professor at the school, he's subsequently found dead from expert stab wounds in the classroom where their argument had taken place. All signs point to Grace as the assailant, but Sarah doesn't believe she's a killer and starts looking into the murder. The series' fun cast of characters is back, including Sarah's cat RahRah and rescue puppy Fluffy; Sarah and Emily's mother, Maybelle, and her suitor, George; Sarah's boss at her day job, attorney Harlan Endicott; police Chief Gerard; and Sarah's nemesis, Jane Clark, owner of rival restaurant Jane's Place, located right across the street from Southwind. There are a number of new characters, too, many of whom are associated with the college, which plays a key role in the storyline as well as Jane's latest effort to show up Southwind. The series is set in the fictional town of Wheaton, Alabama, and each time I visit it again in one of these books, it comes across as a charming place that would be fun to visit. One thing that recurs throughout the books is Sarah's love of animals, and in this installment, she and Harlan (and many others) are involved in an effort to make the town shelter 100% no-kill, which is a cause close to my heart, as all my own animals are rescues. I like that Sarah and Harlan volunteer to walk rescue dogs every Saturday morning -- if I lived there, I'd want to join in! I enjoyed this mystery. The tie-in between the restaurants and the college's culinary and hospitality programs is an interesting one. I didn't know who the killer was until near the end, when more of the various characters' motivations become apparent. The conclusion is satisfying, with a hint that Sarah's love life may be heading in a new direction. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the next book!”

Bookish Bunny

Created over 3 years ago

“Four Cuts Too Many by Jeannette de Beauvoir is the fourth book in her Sarah Blair mystery series. Sarah, the main character, is expecting to simply meet with her friend Grace about an issue she wants to talk about. While things happen in that vein, it seems that things take a turn when Sarah learns that her friend had a bit of a fight with another campus employee who has now ended up dead by cheese knife. Sarah is determined to help protect her friend and find out who the real culprit is. With lots of twists and turns, this task won't be easy. Four Cuts too Many are the first book that I have read by this author and while it took me a bit to get into this storyline I did enjoy it once it got going. The story started off a bit slower than I'd have liked, things begin to progress once Sarah's friend is having a sit down with Harlan. The characters are already established in their relationships so I was playing a bit of catch-up. While there were moments that the characters annoyed me, I also felt that the author does a good job making them true to life in a sense. The mystery element of the story is well done because you don't really know who committed the crime until the perfect reveal moment. That is probably the biggest upside to this story. I'm probably so used to authors who tell their stories in the first person (I) that I felt that telling from a distance threw me off a bit and so it took me a little longer to get into the storyline. I have to admit that Sarah and Grace got on my nerves at times in the story. Grace after the murder and with the lawyer, Harlan. The author has Sarah point out that it's not Grace's first run-in with the law, so I don't get Grace's resistance to telling the whole story to Harlan who is simply trying to help her. It just comes off as her being stubborn and stupid. Then Sarah seems a bit all over the place. It appears that she and her mother don't have a good relationship overall, but she's quick to be negative in certain situations and balk before she has all the facts/information. It caused me to dislike her during those moments because it just felt like she was being mean and acting like no one but her has any sense. I'm choosing to rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. The moments/situations with Grace and Sarah just stuck with me a bit too much for me to shake. I felt that they were being difficult just to be difficult regardless of the situation. So that took away from my enjoyment of the story. The mystery element and the surprise of who the ultimate culprit was are definite benefits to the story. I love the animal aspect of the story, so I will probably go back and read the previous books in this series. Who knows I might change my mind a little about Grace and Sarah. If you have read the previous books in this series and enjoyed it then I'm sure that you'll enjoy this installment.”

Bookn.All.Night

Created over 3 years ago

“Such a fun series. Murder. Food. Rah-Rah & Fluffy. Mysteries to solve and people to irritate”

Melina Mason

Created almost 4 years ago

“This is the fourth installment in the Sarah Blair Mystery series. This one was just as good as the previous three in the series. In this one, Grace Winston, the sous chef at Southwind, is teaching a knife handling class at the local community college. Grace asks Sarah to come to the college one morning after her class because she had something she wanted to speak to Sarah about. When Grace finally comes out to speak Sarah, she is rattled. When he two go back up to Grace’s classroom, the head of the department is found stabbed to death in Grace’s classroom. Grace becomes the prime suspect. Sarah, of course, must investigate and even though she wants to stay out of the fray, several people ask her to help solve the murder. This book has a well thought out plot and was well written. This one kept my attention from the beginning until the very last page. This was one I did not want to put down, because I could not wait to find out what happened next. Most of the same great cast of characters are in this one, with a few new characters from the college thrown in. The setting of this series is kind of intriguing, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. The main character, Sarah, is a well-rounded and likable character. Of course, Rah Rah and Fluffy are in this one as well. They, of course, make the story even more interesting. I can honestly say, I could not guess who the killer was until the reveal at the end of the book. It came as a total surprise to me. This is probably one of my favorite series, and I am looking forward to more in this wonderful series. I received a complimentary copy of this book.”

About Debra H. Goldstein

Judge Debra H. Goldstein writes Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series. She is also the author of Should Have Played Poker and IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Her short stories, including Anthony and Agatha nominated “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place,” have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies. An active Birmingham, Alabama, civic volunteer, Debra also serves on the national boards of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, and is president of SEMWA and past president of SinC’s Guppy Chapter.