Jackie Griffey, Recipe for Trouble

Recipe for Trouble

Jackie Griffey

Five Star, May 2007, $25.95

ISBN: 159414530X

In Pine County, Tennessee, author Mattie Carrington plans to write a cookbook, but before she can escape to her hideaway cabin, the house she shares with her sister Katie explodes. Not long after that incident in which no one was hurt but damage to the kitchen occurred, Mattie is rushed to the hospital poisoned in what appears to have been caused by a relative as no one else had access to the writer.

County Sheriff Cas Larkin investigates the poisoning, but finds the sisters' attorney Laurence Fields in his way as the latter tries to protect the Carrington siblings and their cousins Connie and Mayne Anderson, who are the prime suspects. Still refusing to allow anyone from preventing him from doing his job, Cas keeps digging while insuring the Carrington sisters are safe because he believes a very resolute killer wants Mattie dead although the motive remains a mystery.

RECIPE FOR TROUBLE is an interesting, regional cozy starring several female relatives and a male sheriff trying to keep them safe. Fans who prefer action will pass on Jackie Griffey's tale that focuses more on a deep look at the interrelationships between the four females, even, for instance, when the house explodes. Cas is terrific once his police procedural investigation starts but the targeted audience is more for those who appreciate a family drama with late suspense from someone trying to kill the author.

Harriet Klausner