Murder Served Neat: A Cocktails and Catering Mystery

Klump’s spirited sequel to 2021’s A Dash of Death finds journalist-turned-mixologist Samantha Warren enlisted to run a craft cocktail booth at the German Lodge’s Fourth of July celebration in Highlands, Tex. While demand for Samantha’s festive “red, white, and blue layered cocktail” is strong, tension among lodge members is at an all-time high over the plan to use part of the land earmarked to preserve German Texas heritage as the site of an exclusive, country club–style tennis center. When a public argument between Patty Davis, who’s against the tennis center, and Angela Clawson, who’s for the tennis center, becomes a physical altercation, Samantha worries that her community will never heal from the rift the tennis center has caused. After Angela is found dead at the bottom of the hole dug for the tennis stadium and the police name Patty the prime suspect, Samantha, fresh from solving her first murder, reluctantly agrees to help exonerate Patty, her mother’s best friend. Klump matches realistic characters with convincing motives that induce doubt, distract, and engage along the way to the clever ending. Cozy fans will find plenty to like. Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary. (Feb.)