May’s neighbor Mrs. Berkowitz is the oddest of all. A recluse, Mrs. Berkowitz seems to know the most intimate details of May’s life with her husband. Her newfound friends try to warn her away from the old nut, but it is not until after Mrs. Berkowitz is found dead, presumably from eating brownies meant for May that the gang tells May they were all being blackmailed by the old woman.

To assuage her guilt, and to avoid being the police’s number one suspect, May neglects to call them immediately after finding Mrs. Berkowitz’s body. With a little help from her friends, she decides to get to the bottom of where the rat-poisoned brownies came from and why someone left them on her doorstep. Along the way, May realizes Mrs. Berkowitz couldn’t have been acting alone and, without realizing it, stumbles onto something even bigger that leads to a very surprising conclusion.

Death for Dessert has all the elements of a traditional cozy, but somehow they never quite come together. May has a lot of good qualities, though they are lost during her constant eating and then complaining to herself about what she has eaten. Her new neighbors are a quirky bunch, and while the dead woman was blackmailing each of them, no one is presented as having more of a motive than anyone else.

The plot is awkward, and while it tries to be a comedy of errors, situations appear more foolish and staged than anything else. There is one possible suspect lurking in the bushes, but his identity is revealed much like pulling the mask off of a superhero. May’s tendency to jump to conclusions causes a lot of trouble for herself and there is no indication once every thing is straightened out that she has learned a lesson and will try and amend her ways.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry