Sliced Vegetarian

June 15, 2015
Daisy Arthur and her love interest, Lt. Gabe Caerphilly of the Littleton, Colo., PD, lock horns more than lips in Malik’s enjoyable but flawed second mystery starring the retired special education teacher (after 2013’s Faith on the Rocks). Late one night, Gabe’s special-needs adult daughter, Ginny, appears on Daisy’s doorstep with her blood-covered boyfriend, Brian Hughes, another special-needs adult. Both of them work at Gigantos, where Brian’s advocate, vegetarian Cissy Melato, has been stabbed to death in the supermarket’s bathroom. Between Gabe’s shock at Ginny having a boyfriend and the considerable evidence pointing to Brian, Gabe wastes no time arresting him for murder. But Daisy believes in Brian’s innocence and sets out to find the real killer. While the characters don’t always act realistically (e.g., Gabe allows Daisy to keep the address book they find in the murdered woman’s apartment), Daisy and friends are sure to win the hearts of cozy readers.

June 1, 2015
Proving the innocence of a special needs young man turns an amateur writer into an even more amateur sleuth. As if Daisy Arthur doesn't have enough to deal with, a late-night knock at her door while she's reading the harsh criticism of fellow novice writer Dan Block ushers in a whole new set of problems. Daisy can't possibly turn away her visitor, Ginny Caerphilly, her former special needs student and daughter of her sort-of boyfriend, Gabriel. When Ginny asks for help on behalf of her boyfriend, Brian, Daisy still can't say no, though she has to lure Brian out from hiding in the trees before he'll talk. Brian seems traumatized, and like Ginny, he has some developmental delays, so the most Ginny can get out of him is something about Mississippi. As soon as Brian takes off his coat and reveals that he's smeared in blood, Daisy realizes that she has to call Gabe. Not only would he want to be there as Ginny's father and Daisy's whatever, but he's also a Littleton police lieutenant. Daisy, Ginny, and Brian meet Gabe and his partner, Linda, at Gigantos, the grocery store where Ginny and Brian work. There, Gabe and Linda begin their investigation of Brian's Mississippi-Cissy Melato-who's been found dead, with Brian as the key suspect. Determined to prove his innocence, Daisy's convinced that Gabe is going after Brian only because he dates his daughter and that the only thing that will clear him is evidence she finds. But Gabe has been so stubborn and pigheaded lately that Daisy's far from sure logic will help. Sensitive readers may have trouble with the treatment of special needs characters even though Malik's intentions in this series (Faith on the Rocks, 2013) seem more focused on a character-driven mystery aimed at women who can relate to Daisy's imperfections.

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May 1, 2015
Retired special-education teacher Daisy Arthur investigates when Brian Hughes, a developmentally delayed adult, is accused of his friend Cissy Melato's vicious stabbing in the local grocery store's bathroom. Brian is employed by the store, and he is Daisy's former student Ginny Caerphilly's boyfriend. Although Brian has the murder weapon in his possession and he resists arrest, Daisy believes he was set up. On the other hand, Ginny's father and Daisy's boyfriend, police lieutenant Gabe Caerphilly, is convinced of Brian's guilt. Daisy believes Gabe is prejudiced against Brian because he doesn't like Brian's relationship with Ginny. As Daisy continues her investigation into additional suspects, including the night manager at the store, she is attacked several times and badly beaten. Framed with the issues faced by developmentally delayed adults and details of grocery-store management, this mystery also explores the romantic life of a fiftysomething widow who wants to be a romance writer and is jealous of her sometime boyfriend's policewomen partner. While this mystery has many of the attributes and much of the appeal of a cozy, some scenes may deter traditional cozy readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)