Sliced Vegetarian: A Daisy Arthur Mystery

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. (Aug.)