Book 51, 2025

[chez_jae]

Plaster and Poison by Jennie Bentley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


View all my reviews

Finished reading Plaster and Poison last night. It’s the third book in author Jennie Bentley’s “Do It Yourself” mystery series. The main character is interior designer Avery Baker.

When Avery and her boyfriend, Derek, find themselves between renovating flips, their friend Kate asks them to renovate the old carriage house on the grounds of the B&B she owns so she can move into it once she gets married to police chief Wayne. It will be a tall order to complete the job before NYE, which is when Kate and Wayne are getting married. Nevertheless, Avery and Derek dive in. Their work comes to a halt, however, when a dead body is discovered in the carriage house. The victim is someone Kate knew all too well. Now Avery finds herself less concerned about her friend’s future living quarters and more worried about keeping Kate out of prison.

Lively story with lots going on: the murder, a mysterious disappearance, the arrival of Avery’s mother and stepfather for a visit, and an old mystery concerning a love triangle that Avery is determined to unravel. I enjoyed reading about her engaged in activities that did not involve investigating the crime. Avery and other characters were three-dimensional and relatable. I figured some things out early, but others caught me by surprise.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Better to be alone by yourself, than alone with somebody, don’t you think?”
♦ When two unusual things happen right after one another, chances are they’re related.

Fun read, four stars