Truth or Perception?

A TOAST TO MURDER (Mack's Bar Mystery #5)
Allyson K. Abbott
Kensington Books
July 25, 2017


A Toast to Murder brings to a close an ongoing story arc about Mack Dalton's bar and the people who frequent it. Mac mostly grew up in the bar, as she was the only child of a widowed father and inherited it after he was murdered. Mack is grieving her father but wondering what she can do to solve the crime and enlists some of the long-time customers of the bar to help her. Mack has some unusual abilities that she thinks can help her. She has a neurological condition called synesthesia; one which gives her a heightened perception of stimuli. Synesthesia is described as a phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to an involuntary experience in a second pathway. For instance, she often sees colors and has tastes associated with certain people's voices. It also makes her an excellent lie detector. After a lifetime of coping with often conflicting sensory input, Mack sees a way to put her condition to good use. The detective investigating her father's murder, Duncan Albright, thinks so too.

With the help of the Capone Club, a group of old and new friends who meet in the bar, Mac has solved several cases, including that of her father, but there is a new problem. Two old friends have been murdered and Mac is receiving threating letters containing taunts about her abilities and newfound unwanted celebrity. Unless Mack solves the cryptic clues in the letters more friends will die and she will be the last victim. She must also do this without any help from the police or the Capone Club. The pressure is mounting and Mack decides that she must move to end it and forms a plan to bring all the suspects together at the Bar on New Year's Eve.

The Mack's Bar Mysteries have an interesting concept. Synesthesia is a real condition and Mack's version is an extreme one, as least from what I have read on the subject. My problem with the books is the number of suspects and characters, some of whom are not particularly memorable. Compounding the problem was the fact I missed reading one of the books and felt at sea until I realized it. There is a massive info dump at the beginning of A Toast to Murder but it didn't help so I went back to read the book I had missed. I don't recommend trying to read it out of series order. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a digital copy. The opinions above are my own.


RATING- 2.5 Stars