At the start of this Renaissance Fair murder mystery, I found myself thinking that some people are never satisfied. A senior lady has become a millionaire with her herbal bath salts and lotions, but she's pestering her family to get her a contract with a major store for bigger and better distribution. You know, there is something to be said for keeping it simple and keeping control of your own stocks, supplies, and website sales. Mia Connors is the geek girl under pressure to get the contract. But just now, she has more urgent matters on her mind.

In THE GEEK GIRL'S GUIDE TO ARSENIC a gentleman who tries a sample from the Renaissance Fair stand promptly collapses and dies. Surely the lavender bath bomb wasn't to blame? Nor the hand lotion? Was the timing coincidental or was someone out to get him? Mia has to work to clear the family's name -- and salvage her grandmother's Guinevere's Golden Beauty business.

Readers of the first book in the Geek Girl series will recall that Mia is a computer programmer at a gated housing development. She has now moved there to live and, typically, she goes home and Googles the dead man, an artist. He seems to have been mixed up with criminals and even racketeering. Next thing, Mia is recalled to the fair where the beauty goods stand has been torched overnight -- perhaps to destroy evidence. Unfortunately a local news camera team is on the spot.

The action keeps moving from the sublime to the scary as the book progresses. Butter sculptures of a Civil War horse are in one paragraph and community Wi-Fi problems are in the next. People dedicated to authentic costumes mingle with those developing new computer games. Mia does progress in her personal life, but still manages to scare off most men, while making the police distrust her.

I enjoyed this look at Mia's life and the background of a week-long craft fair, where you never can be sure who is who, and whose gun is an authentic reproduction and whose will shoot paintballs. THE GEEK GIRL'S GUIDE TO ARSENIC by Julie Anne Lindsey is just right for modern young women who like to be on top of technology and down with history.

Book Summary

It's been three months since Jake Archer rolled into town, accused Mia Connors of murder and stole her heart. She hasn't heard from him since. So when a man collapses at the fall Renaissance Faire, she's surprised to see the US marshal arrive on scene. And shocked when he points the finger at her—again. Mia would sooner be able to resurrect the poor fellow than poison him.

Jake Archer's career has been rising fast, but it's about to come to a crashing halt. The Ren-Faire victim was in protective custody—Jake's custody—and they were painfully close to nabbing a major crime boss. If Jake doesn't solve the murder soon, he'll be fetching donuts instead of protecting his nation. A difficult enough task without the alluring Mia Connors in the way.

Working with Jake to catch the killer might push Mia into crazy-cat-lady territory. But with a murderer on the loose—and Mia's reputation on the line—they'll have to work fast to find the killer before the killer finds them.