Publisher: Signet
Date published:
March
6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0451236180
Genre: Cozy
Mystery
Book format: Paperback
Obtained via: Publisher
Reviewed by
name and email address: Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com
On the heels of her boss being arrested for mismanagement of client
funds and her grandmother in need of someone to help her handle things,
Deveraux (Dev) Sinclair returns to her home down of Shadow Bend. There she has
opened her Deveraux’s Dime Store, a cozy old fashioned store selling candy, coffees,
and other Americana type items. On the side she makes personalized gift baskets
for all manner of events from baby showers to weddings to a special birthday.
She even made a basket up for her former boyfriend’s fiancé, Joelle Ayers. Busy
working on some upcoming gift baskets Dev finds herself confronted by a rather
forceful Kansas City police officer. Concerned about Woods’s manner she surrpeitiously
dials one of her two best friends, Boone, to listen in and if necessary come to
her rescue. Dev isn’t too concerned when Woods confronts her with Joelle’s
death until, on his way out of the store, he comments on about how someone is
going to pay for her former employer fraudulently wiped out his retirement
account.
Jake Del Vecchio is in town helping out his uncle Tony with his
ranch. Aside from caring about his uncle and happy childhood memories on the
ranch, Jake is a U.S. Marshal recovering from being shot. At the request for
Uncle Tony he ventures into Deveraux Dime Store and lends a hand toward helping
her discovery who killed Joelle.
Together they embark on an investigation to see just who could
have killed Joelle. Being the victim wasn’t the most liked person in town, there
are any number of viable suspects. But is an injured Deputy U.S. Marshal enough
to keep the murder from making Dev his next victim?
As a fan of Denise Swanson’s Scumble River cozy mystery series I
was delighted when I saw she had begun a new one—the Deveraux Dime Store
Mysteries. LITTLE SHOP OF HOMICIDE,
book 1 is a fun start to the series with its introduction of the lead characters
and a solid mystery to investigate. Ms. Swanson does two things with LITTLE SHOP OF HOMICIDE you do not
usually find in a cozy: she blends first
and third person points of view and gets right to the chase in the romance
between Jake and Dev.
Most cozies are told from the primary sleuth’s point of view in
the first person. I enjoyed getting Jake’s take on things interspersed with Dev’s
first. At times there was a bit too much telling of Jake’s side causing a bit
of a lag, but the story quickly regrouped and got back on track. It was a nice blend.
Most cozies have a hint of romance to them and the relationships
build over time. In LITTLE SHOP OF
HOMICIDE the relationship between Jake and Dev takes off almost from the
start making the story a nice blend of mystery and romance. I’m not sure where they have to go from here,
but there is Jake’s ex, Meg, waiting in the wings for him.
The mystery of who killed Joelle was a good one and I was pretty
surprised at who did it. I pegged a couple of characters and certainly didn’t
expect the final reveal.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of
this book.
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