Saturday, December 7, 2013

A DEAL TO DIE FOR by Josie Belle

Publisher:  Berkley

Date published:   December 31, 2012
ISBN
: 978-0425251850
Genre:   Cozy Mystery
Format:  Paperback
Obtained via:  Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

Three and ½

 


Maggie Gerber is about to open the door to a new phase of her life.  Actually, there may be a few doors opening with lots of possibilities just around the corner.  In the wake of buying My Sister’s Closet with the goal of reselling her super saving finds and the Good Buy Girls (GBGs) watching her back and bottom line she can’t lose.  Right?

Okay, well there IS Summer Phillips who has dogged her steps and created havoc in her life since grade school.

And then there is the little interruption of the St. Stanley flea market where town socialite, Vera Madison, ended up dead.  Okay, so it isn’t exactly a little interruption.  But Maggie, like the rest of the residents of St. Stanley, rally around their own and she steps in to help Vera’s daughter, Bianca, deal with her mother’s death.  Unfortunately it looks like her dear friend, the one person who knows her whole sad history with Sam, may be the killer.  Determined to keep Doc out of jail, despite demands and warnings form Sam she stay out of it, Maggie is going to stand by her friend, even if it puts her in the line of fire.

I like the characters in Josie Belle’s Good Girl Buy mysteries.  They are a fun group of friends who anyone would want covering their back in good time and bad.  I do understand Claire being peeved when one of Maggie’s secrets comes out in book two A DEAL TO DIE FOR—but this isn’t high school and it’s about something that happened twenty years ago.  It’s over, it’s done and it didn’t add anything to the story.

Summer is one of those characters you love to hate and boy oh boy was she hateable in A DEAL TO DIE FOR and with her own partner in crime who is just as bad—well it was delicious girl payback.

The mystery is solid and Ms. Belle really caught me by surprise when the killer was revealed.  I didn’t see that coming.  Well done!  There is nice tension between Sam and Maggie and Pete adds another twist to the story.  The city-wide flea market was a wonderful addition to the story and an idea that would be fun to do in any community. 

You do not have to read book 1 to enjoy book two and the author does a nice job presenting the back story to the characters you need to know about.  Still, if you enjoy reading a series start to finish, do check out book 1, 50% OFF MURDER.  I plan to continue reading the series and have book three, BURIED IN BARGAIN, on order.



This is an objective review and not an endorsement this book.


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