Helpful Score: 10
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it would be a fluff book, like Janet Evanovich or the Flower Shop mysteries, which are nice light reads, good for reading at bedtime. But this had some fascinating elements to it: the women who shopped at the store in question were "kept" women who had to have plastic surgery to stay young and starved themselves to be thin and attractive or their boyfriends would find "better" girlfriends. Wow, does this happen in real life? It was rather sad and pathetic, but very interesting. Oh, and the mystery part was good too.
Helpful Score: 7
This one should have 5 stars!!! Literally, I did not stop reading it until I finished it!! I loved her characters, even the "unloveable" ones!! The main character Helen Hawthorne has moved to South Florida from St. Louis to avoid her ex-husband. Working in a stylish shop selling clothes to ladies with model figures for mucha money, she meets some strange people and works with some, too. Just enough suspense and humor scattered throughout kept me happy and very interested!!!
Helpful Score: 5
Cute first book in a new series. Helen Hawthorne used to have an upscale lifestyle, but she's now in hiding from something in her past, and is living in southern Florida. A co-worker from her dead-end job ends up dead, and she works to solve the mystery with several of the ritzy shoppers at her high end boutique coming up as suspects.
Helpful Score: 3
1st in series.
Our main character, Helen is on the run from her ex-husband, and is forced to work crappy under the table jobs because the divorce court ordered Helen to pay 1/2 her earnings to her ex.
While I enjoyed Helen, I had a difficult time connecting with her. We never get any type of desrciption of Helen, except she is "womanly" sized, and at the very end of the book, find out she has dark hair. I much more enjoyed her landlady, Margery, whom I envisioned as the landlady in the movie Something about Mary.... ahahaaa I also had difficulty distinuguishing the suspects, as they were all pretty much described as skinny and blonde.. LOL
Even though I enjoyed this cozy, the book was way too long. The first 150 pages dragged on and on. The action didnt pick up until the last 100 pages, when the sleuthing finally started. The ending was extremely rushed. Even though it was fun to read, its forgettable at best, but I will continue the series, and hope they get better. :P
Our main character, Helen is on the run from her ex-husband, and is forced to work crappy under the table jobs because the divorce court ordered Helen to pay 1/2 her earnings to her ex.
While I enjoyed Helen, I had a difficult time connecting with her. We never get any type of desrciption of Helen, except she is "womanly" sized, and at the very end of the book, find out she has dark hair. I much more enjoyed her landlady, Margery, whom I envisioned as the landlady in the movie Something about Mary.... ahahaaa I also had difficulty distinuguishing the suspects, as they were all pretty much described as skinny and blonde.. LOL
Even though I enjoyed this cozy, the book was way too long. The first 150 pages dragged on and on. The action didnt pick up until the last 100 pages, when the sleuthing finally started. The ending was extremely rushed. Even though it was fun to read, its forgettable at best, but I will continue the series, and hope they get better. :P
Helpful Score: 3
Perfect for a lazy afternoon read! It was funny, charming, and a terrific mystery!
