I am really loving this book! I love the names the author gives the characters-Bouncing Betty-Calamine Lotion Parrish (her dad was drunk when he named her and Calamine was the only girlie thing he could think of that was pink)-it is so funny and witty and a very different scene than normal. I also love how Callie reads mysteries and is always trying to use them to solve what is going on. Highly recommended for a quick and fun read and i'm looking forward to others in the series!

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The first in the Callie Parrish series, this was a great cozy mystery. It was fast-paced from the first page. Callie is a true southern gal, who loves to shop at Victoria's Secret and eat at Bojangles. She works as a mortuary cosmetologist and enjoys her job a lot. One of the bodies that comes into the funeral home causes a whole lot of trouble though, which leads to a stolen casket, two fighting wives, and Callie finds herself on the receiving end of threatening phone calls and even gets knocked out in the parking lot. Being a mystery lover herself, she can't help but try to figure out who's behind all the trouble, even if it makes her the next target. I look forward to the next book in this series.

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*****5 star rating*****
This was by far one of my favorite cozy mystery's to date.

With a name like Calamine Lotion Parrish, (Callie, hey... her dad is just an older version of Larry the Cable Guy) Whats not to love about a southern bell who works as a cosmetologist in a mortuary with twin owners? Her best fiend Jane, (who is blind) is histerical on her "shopping sprees" and Callie keeps finding herself in trouble after finding a hyperdermic needle in her most current corpses' neck. After she is attacked and an empty Casket is stolen, Callie starts snooping around town, until the Town Drunk ends up shot. Shes determined to figure out who is behind the murders and threatning her as well.

This was such a fun book with characters I could really identify with. Callie and I are so much alike, I feel like I was reading about myself, which really made it easy for me to get sucked into the story. Callie is obsessed with her newest blowup bra, loves shopping, practices "kindergarden cussing" and even organises her laundry the same way I do.

I cant believe i allowed this gem of a book to sit so long before reading it, because it was fast, fun, and packed full of laughs and action. Callie is a great character, and i cant wait to read more of her adventures. I wasnt able to figure out the bad guy until the reveal, which is all part of the fun anyways.

This is what cozy mysteries are all about.

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Pros: unique--the heroine, her family, her friend, her job. All these aspects were enough to keep me reading at least this first one.

Cons: I don't know that I cared very much for any of the main characters, really. I was so glad she adopted a dog during the story as it added some much needed warmth. I usually judge a book by how much I would want to BE the main character or HAVE the seconadary characters in my life. And I wouldn't want to be in Callie's shoes.

Conclusion: I'll attempt to read the 2nd in the series. Maybe, hopefully, I'll warm up to them all.

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Finished this just now and I really liked this book.. there were times it was a bit predictable but overall it was a good fun cozy read!

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