Allison W. (sealady) reviewed on 9/6/2006 + 657 more book reviews

From Publishers Weekly: "Sherman, who writes the "Design and Decor" column for Newsday, has written a debut with a merely workmanlike mystery but a nifty character angle. Sherman has distilled her long experience as a home writer into her character, Anne Hardaway, a lifelong resident of Oceanside Heights, N.J., who ghosts on such books as Mary Lou Popper's Household Guide for People Who Hate to Clean. When an old flame returns to town and promptly drowns under mysterious circumstances, Anne brandishes her encyclopedic knowledge about homes and their inhabitants to track down the murderer. Each chapter begins with what turn out to be cleverly related household hints, such as: "To remove dust from plants, you could flick them with a feather duster."...Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"When Tigger Mills returned home to archly conservative devoutly religious Oceanside Heights, no one was happy to see him. Tigger left twenty years ago after being accused of setting fire to an old hotel that killed the owner's little girl. Though the always maintained his innocence, no one believed him--except then teenager Anne Hardaway. After Tigger's lifeless body is pulled form the surf, everyone but Anne assumes it was suicide. Now this woman with a relentless knack for research makes it her mission to tackle the town's closed minds, curious suspicions and ancient lies, to dredge the past and uncover a twenty-year-old motive for present-day murder."

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