Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Murder of a Creped Suzette-Denise Swanson

Murder of a Creped Suzette
Denise Swanson
Obsidian, Oct 4 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451235008

Music promoter Rex Taylor accompanied by his Country Roads company staff and some of his most popular clients descends on Scumble River. Rex wants to gain local support to build a country western music theater in town. The visitors give a free open air concert attended by most townsfolk including school psychologist and police consultant Skye Denison. She ducks into an RV to go to the bathroom and hides whens Rex and his top superstar Flint Jones come in.

Aspiring C&W singer and Rex’s gopher Suzette Neal is late to perform as the opening act. Rex asks Flint who refuses as he is the star attraction. Suzette finally arrives and performs. Afterward she asks Skye to investigate the suspicious death of her mother in an accident in which Suzette swears she heard a stranger’s voice. Skye agrees to look into the death of the performer’s mother. The shrink goes to the site where the music theater is to be built. There she finds Suzette’s body under a steamroller. Teaming up with her fiancĂ©, Police Chief Wally Boyd, they investigate the homicide of the daughter and relook the alleged accidental death of the mother.

Reading a Scumble River police procedural is always a treat as the audience tries to solve a convoluted murder. Fans will want the killer caught not just for legal justice but also for karma as the victim was a nice person. With a touch of romance and a bit of family drama to round out the whodunit, Murder of a Creped Suzette is a compelling cozy.

Harriet Klausner

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