Dirty Deeds: A Grime Solver’s Mystery
by Suzanne Price
Published by Signet
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Reviewed by Wendy Hines
The second in the Grime Solver’s Mystery series, Dirty Deeds is a delightful, satisfying cozy mystery. Sparkling with humor and hometown charm, if you’re looking for something light but yet adventurous, this one may be for you!
Recently widowed, Sky Taylor left the big city to make Pigeon Cove, a hamlet on the northern Massachusetts coast, her permanent home. Sky stays with her friend Chloe rent-free in return for doing the house cleaning. This works out splendidly for Sky as she owns a cleaning service as well as writes a column for the newspaper. Sky is re-adapting to single life after losing her husband to a long illness, and things are looking up. She feels all she needs now is a contract to clean city hall.
What she gets is a messy murder investigation. At the Art Association’s annual holiday bash, Sky and Chloe are waiting for people to leave when real estate developer and wannabe actor Kyle Fipps is found in the middle of the Getaway Groves Condominium model house display. Lying in a hammock, Sky and Chloe believe Kyle to be sleeping, but soon learn that he is dead after they fail to wake him up. Later, when she asks, the police chief lets Sky know it was no accident. Kyle had ingested the poisonous seed of a pong pong, similar to digitalis, and that the chief was now investigating a murder.
Not long after, Sky’s best friend Jessie disappears and Councilman Tommy Thompson is caught up in a scandal with a stripper. Sky and her new boyfriend, reporter Mike Evans, try to unravel things and see how the events connect. They seem to be leading straight back to city hall, and Sky soon finds herself in danger.
Full of believable characters and a solid plot, this fun mystery is full of twists and turns and full of delightful charm. I have not read the first in the series, Scene of the Grime, but I will be going back to do so. Also including cleaning tips, this mystery shines bright and I look forward to the next installment of the Grime Solver’s.
Armchair Interviews says: A fun read.