Book Review: Polished Off

Reviewed By: Dawn Dowdle

Polished Off     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Barbara Colley
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Cozy   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Charlotte Larue
Kensington, Hardback, 2/04, 245 pages, $22.00

When Nadia, Charlotte’s employee and now her niece by marriage, calls in sick, Charlotte does the cleaning job herself at Patsy’s. Patsy is having an ornamental pot moved by two men when it breaks and human bones are discovered. Worse than that, they are believed to belong to Ricco’s, Nadia’s ex-boyfriend.

Nadia disappears. Charlotte’s nephew, and Nadia’s new husband, Daniel, is arrested. He and Ricco did not get along. Charlotte takes in Nadia’s little son, Davey, so that he won’t have to go to a foster home. And to help get Daniel out of jail, Charlotte takes it upon herself to do some investigating.

The detective in charge of the case, Will Richeaux, recently had an affair with Charlotte’s niece, Judith, and he is not very friendly, let alone helpful. This hampers Charlotte in getting needed information about the case. Judith is a policewoman and tries to assist Charlotte, but there’s only so much she can do.

Charlotte’s sister, Madeline, has not accepted Nadia as a daughter-in-law, and now she feels she was right all along. Thus, she doesn’t offer to help with Davey. Charlotte has to juggle her cleaning jobs and caring for him. Then there’s her neighbor Louis, a retired detective, who Charlotte has feelings for. But he always frustrates her with his ways. Things just aren’t going so well for Charlotte.

Can Charlotte find the real murderer and unravel all the pieces related to this murder and get Daniel out of jail? Will Nadia return? Will life ever return to normal?

I love this series. Charlotte is a very likeable character. I’d love to have her be my maid! New Orleans is a terrific setting for this series. So many interesting characters and locations.

Ms. Colley has a winning series! I highly recommend this book, and the whole series.

Dawn Dowdle

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dawn Dowdle

Please visit Dawns website at www.mysteryloverscorner.com