Review: Murder of a Small-Town Honey

Murder of a Small-Town Honey Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Denise Swanson
Class/Genre: Mystery Amateur Sleuth Woman Main Character
Series: Scumble River Mysteries
Signet, Jul 2000, $5.99, 256 pp.

I just finished reading this and I liked it so much I didn't want to wait to share it because it takes place on Labor Day Weekend. I know some of you like to read mysteries appropriate to the season.

This is a first in a series. I think its a paperback original. Copyright is July 2000. Second one is scheduled to be released in 2001 it says.

Its pretty cozy but not so much it would turn off the non-cozy readers Premise is a woman who was successful in the peace corps and a failure in the big city, returns to her small town roots. She must eat a bit of crow since she dished the entire town in her Valedictorians address a decade ago. Its set in casserole country and the author nails the Midwest culture pretty darn good.

Her sleuth, Skye, is the school district psychologist, who has a bit of difficulty thinking of her former teachers as peers. Lots of past history is woven into the plot. Swanson put in lots of nitty-gritty stuff about the job, counseling kids, testing, IEPs, WISC tests and stuff. Seems pretty realistic to me in that area from our own experiences in special ed.

She did a little spin on a number of standard elements in the story. The sleuth lives in an octagon house, and each of the chapter headings was the title of a song. These are just little extras that make the world of Scumble River out of the ordinary for me. Skye's link to official sources are her mother the police dispatcher evening shift (farm wife by day), her former coach whom Skye had a crush on is now the Chief of police, and in this first book she's dating the coroner/funeral director, among others. She wrote in a black female lawyer and the sleuths brother is a heterosexual hairdresser. She played a lot with stereotypes around these characters. Very funny.

The best thing about this first book is that the author avoided both of my pet peeves regarding firsts, the plot didn't revolve around drugs or gay lifestyle neither victim, murderer, nor motive. She threw in lots of clues and red herrings. I didn't figure it out until the sleuth did. It would be a good read for people who don't bother to figure out the puzzle too. It moves right along.

I giggled quite a lot reading this. She's not as funny as Evanovich or Ann George but has great potential I think. And I wanted to be sure and share this while it was fresh in my mind. Starting a new book tonight.

Book Review: Murder of a Small-Town Honey