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DEATH BY INFERIOR DESIGN is the first in the new Domestic Bliss mystery series by Leslie Caine. After the death of her adoptive mother, Erin Gilbert moves to Crestview, Colorado and sets up an interior design business. Crestview was where Erin was born, but as her adoptive mother was adamant she did not try to trace her birth parents, she has not tried to find them -- undoubtedly she is in self-denial about why she moved to the town. One weekend Erin is set the challenge of transforming a bedroom as a surprise for Carl Henderson's wife Debbie, but when she arrives at the house, she finds to her discomfort that Carl has turned the job into a competition with a friend, Kevin, who has hired rival designer Steve Sullivan to redecorate his den. A third couple, the Axelrods, who run Denver Lifestyles magazine will judge the winning design and feature the winner in a future edition. The situation rapidly deteriorates. Erin finds a photo of herself as a baby hidden at the house and struggles with her conscience about investigating whether any of the rather unhappy couples are her parents and why they might have given her up for adoption as a toddler. Before long this is complicated by the death, and probable murder of one of the characters, and then another. In spite of herself, Erin finds she needs to confide in Steve Sullivan and they begin to untangle the previous misunderstandings between them and form a team to deal with the fall-out from the weekend, finishing their projects and helping the police with their investigation. Unlike some amateur sleuths Erin is not nosily investigating the crimes for herself, she just happens to be working with the chief suspects for a few days and can't help but be involved as an observer at least. DEATH BY INFERIOR DESIGN is a very accomplished and enjoyable debut, which will appeal to cozy lovers and anyone who enjoys interior makeover programmes. Leslie Caine is a Colorado-based interior designer herself and thus the backdrop to the story has all the credibility you might hope for. The dual plots of the murders and the identification of Erin's birth parents are well handled, and Leslie Caine keeps you guessing right to the end. The characters of Erin and Steve, and Erin's landlady Audrey, who presents a design segment on daytime TV and whose 'Domestic Bliss' tips are dotted through the novel, are very likeable and I look forward to meeting up with them again. Gilbert and Sullivan? It's got to happen.
Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, November 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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