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ICED CHIFFON
by Duffy Brown
Berkley, October 2012
304 pages
$7.99
ISBN: 0425251608


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Things were going okay with Reagan Summerside's life. Yes, her ex-husband, Hollis Beaumont, left her a few years earlier for Janelle, twenty years younger than Hollis. Reagan calls Janelle Cupcake. Hollis let Reagan keep the Victorian house, Cherry Hill, which she loved since she was a child. Her next door neighbor and best friend is her mother's sister, aunt KiKi. Reagan also has some wonderful friends in the Abbott sisters, AnnieFritz and Elsie, who hire themselves out as mourners to all the funerals in the town. Reagan also just started a clothes consignment business that she runs out of Cherry Hill where she's actually starting to make some money. As soon as she can afford to buy food she'll stop eating at aunt KiKi's.

Reagan's life was fine living in Savannah, Georgia surrounded by her family, friends, and new business until Cupcake got herself killed. Someone murdered Janelle and then stuffed her in the Lexus that she'd been driving. Reagan and KiKi later borrowed the car and they found Cupcake's body in the trunk with plenty of witnesses around.

The police arrested the prime suspect, fiancé Hollis, for the murder. Cupcake had expensive tastes so Hollis didn't have as much money as Reagan thought and he told her that she would have to sell her Victorian house to pay his legal fees to his lawyer, Walker Boone.

During their divorce, Walker was Hollis' lawyer and Reagan ended up with close to nothing. She has no intention of selling the only thing she did get out of the marriage to pay Walker's fees. Knowing that the police believe that Hollis was the murderer, Reagan decides that she'd better find out who really killed Cupcake before she ends up homeless.

ICED CHIFFON by Duffy Brown is a cozy at its best. It's a joy to travel around with Reagan and aunt KiKi as they investigate all the suspects on their list. KiKi quotes the singer, Cher, to keep them motivated as Reagan's new frankfurter-eating dog, Bruce Willis, protects Cherry Hill, sort of.

Very handsome lawyer Walker Boone, who has a shady past, always appears when Reagan finds herself in trouble. Readers can only hope that some kind of relationship is brewing here.

Duffy Brown knows the formula for a great cozy: a good location, wonderful characters, a handsome man, and especially a lot of fun.

ICED CHIFFON will have you constantly reading not wanting to put the book down. As for the murder, okay, it was kind of easy to figure out who killed Cupcake but cozies are less about "who done it" but more about meeting all the people involved and watching how their relationships grow.

If you love a good cozy don't think twice about picking this up. Every page will make you smile and feel good.

§ Sharon Katz has been reviewing books for RTE for many years. She lives in Brooklyn.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, October 2012

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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