Died Blonde (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Nancy J. Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bad Hair Day Mysteries | Publication Date: December 1, 2004

There's no love lost between Marla and Carolyn Sutton. Carolyn has never forgiven Marla for leaving Hairstyle Heaven to open her own place, especially since Marla's clientele grew as Carolyn's faded away. Carolyn retaliated by relocating near Marla, but couldn't put the highlights back in her balance sheet. Still, it's a nasty shock when Marla enters the meter room behind the shopping centre that houses both salons and stumbles over her rival's body. Carolyn's neck is broken, and a hank of her hair is missing. Marla's powerful curiosity would have been enough to send her snooping for clues, but when Detective Dalton Vail, her very significant other, actually asks for her help, nothing can hold her back. Her guess become even more personal when Wilda Cleaver, Carolyn's trusted psychic and new owner of her salon, insists that Carolyn's spirit is begging Marla to solve her murder. Adding a dose of blackmail, Wilda warns that someone Marla loves is in great danger, but she won't give details until Marla cracks the case. Marla's got her work cut out for her - poor Carolyn was far from popular...and maybe even farther from honest. There's Carolyn's snubbed sister, Linda, who only inherited an unspecified, valuable "collection" that appears to be missing, the chiropractor whose shady dealings Carolyn had uncovered, and the immigration lawyer who apparently had been issuing suspicious visas for Hairstyle Heaven's French-born staff. Add to all this some surprising news from Detective Vail and a blossoming romance for Marla's mother, and Marla's well-coifed head is soon spinning. It will take all her skill to untangle the snarl of suspects, trim the list down to unmask the murderer - and learn what's behind Wilda's eerie premonitions before someone Marla loves is next.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nancy Cohen has penned another follicle-raising frolic with a wry twist of romance. -- P.J. Parrish, New York Times bestselling author of Dead of Winter and Island of Bones.

This is a story that you won't want to put down...Highly recommended as a fun read. -- Mary Emmons, ReaderToReader.com

From the Inside Flap

Nancy J. Cohen's Bad Hair Day mysteries shimmer with style and humor in the glow of the Florida sun. In her sixth hair-curling adventure, she lands stylist Marla Shore in the midst of a murder with shadowed motives and the very darkest of roots...

There's no love lost between Marla and Carolyn Sutton. Carolyn has never forgiven Marla for leaving Hairstyle Heaven to open her own place, especially since Marla's clientele grew as Carolyn's faded away. Carolyn retaliated by relocating near Marla, but couldn't put the highlights back in her balance sheet. Still, it's a nasty shock when Marla enters the meter room behind the shopping center that houses both salons and stumbles over her rival's body. Carolyn's neck is broken, and a hank of her hair is missing.

Marla's powerful curiosity would have been enough to send her snooping for clues, but when Detective Dalton Vail, her very significant other, actually asks for her help, nothing can hold her back. Her quest becomes even more personal when Wilda Cleaver, Carolyn's trusted psychic and new owner of her salon, insists that Carolyn's spirit is begging Marla to solve her murder. Adding a dose of blackmail, Wilda warns that someone Marla loves is in great danger, but she won't give details until Marla cracks the case. Marla's got her work cut out for her--poor Carolyn was far from popular...and maybe even farther from honest. There's Carolyn's snubbed sister, Linda, who only inherited an unspecified, valuable "collection" that appears to be missing, the chiropractor whose shady dealings Carolyn had uncovered, and the immigration lawyer who apparently had been issuing suspicious visas for Hairstyle Heaven's French-born staff.

Add to all this some surprising news from Detective Vail and a blossoming romance for Marla's mother, and Marla's well-coiffed head is soon spinning. It will take all her skill to untangle the snarl of suspects, trim the list down to unmask the murderer--and learn what's behind Wilda's eerie premonitions before someone Marla loves is next.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758206569
• ISBN-13: 978-0758206565
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,711,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Cute, South Florida-based mystery by Cohen, January 14, 2005

By 

Gene "Gene" (Purple State, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Died Blonde (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I liked the cute story about a Jewish salon owner sleuth, Marla Shore. The book is descriptive of its South Florida locale, so those who live there or have traveled to the area can identify the roads, places, and towns, and maybe with Cohen's cultural view of the area. Boca Raton, etc.

Marla enjoys many adventures and meets many zany people en route to solving the mystery (which the reader should find out, so I won't go on!). Interwoven into the tale is a love story between Marla and the hunky detective, Mr. Dalton Vail. Part of the story tells about how Marla invites Dalton into her Jewish world, including detailed descriptions of Rosh Hoshannh. Ms. Cohen lovingly details how Jewish Marla's family is.

As a mystery, the book contains some villains and other characters that Marla encounters along the way, descriptively described by Cohen. There are the illegal "French" immigrants. An Irish-Italian chain smoking woman at an Indian casino, and a whole host of others. Ms. Cohen mentions and frames the ethnicity of every character in the book, some positive, some negative. But I'm not sure that really adds to the reality of the story, nor is her skewed stereotyping really necessary for a book for this age group.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another hair-raiser from Nancy Cohen!, April 15, 2005

By 

Toni Lea "Avid Reader" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Died Blonde (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Ya gotta love Marla. She keeps her salon in perfect order, avoids her mother's good intentions, develops her relationship with her boyfriend's daughter, keeps an eye on her auntie and her best friend, survives a hurricane, considers marriage, and helps run her dead rival's shop--all without a hair ever out of place. Well, okay, maybe she needed a little touch up after the hurricane, but all in all, Marla's got it covered.

As usual, the characters are fun, the setting is realistic, and the murder is most foul. And the reader is left wanting more. Can't wait for the next book in this terrific series.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who killed Marla's rival?, February 15, 2005

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Died Blonde (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Hairstylist Marla Shore finds her rival, Carolyn Sutton, dead in the meter room in back of their strip mall. Her boyfriend, Detective Vail who is a hunk, asks Marla for her help. He feels people will talk to her about this better than they will to him. She is a hairstylist, and they know her. Usually he's telling her to not investigate, so she jumps at the chance to help.

She's also trying to set her mom up with Sam from the hardware store. Marla doesn't like Roger, her mom's boyfriend. Since he's out of town, she works hard to bring her mom and Sam together.

Marla talks to Carolyn's psychic and is told some information about her own family that concerns her. She talks to Carolyn's bingo partner. Marla and her best friend end up visiting a nearby town and meeting with some psychics to gain more information.

Instead of clearing up the details, the waters just get muddier. Plus, a hurricane is bearing down on Florida. Can Marla uncover the truth about Marla's death, as well as some other issues that have come out of her death, as well as keep her own salon working, and keep herself and those important to her safe and healthy?

Things with Vail are heating up, and she has to come to terms with her feelings for him and his daughter. Is she ready to make things more permanent?

I always enjoy books in this series. Marla is a great character. Her salon business brings her in touch with so many people. She is always able to get the dirt that Vail cannot get. The relationship between Marla and Vail is wonderful too. I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens to them.

I highly recommend this book.