Homicide and Old Lace [Mass Market Paperback]

Dolores Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2000

When a young bride visits Dyer's Cleaners asking for delicate alterations on a vintage wedding dress, owner Mandy Dyer quickly discovers a disturbing truth: The groom is Mandy's own womanizing ex-husband...and Mandy's troubles are just beginning. The dress alterations will turn out beautifully, but the bride will turn up--dead. Now Mandy must hunt for a killer and face the indelible stains that both hate and passion leave behind....

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A delightful series...droll and irreverent."
-- Midwest Book Review

"Just the ticket for mystery lovers."
-- Mystery Scene

"Enjoyable."
-- The Poisoned Pen

"Johnson [has] a quick wit."
-- The Denver Post

"Dolores Johnson writes  with wit and panache. I love her sense of humor."
-- Diane Mott Davidson

Don't miss these other books in the Mandy Dyer mystery series

Wash, Fold, And Die
A Dress To Die For

From the Inside Flap

When a young bride visits Dyer's Cleaners asking for delicate alterations on a vintage wedding dress, owner Mandy Dyer quickly discovers a disturbing truth: The groom is Mandy's own womanizing ex-husband...and Mandy's troubles are just beginning. The dress alterations will turn out beautifully, but the bride will turn up--dead. Now Mandy must hunt for a killer and face the indelible stains that both hate and passion leave behind....

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Dell (September 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440235243
• ISBN-13: 978-0440235248
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original plot, and amazing characters, November 3, 2000

By 

Tate (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homicide and Old Lace (Mass Market Paperback)

One way I know if I like a book is how many paragraphs or pages I skim or skip. Simply put, the more I skim, the further the book sinks. No problems here!

One thing about the Mandy Dyer Mysteries is that they simply get better as the series progresses. I did not find myself skimming because her characters were interesting and drove the book.

This time, Mandy is confronted with the dilemma of cleaning the wedding gown of her ex-husband's fiancee. She tells herself that business is business and takes the job anyway. But in true Mandy Dyer fashion, she finds herself involved in a murder investigation when she walks in on her ex-husband leaning over the dead body of his fiancee on their wedding day.

As if that is not bad enough, Mandy begins to realize that someone is carefully setting her up to take the fall for this murder. As the noose tightens and all fingers point to her as the jealous ex-wife out for revenge, Mandy must use all her resources to find the killer and save herself.

I simply loved the interactions of all the characters in this book, especially between Betty the bag lady and Mandy's mother. Two women,who in their effort to help Mandy out of her dilemma end up causing her more trouble. They are two women from different ends of the spectrum and reading their verbal exchanges will have you laughing. I recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery heavily laced with fun.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Homicide And Old Lace, September 24, 2000

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homicide and Old Lace (Mass Market Paperback)

Olivia Torkelson needs her grandmother's wedding dress dry cleaned and altered so that she can wear it for her own upcoming wedding. Dyer's Cleaners was recommended highly for the job, and Mandy Dyer expected nothing form this job except a big cheque. And then Mandy discovers that naive and vulnerable Olivia is marrying Mandy's womanising ex-husband! Although Mandy's natural inclination is to backout of the whole transaction, she allows herself to be persuaded that a 'job is a job' and to carry on with the alterations and to just avoid running into her sleaze bag ex-husband, Larry Landry.

Unfortunately, circumstances force Mandy into delivering the wedding dress personally, and this inevitably leads, several hours later, to Mandy discovering the bride-to-be in all her wedding glory dead with caddish Larry standing over the body! The police seem to have narrowed the suspects down to Larry and Mandy. And in spite of Mandy's policeman boyfriend's displeasure at her involvement, Mandy feels that she has to discover who murdered Olivia. The suspects are many-- from the second bitter ex-Mrs. Landry to Olivia's old boyfriend. Mandy first thought is that someone is trying to frame Larry; and then there is a second dead body and it looks as if someone is actually trying to frame her!

A good mystery and a fun read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another terrific Mandy Dyer book, October 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Homicide and Old Lace (Mass Market Paperback)

This is another terrific entry in the Mandy Dyer drycleaning series. (And if you think drycleaning is dull, you need to hang out with Mandy a little more!) The book is well-written, with believable characters and some nice twists that had me guessing right up to the end.