Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice, Light, Cozy Mystery, June 20, 2007
Recently widowed Sky Taylor moved to the small town of Pigeon Cove in Massachusetts where she writes a newspaper column and runs a cleaning business. Her business is thriving and she's made many friends in Pigeon Cove including her landlord Chloe Edwards and Abe Monahan, a frequent guest at the Millwood Bed and Breakfast, one of Sky's clients. Sky enjoys talking to "Old" Abe and when she hears he's back in town she gets to work early to say hello to him. But instead of saying hello she gets to say goodbye when she stumbles across his murdered body. Sky is devastated by Abe's death and her colleague on the newspaper, crime reporter Mike Ennis, seems all too willing to comfort her. Even though Sky begins to date Mike she's afraid he's dating her to get information about Abe's murder. While Sky wonders who could have killed Abe - one of the townspeople or one of the strangers that has recently appeared in town - she has problems of her own when someone steals her car. As she investigates the murder Sky begins to realize that Abe wasn't who she thought he was and that in life, unlike books, loose ends aren't always tied up.
"Scene of the Grime" is a nice light cozy mystery. Sky is a delightful heroine, making a new life for herself after the death of her husband. Her somewhat unorthodox and original cleaning tips add much to the humor in the book. Her reflections about her parents add much depth to her character and I loved that fact that she took in Abe's cat after he died. The other characters are equally well written, especially Sky's best friend, the slightly eccentric Chloe Edwards, who does a lot of volunteer work, is respected in town, and is addicted to reading mystery novels and watching Court TV. One very funny character is newspaper receptionist Pam DiGallucci, better known as The Digger because of her habit of digging into people's private lives. Mike is a nice complex character with secrets that aren't totally revealed in this book. There's a scene in the book where he and Sky go out to eat at his uncle's restaurant that is funny from beginning to end. Author Suzanne Price (pseudonym for Jerome Preisler and his wife Suzanne) does a good job of making the New England background come to life. As for the mystery itself, it's pretty obvious who the murderer is but it's fascinating to read the many secrets about Abe's life as they are revealed. The ending of the book is very sweet and will really make readers like Mike.
"Scene of the Grime" is well done.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, clean fun, April 30, 2008
Not the most engaging book of its type - the themed cozy - but fun and quick. Guess I don't find the cleaning tips all that engaging. Pretty well plotted and well drawn, engaging characters. I will read the next one. I'm betting they get better over time. Fewer feather dusters and more dialogue, please!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
delightful sassy tale, June 10, 2007
After she lost her husband to cancer, Sky Taylor left the big city to return home to Pigeon Cove, Massachusetts where she writes a cleaning lips column for the Cape Ann newspaper. She applies those same tips to clean homes, offices and bungalows in the area; because she is such a perfectionist she is in demand. In the time she has lived there she has made friends with Abel Monahan who also has a residence in Florida.
While she is cleaning the hallway outside Abe's room, Sky sees a hand print on the wall she hears his cat screaming. She opens the door and sees his dead body on the floor, blood still dripping from the blow to his head. She doesn't understand why anyone would kill such a dear old man who also cared about her nor does she know why two men staying in Abe's room are giving her the creeps especially or why they are following her around town. The newspaper reporter who has shown interest in her thinks he has answers if she believes him, but believing him will mean she never really knew Abe at all.
Readers will thoroughly enjoy SCENES OF THE GRIME (even the title is humorous), a rich focus on a heroine who compulsively cleans until everything shines. She is a special person and other characters as well as readers sense she is genuine. This is a delightful sassy tale filled with eccentric interesting characters that add to the whodunit. Told from Sky's perspective, readers learn a lot of cleaning tips that are not supposed to be used at a murder scene like she does. Suzanne Price provides a delightful grime cleaning (make that crime cleaning) amateur sleuth.
Harriet Klausner
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
