Murder Buys a T-Shirt
Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery #1
Christy Fifield

Berkley Prime Crime
March 2012/ 978-0-425-24666-5
Amazon

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

In Keyhole Bay, Florida, Glory Martine has inherited 55 percent of the souvenir shop "Southern Treasures." Her great uncle, Louis Georges, split the ownership of his shop between Glory and her cousin Peter Beaumont. However, Peter is in Alabama so the day to day running of the shop is up to Glory. Peter simply phones in his suggestions. Along with the shop, Glory is now also the owner of Louis' parrot, named Bluebeard.

After a car accident kills the local football star, Kevin Stanley, Glory begins to question the reality of ghosts when Bluebeard tells her it is not an accident, and Bluebeards voice sounds exactly like the late great uncle Louis. By now, Glory is also questioning her own sanity, but with a little help from her friends Kate, Ernie and Filipe she sets out to find the truth about Kevin's death. Just how much help can a parrot, channeling a ghost, give her?

This book is a quick read, has a cozy feel, and is flawlessly crafted. I loved the setting of the souvenir shop, and wished I could teleport myself right into the book so I could poke around in the treasures. Fifield absolutely has the "show me don't tell me" aspect of writing down to a tee (pun intended.)

While I could go on and on about the things I loved about this book (the characters, the atmosphere, etc), I won't. What I will tell you is what I didn't like about this book: absolutely nothing. I loved it! I highly recommend Murder Buys a T-Shirt for cozy mystery lovers everywhere. With the added bonus of some down-home dinner menus, you can read the book while meal planning at the same time. You can't go wrong with that!