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Devereaux
Sinclair runs a five-and-dime store in the small town
of Shadow Bend, Missouri. Dev grew up in Shadow Bend,
spent some time working in Kansas City, and has found
her niche back home with her store, living with her
beloved grandmother, and spending time in the company
of old friends.
One
of those old friends is her high-school sweetheart,
Noah Underwood. Dev’s torn between rekindling
the passion between them and fanning the flames with
the new man in her life, U.S. Marshall Jake Del Vecchio.
The
two men take a back seat (sort of) when one of Dev’s
closest friends, Boone, is charged with the murder of
Elise Whitmore. She is the same woman who recently sold
Dev some antique chocolate molds that she may or may
not have stolen from her soon-to-be ex-husband, Colin.
Doesn’t this give Colin a better motive for murder
than Boone does? After all, Boone was merely Elise’s
divorce attorney. Why would he kill his client? On the
other hand, is the killer someone else entirely, and
will the police dig any deeper or just lay the blame
on Boone?
Denise
Swanson is extremely skilled at bringing her readers
right into the story, guiding us to see situations through
each of her characters eyes, and helping us to feel
as if we might live in the small town of Shadow Bend.
I enjoyed getting to know more about Dev and watch her
find some resolution about things that happened in her
past. The quirkiness and cozy feel of the first book
in the series, Little
Shop of Homicide remain, and once again, I
didn’t peg the killer until close to the reveal.
That right there makes me crazy-happy, and I vow to
remain a devotee of this series as long as Swanson has
new stories to share. I can’t wait to find out
which man Dev chooses, or if she’ll lose them
both. There remains a lot of history to explore in future
installments, and I’m certain that there will
be many more mysteries to solve. Bravo Denise!
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