Review: Another Dirty Business...Dead Head!

Image by KingsbraeGarden via FlickrDead Head:
A Dirty Business Mystery

By Rosemary Harris

Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9780312569945
245 Pages

Caroline Sturgis was one of Paula Holliday's clients--in fact, she was one of her most important clients who had also become a friend. She had been working with her for three years and had slowly been able to move Caroline's interests from impatiens, marigold and red salvia, into doing some interesting additional plantings. Now, as her children are getting older and Caroline has little to do, she was trying to talk Paula into a business partnership--she providing the money to buy Guido Chiaramonte's nursery, and Paula being the owner and front person. Dead Head by Rosemary Harris is the third Dirty Business Mystery and this time, Paula is even hired to be a private detective! You won't want to miss this one!

It had all started at Babe Chinnery's diner where Paula and she were discussing the use of false lamium in the planters in front, with Paula guaranteeing that a beautiful yellow would be added when the plant flowered. Paula spent a lot of time there and so it was not surprising that when Caroline, along with a number of other friends, stopped by and saw Paula was there, she came in to talk more about the purchase of the nursery.

But when Caroline was leaving, a deadheaded trucker driving back home stopped her and asked if he knew her. Caroline immediately left; she disappeared for days.

And then it was announced she had been arrested and taken to Michigan. The newspapers called her The Fugitive Mom!" And Caroline was not her name...

Caroline's husband is devastated and, seeks out Paula's help to try to find out what the truth was. She argued that she was not a private detective, but when he mentioned how much he would pay her, and knowing that Caroline wanted and needed her help, she agreed.

Starting with the basics, she found out what Caroline's real name was and then began to trace her teenage life. Because it had been as a teenager that she had been accused and found guilty of running a drug operation!" She was a high school senior cheerleader at the time; they gave her 20 years! And during a work release program, she had walked away and...had built a new life, a place in the community and many who couldn't believe the original charges were true!

But somebody was certainly on the trail and Paula was getting in the way as she tracked down the original trucker who had talked to Carolyn and went on from there to hopefully clear her friend's name as well as preventing her from going back to jail!

I must say that Paula does indeed make a great detective and she's even considering a change in career. But then again, she does seem to get into quite a bit of trouble and Babe and Lucy can't always be around to help! This whodunit has everybody under scrutiny, including a new priest to the community! One of the main characteristics in the books by Rosemary Harris, is the subtle throw-ins and one-liners that spark a smile or an outright chuckle in the middle of a serious scene. The overall package of these novels continuously results in a great read, and admiration for Paula, Babe and Lucy just keeps growing! I love these characters!

Book Received Via
BRH from Author

G. A. Bixler

Review: A Dirty Business...

Image via WikipediaPushing Up Daisies:

A Dirty Business Mystery

By Rosemary Harris

There are few cozy mystery series that I do not thoroughly enjoy. When you add a bit of humor, it is even more fun to read. If you agree with me, then I highly recommend you check out Rosemary Harris' Dirty Business Mysteries. I started right from the beginning with Pushing Up Daisies and quickly decided that I liked the main character, Paula Holliday, who owns her own small landscaping company.

I'll let you read how she left New York for a small town in Connecticut--and her best friend Lucy who is still there but visits often. Paula is still finding her place but was able to talk the president of the Historical Society into giving her the job of restoring Halcyon's Garden, which had just been endowed to them upon the death of the owner of a magnificent estate. Both of the last residents had been very old and had not been able to attend to the garden so extensive cleanup would be first, but there were garden rooms, a maze, a greenhouse and even a Herb Cottage that could once again be a beautiful center for the small town.

Winning the job was a tremendous opportunity for Paula, although it would not be a profitable one. Hopefully, it would lead to other jobs once the Garden would showcase her work. Not wanting to wait, she quickly drove out to the Garden and started to tour, making notes on what needed to be done, what Hugo, her assistant could do and what should be started first. By the time she had seen most of everything, she found herself in The White Garden and there she couldn't wait any longer, she started to dig! Was it fate that had her dig exactly there? For before very long, Paula had hit something hard. Discovering a box, she lifted it up and found a small object completely covered in cloths--but a tiny head dropped out and rolled across the garden, leaving Paula screaming and sitting on the ground.

Fortunately, there had been nobody to hear her; however, she knew what she had to do. Calling in the police and learning that the body had been a baby was "not" something that brightened her first day on a new job! One of the enjoyable relationships for cozy mysteries is the love-hate relationship between the amateur sleuth and the local police. So it wasn't surprising that Sgt. Michael O'Malley was prepared to either arrest her or send her packing away from the crime scene. But not before Paula got a few digs in about Springfield police comparing to that of Mayberry.

Everybody immediately assumed that the baby had belonged to one of the sisters who had owned the garden. So amidst the work taking place to restore the Halcyon's Garden, Paula began looking around and asking questions. When one of her competitor's is killed and her assistant Hugo is the prime suspect, Paula immediately goes into high gear to save her friend!

I had to laugh when Paula discovers that Anna, who is an unpaid office assistant, is also in love with Hugo! Kind of puts our amateur sleuth on the spot, doesn't it, missing what is there right under her nose...but it was fun to watch and even have the wedding as part of the book! I loved the characters and enjoy the relationships that are developing in the series...Now I'm on to second in the series, The Big Dirt Nap! But do start with Pushing Up Daisies--start at the beginning of this great series!


St. Martin's Minotaur
ISBN: 97803123696675
291 Pages

Book Provided Via
BRH Blog by author

G. A. Bixler