Claire Malloy, for as long as she can remember, has been the local bookseller and owner of the Book Depot and the widowed mother of teenage Caron, who frequently speaks in ALL CAPS. But her life has changed dramatically in recent years. Claire has married her longtime beau, Deputy Police Chief Peter Rosen. Still the owner of the Book Depot, Claire has passed the day-to-day running of it on to her very efficient employees. With Caron inching ever closer to college, there's but one thing that remains steadfastly unchanged—Claire's astonishing ability to attract, find, or even just randomly stumble across trouble.
Summoned for jury duty, the prosecutor on a murder case, harboring a grudge against her husband, decides to humiliate Claire and dismiss her. Having done so in spectacular enough fashion to make the local news, Claire decides that revenge will be the next dish she serves. She hunts down the defendant in the case, a woman accused of murdering her husband, and offers to help prove her innocence. And not just because Claire wants to humiliate the prosecutor. There are only two problems. One—the defendant is looking guiltier by the minute. And two—the worst day imaginable has finally come: Claire's dreaded new mother-in-law is coming to visit and life in prison is starting to look good.
-
Creators
-
Series
-
Publisher
-
Release date
April 7, 2015 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781250029997
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781250029997
- File size: 801 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
Publisher's Weekly
February 9, 2015
Agatha-finalist Hess smoothly blends humor and detecting in her 20th Claire Malloy mystery (after 2013’s Murder as a Second Language). When belligerent prosecutor Edwin Wessell dismisses Claire from jury duty, the unfairness of it all drives her to investigate defendant Sarah Swift’s alleged murder of her highly unpleasant husband, John Cunningham. Overwhelmed public defender Evan Toffle welcomes her snooping, and even Claire’s new husband, Deputy Chief Peter Rosen of the Farberville, Ark., police department, is willing to help. Others are not so cooperative, and Claire encounters one dead end after another. Meanwhile, her high school–age daughter, Caron, and Caron’s sidekick, Inez Thornton, are on the trail of the ugly wedding gift that Peter’s mother gave Peter and Claire. The gift must be found before a just-announced visit from Peter’s mother—which may be the worst family crisis Claire has ever had. Spending time with Claire and the other citizens of Farberville is always a treat. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency. -
Library Journal
March 1, 2015
Prolific mystery writer Hess, who recently won the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement, returns with her 20th book in the "Claire Malloy" series (following Murder as a Second Language). Claire, a bookseller, should be settling into blissful married life with DPC Peter Rosen, but she is too peeved by the prosecuting attorney's unnecessarily humiliating rejection of her during jury selection for Sarah Swift's murder trial. To spite the attorney, Claire promises Sarah, accused of shooting her husband, to help win her case. The problem is that the evidence points to Sarah's guilt, and Claire is in a race against time to solve the mystery before the dreaded arrival of her new mother-in-law. Laced with her trademark humor, Hess's latest novel proves once again that good cozy mysteries need not only take place in picturesque English villages--small college towns in Arkansas will do just fine. Claire's conversations with her teenage daughter, Caron, are especially amusing and so true to life. Series fans won't be disappointed. VERDICT Readers of humorous cozies can rejoice that Hess is still turning out entertaining, comical mysteries. [See Prepub Alert 10/13/14; library marketing.]--Barbara Clark-Greene, Groton P.L., CT
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-
Library Journal
November 1, 2014
Boasting a shiny new Lifetime Achievement Award from Malice Domestic, Hess returns with another Claire Malloy mystery (after Murder as a Second Language). Now married to Deputy Police Chief Peter Rosen, Claire gets kicked off a jury by a prosecutor aiming to one-up her husband and vengefully promises the defendant (accused of killing her husband) to help prove her innocent. But it looks bad for the defendant and worse for Claire, whose mother-in-law is coming to town.
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.