Skye Denison is a school psychologist searching for a summer job so that she can buy her beloved cottage. After losing her job with antiquities dealer, Cookie Caldwell, for telling a customer that Cookie was cheating her; she is forced to take a job as the organizer of the First Annual Route 66 Yard Sale. If you've ever been to a large yard sale then you know how vicious people can get when a ‘treasure is at stake, imagine 100 miles of booths and hundreds if not thousands of people trying to find their very own buried treasure. Skye finds herself in the position of mediator more times than she'd like; not just between customers, but between her parents, the chief of police and the mayor and the mayor and the county sheriff. She tolerates it all in the name of earning enough for her cottage.
When a murder victim turns up in her family's booth and the county sheriff decides to make an example of Skye and her family, she begins to doubt her sanity in accepting this job. When a television hostess and her crew begin to make things even more muddled, a teenager she's counseled disappears, and another murder turns up with all fingers pointing at Skye; she's had enough. If the sheriff won't do his job, well then, Scumble River's very own Nancy Drew will.
Skye embarks on a twisted path trying to discover who the murderer is before the yard sale is ruined and she loses her bonus and her cottage.
Murder of a Smart Cookie was a delightful read which I truly enjoyed. The different characters that Denise Swanson created were such typical small town folk that I found myself ‘recognizing some people from my home town. She brought us into the bosom of Scumble River and welcomed us. The trials and tribulations of a small town sleuth were well written and engaging. The only fault I had with this book was the ending. I felt that it was extremely abrupt and unfinished. I hope that the questions raised are answered in her next book, Murder of a Real Bad Boy. I give Murder of a Smart Cookie 4 antique swords out of 5.
Serena Polheber, Reviewer, gottawritenetwork.com
March 26, 2006
copyright SP & GWN
