Wave Good-bye: Southern Beauty Shop

By: Lila Dare
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: March 2013
ISBN: 978-0425257814
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: March 19, 2013

Violetta Terhune was really puzzled when cancellations kept coming in at her hair salon, Violetta’s. Grace Ann sympathized with her mother as she was busy scrubbing black mold from under a cabinet. Hurricane Horatio hadn’t done them any favors, but a former employee had left them with even less. Apparently Lisa Butterworth, the new manager at the new big box salon, Snippets, had left more damage in her wake than Horatio. Grace Ann was feeling big-time left out when her long-distance relationship with Marty left her stranded. No way she wanted anyone to think she was desperate and dateless, so she headed to Walk-In Foods to snag a bit of dinner. And there she was ...

Lisa Butterworth was ripe for the picking. “You were hired to manage a social marketing campaign,” raged Grace Ann, “and instead you stole our client list!” Of course everyone in St. Elizabeth probably heard that exchange. After contemplating her losing lifestyle Grace Ann decided she needed a pet. Sight unseen she bought a one-eyed parakeet she named “Sam” at the Pet Emporium. While she was at it, she decided to check out Snippets, the shop that was threatening to put Violetta’s out of business. Her best friend, Vonda Jamison, told her she “must have been in the parking lot of Snippets around the time she was killed.” It was news to Grace Ann, but soon she’d regret ever having known Lisa.

Lisa was deader than the beehive hairdo and it looked like Grace Ann was “Suspect Numero Uno.” Hank Parker, her ex-husband, another one of Grace Ann’s mistakes, was all riled up. “This could make my career ... I plan to crack this baby wide open.” Fortunately Special Agent in Charge John Dillon would be handling the case. “Unnamed sources” had been pointing the finger at Grace Ann, but in a small town that could be anyone. That louse Wynn Goodman could have killed Lisa, but so could his wife, Eve. Maybe it was Carol Brockman, but then again Suzee Gaylord, the gal who found the body, looked guilty as all get out. “We found your prints on the back window of Snippets,” claimed Marshall Dillon. Grace Ann really had to work fast and figure out whodunit before she was making license plates instead of cutting hair!

Grace Ann Terhune was in big time trouble when it looked like she killed the competition. Literally. Lisa Butterworth is just the kind of gal we all love to hate. There were more crumbs in this cozy mystery than at the bottom of a toaster. Grace Ann just seemed to be either dating them or surrounded by them. It actually made this cozy mystery more fun than an old-time soap opera when she had to deal with them at every turn. Grace Ann’s interest in hotty, Marshall Dillon, was a teaser that everyone will look forward to in the next book in the series. The mystery did get “curious-er and curious-er,” as Grace Ann exclaimed, the deeper I got into it. St. Elizabeth’s Ms. Terhune, is definitely a sleuth to watch out for!

Quill says: If you like your cozy mysteries more delectable that a Goo Goo Cluster, you're going to devour the Southern Beauty Shop series!