"Little Shop of Homicide"

"Little Shop of Homicide" is the first book in Denise Swanson's new mystery series.  She is the author of the Scumble River Mysteries and has now added Devereaux Dime Store Mysteries.  The heroine of the new series is Devereaux Sinclair who has quit her high powered city job to purchase the old-fashioned five-and-dime in her small Missouri hometown.  She's ready for a change but she also wants to be near her Grandmother whose health seems to be failing.

In her new life (and in addition to running the five-and-dime) Devereaux creates gift baskets for special occasions and one of her recent creations was a gift basket put together for a murder victim.  Devereaux finds herself in the crosshairs of a big city cop out to prove she did it and not really open to looking at any evidence to the contrary.

Devereaux calls on her two longtime friends, Poppy and Boone, to help her clear her name and find the real killer.  There's also a new guy in town, Jake DelVecchio, who happens to be a U. S. Marshal.  Will he distract her from clearing her name because she finds him very attractive -- or will he be more of a help than a hindrance.  This is a fun new series and a quick read -- perfect for my summertime reading.  pazt