"Nickled and Dimed to Death"

Denise Swanson's "Nickled and Dimed to Death" is the second book in her Devereaux Dime Store Mystery series.  Dev is settled in her life back in her home town of Shadow Bend, MO, running the shop she purchased there and watching over her grandmother who has memory problems.  Her new boyfriend, Deputy U. S. Marshal Jake Del Vecchio, has been cleared to return to duty and breaks a date with her at the last minute when he's called back to duty in St. Louis.  This gives her high school sweetheart/ex-beau, Dr. Noah Underwood, a chance to try to win her back.  She accepts his invitation to attend an event with him because he has promised an introduction to a man who can greatly increase her gift basket business. 

The introduction goes well and that part of the evening is a success but, when she gets a frantic call from her good friend, Boone (an attorney), saying he's been arrested for the murder of his client, Elise Whitmore, she calls on her other good friend, Poppy, to pick her up and take her to the police station.  Thus begins the mystery and the need for Dev and Poppy to find out who really killed Elise to clear Boone's name.  Although there is animosity between Noah and Boone, Noah offers to help in the investigation and Boone's attorney friend, Tryg Price, flies in from Chicago and settles in for the duration to represent Boone and lead the investigation.

Despite the seriousness of their task to solve a murder, a romance begins to develop between Tryg and Poppy and Noah makes a move on Dev -- hoping to win her back while Jake is out of town.  Noah does prove to be invaluable in getting information from the locals and the investigation has a few twists on the way to solving the murder.  pazt