The Goodbye Body (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 15)
Why is Claire Malloy such an appealing character? On one hand, she lives what many mystery readers would consider a dream life: amateur sleuth and small-town bookshop owner. On the other hand, Claire is endearing because she is very like most of us: far from rich and even further from perfect, she often breaks things, she messes up her relationship with handsome cop Peter Rosen, and she opens her mouth when she shouldn't. In this madcap entry in the long-running series, Claire and her teenage daughter, Caron, accept a house-sitting invitation from Claire's new friend Dolly Goforth. With her own apartment being fumigated, Claire feels like she has hit the jackpot with Dolly's invitation: a gorgeous home and use of a new Mercedes. The idyll soon turns ugly, though, with the discovery and subsequent disappearance of a dead body. The plot works itself out just fine, but face it, the real attraction here is the opportunity to spend some time with Claire Malloy.Jenny McLarinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved