Animal, Vegetable, Murder (Five Star Mystery Series)
Sunny Day Burnett, so named by her mother during a hippie phase, is widowed and living in her grandmother’s house in Laurelmere, a gated enclave in Seattle. Her neighbors look askance because she doesn’t eat at the club and has surrounded her home with organic gardens. When Sunny finds one of those neighbors dead in her garden, the cold shoulder gets much colder. But why is the corpse clutching a picture of Sunny’s husband dressed in a pink gown and boa? Shocked by the picture and still mourning the loss of her husband, Sunny hides the photo before the police arrive. With security tight at Laurelmere, the pool of suspects is thin, and Sunny, of course, is at the top of the list. The attorney across the street, Horace “Ace” Pennington III, offers to be her lawyer. It seems a little too smooth and quick, but then Ace’s house blows up. Filled with quirky yet believable characters, this first mystery is engaging up to and through the suspenseful conclusion. Sunny’s asides about the environment and the importance of organic living help to make her a sympathetic heroine. --Karen Muller