Cut, Crop & Die (A Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery)
Broad humor bordering on the absurd propels Agatha-finalist Slan's uneven second mystery to feature St. Louis scrapbooker Kiki Lowenstein (after 2008'sPaper, Scissors, Death). When one of Kiki's fellow scrappers, Yvonne Gaynor, keels over during a cropping event because of a severe allergic reaction, the police suspect someone sabotaged the epinephrine syringe Yvonne always carried for such an emergency. Despite all warnings, Kiki decides to launch her own murder investigation, which is soon complicated by hate crime attacks against Kiki's employer and other local Jews. On the bright side, three handsome men take an interest in Kiki, while her late husband's mother, Sheila, interferes in her life to her benefit. Filled with scrapbooking lore, this relatively clean cozy contains scenes that will make you either laugh or cringe, like Sheila's sticking penis-shaped vibrators into her lawn to get rid of her mole problem.(June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.