Candyce "Dyce" Dare is busy making ends meet with her furniture refinishing business and keeping up with her precocious little boy, Enoch. Still, she can't refuse her police investigator boyfriend, Cas Wolfe's, latest project -- refinishing a hundred-year old antique Steinway piano. As she is prepping the piece, she finds a hidden note tucked away among the keys -- a letter from a woman who's been missing for years. Curious about the circumstances behind the disappearance, Dyce begins to nose around, asking questions and stirring up the ire of the woman's family who would like to keep the whole incident under wraps.

As Dyce begins to pull back the layers of paint on the piano, she also pulls back layers of mystery surrounding a pair of lovers who wanted to be together despite their family's objections. With a little help from Cas and her best buddy Ben, Candyce discovers scandals and secrets galore, but she may have just poured the thinner on the wrong sleuthing project when someone tries to keep her quiet -- permanently.

FRENCH POLISHED MURDER is Elise Hyatt's second book in her A Daring Finds Mystery series. The combination of amateur sleuthing and do-it-yourself ingenuity makes for a charming and intriguing story. I like the feisty character of Dyce Dare, who juggles motherhood, the daily hassles of getting by, and being an independent spirit who is determined to make the most of her life. For those interested in furniture restoration, Hyatt includes an in- depth description on how to refinish a piano, much like her character does in the story.