DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE is a cozy mystery written by Caroline Clemmons, that will have you glued to the pages from beginning to end. Zoe Wilder is a reporter for her newspaper in a small town in Texas and is a writer of mysteries on the side. When she finds her friend Margo Kingsley dead, she immediately deduces that it is murder. She is overruled and the death is deemed an accident due to a fall while drunk. Zoe isn't going to let the small-town police get away with this wrong. Margo no longer drank - been sober for near a year - and her room was moved downstairs due to hip and knee trouble. Zoe is determined to keep poking around to find the truth.
In steps new Chief Deputy Caleb McBride. He has his hands full with the investigation he was sent to do, but Zoe - who is considered a beautiful kook by the locals - hands him another mystery. He takes it on but does his best to keep Zoe out. He doesn't know her well, but he soon gets to know her. What he finds is a woman who loves her friends and when led by a mystery is a bulldog.
DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE is a fantastic read. It hits all the small-town drama that readers expect - where everyone knows everyone - or at least think they do. Zoe was helping Margo put together her memoirs - and what a racy book that would make - though Zoe really didn't think the woman would ever get it done let alone publish. Did someone fear what the woman had to say? Could it have been perceived wrongs by the older woman? Zoe really wants to know. Caleb is a serious man for the job, maybe a tad overprotective - though with some things happening to Zoe (a break-in and other frights) he has reason, but he is also warm-hearted and kind. Exactly what readers want in their hero.
The funniest moments, to me, were all the times that Zoe renamed Caleb - McDreamy, McI'mInCharge, McMoody - and so on. Each time will give you a good chuckle. The pages are filled with the life of this town and the day-to-day dramas that just happen. I found the perpetrator a bit of a surprise, but it all works out in the end very neatly.
If you’re looking for a mystery with a sweet romance, that small town appeal with characters you’ll enjoy getting to know - then DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE is a must read!
DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE is a light-hearted cozy mystery which contains humor, with no graphic sex, and no cliffhangers.
Zoe Wilder is a reporter for the local newspaper, The Spencer’s Ridge Gazette, in Winston County, Texas. She also writes cozy mysteries. Perhaps that’s why she sees a crime where there may not be one. Members of the local Winston County Sheriff’s Department view her as a pretty kook and don’t take her seriously. When she finds her friend Margo Kingsley dead, she is certain Margo was murdered and Margo’s housekeeper agrees. The investigating officer doesn’t believe her, and the death is ruled an accident due to a fall while inebriated.
Zoe is determined to find the killer. A new Chief Deputy, Caleb McBride, arrives a few days later, hired from Fort Worth PD’s homicide division under unusual circumstances. Deputy McBride is determined Zoe will leave detecting to him and his officers. He warns her she is making herself a target. He also warns her he’ll arrest her if she interferes again. Undeterred, Zoe fears he is only going through the motions to appease the late woman’s daughter. Surprisingly, the new Deputy is the nephew of the dead woman’s housekeeper, of whom Zoe is very protective.
Just as Zoe decides Deputy McBride is good at his job, the killer targets her. She is forced to cooperate with Deputy McBride. Will the killer be stopped before Zoe is the next victim?
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