A Cutthroat Business by Bente Gallagher is the first book in the new “Savannah Martin” mystery series. Publisher: PublishingWorks, June 2010

Everyone has warned new-minted realtor Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business.

But Savannah doesn’t think she’s supposed to take the warning literally … until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the ‘bad’ side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about.

Rafe Collier is six feet three inches of testosterone and trouble; tall, dark, and dangerous, with a murky past and no future—not the kind of guy a perfect Southern Belle should want to tangle with. In any way. But wherever Savannah turns, there he is, and making no bones about what he wants from her.

Now Savannah must figure out who killed real estate queen Brenda Puckett, make a success of her new career, and avoid getting killed—or kissed—by Rafe, all before the money in her savings account runs out and she has to go back to selling make-up at the mall.

All Savannah wanted was to make her first sale when she agreed to meet Brenda’s client, Rafe Collier, a “bad boy” from her childhood years. Instead when they walked into the house, they find Brenda, dead. Savannah inadvertently starts digging for clues when things don’t add up and everywhere she goes, Rafe is somehow around. She begins to wonder what his role is and is pulled into finding out as much as she can, while trying to keep her distance from him and solving the murder. This was a good mystery, light and fun and I especially love the dialogue and the romantic tension between the Savannah and Rafe. I can’t wait to read the next book, “Hot Property” in this series. My rating: 4 stars