Dipped, Stripped, and Dead by Elise Hyatt is the first book in the new “Daring Finds” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin), October 2009
Refinishing furniture can be the end of you.
Dyce (short for Candyce) dare never thought she’d end up twenty-nine and divorced, with a toddler to raise, an ex who “forgets” his child support and a diet consisting mostly of pancakes.
To make ends meet, Dyce takes a chance and starts up Daring Finds, a furniture refinishing business. But finding things to refinish is tough—especially when Dyce goes Dumpster diving for discarded furniture and uncovers a gelatinous-looking corpse. Turns out the body was immersed in a vat of lye—a technique used for refinishing furniture—making Dyce a prime suspect.
Now, in order to clear her good name—and thanks for her parents, slightly absurd—name, Dyce has to play private eye. But solving a murder isn’t child’s play, especially when the next victim might be her.
Dyce finds a tea table and a body and immediately is threatened. Her best friend and the good looking cop are trying to keep her safe, while Dyce plays amateur detective seeking clues to who is the murderer. This was a good read, a little verbose though. I hope the next book has more dialogue as opposed to more internal thinking of Dyce. My rating: 3 stars
*new-to-me author
Elise Hyatt is a pseudonym for Sarah A Hoyt