Murder of a Creped Suzette by Denise Swanson is the 14th book in the “Scumble River” mystery series. Publisher: Obsidian (Penguin), October 2011

When megamillionaire and imitation cowboy Rex Taylor proposes building a country music theater in Scumble River, everyone’s ready to do the boot-scootin’ boogie except school psychologist Skye Denison. She’s been asked by Suzette Neal, Rex’s assistant and a rising country star, to investigate her mother’s suspicious death twenty-seven years earlier. No sooner does Skye agree to help than she finds Suzette literally flattened—and very dead.

This has fast become a case of two questionable deaths, and suspicion seems to be hovering over Suzette’s inner circle: Rex’s jealous wife, a mysterious man in a black pickup truck, and the sizzling-hot singer Flint James, who also happens to have been Suzette’s bitter rival for country-western fame. With a honky-tonk full of suspects and a tangled web of motives that stretches back two decades, Skye has two options: Rise to the occasion or end up as flat as a crêpe.

When visitor Suzette asks Skye to look into her mother’s death that happened years ago, little did Skye know that she would be looking into Suzette’s own death. This steady-paced and lighthearted tale was a well written mystery that kept me guessing as it was filled with so many surprising twists that kept me turning the pages. I love my annual visit in Scumble River, which boasts a great cast of characters including the eccentric Dooziers and a pleasant small-town setting. This was a good read in this charming series and I look forward to more adventures with Skye and Wally.