Hi everyone. I’m Lurleen. Many of you already know me as a friend of Ditie Brown’s. That’s Ditie with a long i from Aphrodite, her middle name. People claim I’m the pretty one, but it’s my best friend, Ditie, who is really beautiful inside and out. We each have our assets and together we make the perfect team when it comes to investigating murder.

Ditie and I have worked on a lot of cases together. She stays pretty busy as a pediatrician in a refugee clinic, so I often do the leg work—unofficially of course. If not for me a lot of cases might have gone unsolved. I’m not bragging, it’s simply that I can smell trouble, and I never let down a friend. Ditie doesn’t either. I spot the problem and Ditie helps put the pieces together to solve the crime.

Simple, right?

Sometimes, but in this story, Styled for Murder, things got complicated—I had a lot of issues on my mind. I was going to marry the man I loved more than anything else in the world. He wasn’t the problem. I was. We were supposed to marry in southern France where my aunt had left me an old and lovely farm house. I was supposed to do all the things brides do to get ready for the big day, and I found myself unable to do any of them. Something was definitely wrong with me!

Ditie had to drag me to hair appointments at Headlines of the South with my favorite hair stylist, Robbie. Robbie did her best, but nothing looked right. Not her fault and it was nothing I could put my finger on. I just didn’t like the styles she designed for me despite the fact everyone else said they were perfect.

Then Robbie’s world crumbled with the death of a young woman who worked in her salon. The poor girl was electrocuted in a hair-drying chair! It was awful and it meant my personal worries had to be put to one side.

I confess I didn’t mind that part at all.

What I did mind were the accusations that Robbie was at fault—that she had let faulty wiring cause the death of this young girl. Or worse. Some people claimed it was outright murder. Well, I couldn’t stand to see a friend accused in that way. I had to get involved. Anyone would have done the same.

Maybe I was a little impulsive in having a Robbie support group in Ditie’s house. Her husband Mason Garrett, a detective with the Atlanta City Police certainly got mad at me, but how was I to know a support group would stir up so much trouble?

You know how it is—one thing leads to another and situations get out of hand. Mason was really annoyed. Granted he had a family to protect, not just Ditie but their two children, Lucie and Jason. Still, he didn’t need to get quite so mad at me. I’d never put the children in harm’s way, and frankly he was treating me like one of his kids. I began to feel like no one was on my side.

It was a big mess I have to tell you and it took a lot of sorting out. Not just the death of this poor young girl but my situation as well. I guess I’ll leave it to you to read the story to see where we all ended up.

Giveaway: Sarah has generously offered to give away a signed paperback of STYLED FOR MURDER. To enter, please leave a comment below and tell us about your best friend. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends September 16, 2025. Good luck everyone!

Styled for Murder – A Ditie Brown Mystery, Book 8
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 2025
Format: Digital, Print
Purchase Link

Mabel Aphrodite Brown and her best friend, Lurleen, are preparing for Lurleen’s upcoming wedding in southern France. They must find the best wedding hair style created by the finest hair dresser in Atlanta. But no matter what Robbie, hair stylist extraordinaire, offers her, Lurleen seems dissatisfied. Is it the hair style or the wedding itself that is troubling her? Before Ditie can sort this out, disaster strikes. A woman is found dead by electrocution in a hair drying chair. Is it murder, suicide or an accident? Lurleen and Ditie must sort out the answer to this hair-raising death.

About the author
Sarah Osborne is the pen name for a physician and writer living on Cape Cod. She writes cozy mystery to provide comfort and humor in difficult times. In her stories the good guys always win. Sarah currently has two series: the Ditie Brown Mystery Series and the Flo and Maude Christmas Cozies. Visit her at her website at www.doctorosborne.com or send her an email at sarah @ doctorosborne dot com. She loves to hear from readers.