Sunday, November 25, 2007

Mystery Book Review: Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae

Mysterious ReviewsMysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae

Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae
A Home Crafting Mystery with Sophie Mae Reynolds

Midnight Ink (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7387-1116-0 (0738711160)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-1116-4 (9780738711164)
Publication Date: October 2007
List Price: $12.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Cocoa butter soap, check. Lemon lip balm, check. A dead body?

That's just what Sophie Mae Reynolds finds in her workroom: the corpse of Walter Hanover, the neighborhood handyman. He died from drinking lye, something she has in good supply. But the police don't suspect Sophie Mae, a thirty—something widow who makes and sells beauty products. Instead they call it a suicide. But why would a man with lottery cash and a loving fiancĂ©e kill himself?

No one can stop the impulsive Sophie Mae from answering this riddle, not her sensible best friend Meghan or Detective Ambrose, who incites annoyance as well as stomach flutters. Sophie Mae's big mouth and sharp nose lead her to a peppermint-scented trail of arson, bigamy, and a shocking family secret that reveals a personal connection to Walter ... and his killer.

Review: Cricket McRae's winsome debut mystery, Lye in Wait, introduces Sophie Mae Reynolds, a widow who sets up a craft shop in her home specializing in soaps and other personal care products.

Following her best friend's divorce, Sophie Mae is asked by Meghan Bly to leave Seattle and move in with her and her daughter in the small town of Cadyville, just north of the city. She's not only offered a room but also space in the basement where she can set up a workshop to create products to sell from her home-based business. Everything is working out fine until Sophie Mae one day opens the door to her workshop and finds the body of Walter, their handyman, dead on the floor. It appears as if he had been poisoned by a concoction of lye and other toxic ingredients. The police initially call it suicide, but Sophie Mae could not believe that anyone could deliberately swallow anything containing lye. She's convinced it was murder and sets out to prove it. After all, the dead man was found in her shop!

It is entertaining to follow Sophie Mae as she becomes an amateur sleuth. She's not above being a bit boorish if it furthers her investigation. She discovers that Walter had recently come into some money, always a motive for murder. The suspects are numerous and include Walter's ex-wife, his fiancĂ©’s brother, and even Meghan's ex-husband. All cozies need the gruff but loveable detective, and true to form there's Detective Ambrose who's always on hand to remind Sophie Mae that murder investigations are best left to professionals.

Lye in Wait is an enjoyable book with a credible, if not complex, plot that's handled well. It's a fine start to this new series. And, as is typical of vocation mysteries, at the end of the book are recipes for readers who would like to try to make lye soap and facial creams.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of for contributing her review of Lye in Wait and to Midnight Ink for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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