Scene of the Grime

Recently widowed Sky Taylor moved to the small town of Pigeon Cove in Massachusetts where she writes a newspaper column and runs a cleaning business. Her business is thriving and she's made many friends in Pigeon Cove including her landlord Chloe Edwards and Abe Monahan, a frequent guest at the Millwood Bed and Breakfast, one of Sky's clients. Sky enjoys talking to "Old" Abe and when she hears he's back in town she gets to work early to say hello to him. But instead of saying hello she gets to say goodbye when she stumbles across his murdered body. Sky is devastated by Abe's death and her colleague on the newspaper, crime reporter Mike Ennis, seems all too willing to comfort her. Even though Sky begins to date Mike she's afraid he's dating her to get information about Abe's murder. While Sky wonders who could have killed Abe - one of the townspeople or one of the strangers that has recently appeared in town - she has problems of her own when someone steals her car. As she investigates the murder Sky begins to realize that Abe wasn't who she thought he was and that in life, unlike books, loose ends aren't always tied up.

"Scene of the Grime" is a nice light cozy mystery. Sky is a delightful heroine, making a new life for herself after the death of her husband. Her somewhat unorthodox and original cleaning tips add much to the humor in the book. Her reflections about her parents add much depth to her character and I loved that fact that she took in Abe's cat after he died. The other characters are equally well written, especially Sky's best friend, the slightly eccentric Chloe Edwards, who does a lot of volunteer work, is respected in town, and is addicted to reading mystery novels and watching Court TV. One very funny character is newspaper receptionist Pam DiGallucci, better known as The Digger because of her habit of digging into people's private lives. Mike is a nice complex character with secrets that aren't totally revealed in this book. There's a scene in the book where he and Sky go out to eat at his uncle's restaurant that is funny from beginning to end. Author Suzanne Price (pseudonym for Jerome Preisler and his wife Suzanne) does a good job of making the New England background come to life. As for the mystery itself, it's pretty obvious who the murderer is but it's fascinating to read the many secrets about Abe's life as they are revealed. The ending of the book is very sweet and will really make readers like Mike.

"Scene of the Grime" is well done. ( )

To be honest, I found this a little dull. ( )