A Blush with Death

Corporate espionage is the main theme of this Bath and Body mystery. Persia Vanderbilt and her Aunt Florence's business Venus Envy has competition from Bebe's Boutique and things are not gong well. The rose crop has been sprayed with a deadly insecticide, malicious rumors of poor quality ingredients are circulated, and their computer is hacked removing all records, but the theft of Persia's scent journal is the final disaster which forces Persia and company to set a plan in motion to resolve the murder of one of Bebe's associates and recover the scent diary.
This mystery was a little slow developing but had its moments. There were amusing moments with an adolescent Casanova, a new romance under development, and Persia's viewpoint on how to catch a man. Not a great book, but entertaining. ( )

India Ink the penname of Yasmine Galenorn is back with the second in the Bath and Body series. Persia is back as a sensory expert working in her Aunt's shop Venus Envy where she makes custom perfurm and aromatherapy blends for their customers. A rival firm has set in in the same town (Gull Harbour) led by Bebe Wilcox and she won't stop until she has put all of the competition out of business.

There are possible corporate espiange goings on as Venus Envy's roses are destroyed, their computer files are hacked and Persia's personal scent journal is stolen. Unfortunatley until there is proof there is nothing the police can do. To help Persia reluctantly agrees to go undercover and work for Bebe to look for dirt on the inside. Life becomes more compplicated when one of Bebe's sales girls (one of the cloned Belles) is murdered. Persia is on the list of suspects along with sexy and charming Killian who also has a score to settle with Bebe and her gang. As usual Persia is in too deep and puts herself in danger trying to save Venus Envy.

I enjoyed taking a trip back to Gull Harbour, but not as much as the first installment (Scent to Her Grave). I felt that a lot of time was spent building up the characters and that it took the plot a bit too long to really get going. It was well over half way when the murder occurred and that seemed quite late in the story to me. I will read the next in the series though as I do really like Persia and her Aunt and am interested to see how things develop with Killian. ( )

#2 in the Persia Vanderbilt “Bath and Body” cozy mysteries set on an island in Puget Sound. Persia and her aunt Florence have suddenly been having fierce competition from Bebe’s Botique, as the ruthless owner, Bebe Wilcox, sets out to close down Venus Envy and make a real name for herself in the scent and cosmetic business. She’ll stop at nothing, pulling all sorts of dirty tricks and starting false, malicious rumors about Persia and Florence’s shop and products. When someone sprays insecticide all over their organic rose gardens, Persia and Florence stage a falling out so that Persia can accept a job offer she’s received from Bebe to infiltrate their company and find evidence about the dirty dealings. When one of Bebe’s top sales associates ends up dead, they wonder about how sensible their plan is. Still, with Persia on the suspect list, they know they need some evidence to save their struggling company, so they follow through with the plan. This was an okay, light read…I didn’t like it as well as the first one and judging from the ending of this book, the next one will be taking a turn for the romancey side. Ugh! Some of what took place just seemed a bit too fantastical and unrealistic and there seemed to be more focus on clothes, makeup, etc. in this one—which I suppose is only natural given the subject matter! But I think I may just stop here in the series and save myself some future agony. LOL ( )

Second book in the Bed & Bath series and as well done as the first. I'm really enjoying this series and like it even better than the Chintz & China mysteries she writes under her real name (Yasmine Galenorn). Great characters, lots of fun. Looking forward to the next one. ( )

Great sequel to Scent to Her Grave! A bit more new age-y than I normally like but still a good cozy mystery! ( )