Dead Men Don't Lye

I enjoyed this book. The characters are not well developed, but they are pleasant to read about.

Thinking this to be another of the candle-shop books, I picked it up. Oh, well. It was a fun read anyway. To be sure, I did raise an eyebrow at the mention of the candle shop, but since it was an anonymous mention, I didn't think all that much of it. Ben Perkins, being the oldest son of a warm and loving family is quite a different character from the orphan of the candle-shop, in my opinion, and the details of the shop and the soap-making are fascinating. Who wouldn't want to know all the whys and wherefores involved if, in the course of your daily job, you stumbled over the very dead and somewhat mis-treated corpse of one of the suppliers to your business? Especially if that supplier had been dating your sister? Seems reasonable to me. All the red herrings were firmly in place, with a lot of interesting new folks yet to meet in this new series by Tim Myers. One thing is absolutely for certain, however. Tim creates the most appealing, clever and sometimes humorous names and concepts (or themes) for stores and businesses that I've come across in some time. He makes Harper's Landing into a very comfy place to live and work. Ben's widowed Mom is a tad pushy, but after raising seven kids, I guess she's entitled to be just that. But still, I think she's pushed them all in the right direction, even if only two of them are married so far. Let's see, that leaves at least five more books to come - one in which to get each sibling a mate - oh! and then two more, so that Mom and Grandpa (who didn't appear here) can acquire `friends' of their own. The townsfolk are an interesting bunch, as well. The next book in the series will be along in a couple of months, and I'll be watching for it.

Benjamin Perkins, eldest son of a large family who own the boutique Where There's Soap, finds the dead body of one of their suppliers sprawled at the bottom of the back stairs of their small business. Ben's sister Louisa, who had been dating the deceased Jerry Sanger but recently found out he had been two-timing her, becomes the police's prime suspect in the murder. At the request of their mother, Ben investigates Jerry's murder on his own in order to clear his sister. The very entertaining mystery is interspersed with information on hand-making soap. Ben's role in his family store is teaching classes, and throughout the book the author shares information on melt-and-pout soapmaking, the easiest type of soap-making for the home hobbyist. This soapmaking information added to my enjoyment of the book. Another fun thread to the story is Ben's love life, as he tries to juggle relationships with his sometimes girlfriend Molly, who is the policewoman in charge of the case, and a new love interest Kelly, a new lawyer in town who's representing his sister Louisa. Author Tim Myers has written two other series, both set in North Carolina as well. I've read most of the books in the other series, and I found that Ben Perkins and his family were the most interesting characters in any of Myers' books. Sharp-eyed readers will notice references made by the characters in "Dead Men Don't Lye" to Myers' other series. Just another fun twist in the story. I'm looking forward to more stories in this series, and I highly recommend this book to all cozy mystery fans.

As the eldest Benjamin Perkins watches out for his siblings and mother and is the troubleshooter for the family owned specialty shop, "Where's the Soap?" Upon leaving the store, Ben finds a corpse on the backstairs of the shop. He recognizes the victim as the soap supplier to their store and the squeeze of his sister Louisa. Louisa had just learned that her Jerry was stepping out on her, which led to a very public spat so Ben insists she retain a lawyer before he calls the police because she had a motive, a means, and an opportunity. He calls his police friend Kelly to help them but she is not soft on her pal's family. She intends to identity. the culprit even if it turns out that the prime suspect Louise actually committed the murder. Ben is as determined if not more so to find the real killer as he believes his sister is innocent. So far Tim Myers has produced three successful amateur sleuth series in which each tale is an exciting entertaining cozy. His latest winner as always has the violence offstage; yet without any graphic detail readers can picture the results of lye placed on a face (think Phantom of the Opera). The family members are likable and seem genuine especially with their relationships, but this who-done-it belongs to the sleuthing pair Ben and Kelly. Harriet Klausner