Glossed and Found (Bath & Body Series)

There isn't a book she has written that doesn't deliver suspence, humor and practical information. I wouldn't miss a single one!

We join Persia Vanderbilt and her aunt Florence for the holiday season at their shop Venus Envy, a bath and body shop in Gull Harbor, WA. In this third installment in the series, we find Persia still suffering the attentions of her ex but thoroughly enjoying the attentions of her current beau. When she receives the call that her beautician, Lisa Tremont, is missing, she follows up the clues that the police aren't able to pursue due to budget cuts. Persia is convinced that Lisa did not end up at Lookout Pier of her own volition, due to a deathly fear of water from a childhood experience. The holidays prove to be almost more than Persia can handle with her best friend's marital difficulties and her own physical altercations with her ex. But how will she be able to help anyone if she can't stay alive? Thanksgiving is proving to be a success for Venus Envy, the bath and body shop co-owned by Persia and her aunt, Florence. But it is also proving to be quite a hectic time, what with the elite Thanksgiving Gala to attend, the shop to manage, decorations to hang, people to host dinner for, ex-boyfriends attacking at home and at work, and an employee mysteriously gone missing. Persia is trying to find Lisa, her beautician, who has gone missing right before a huge gala. Lisa and Persia had been working on conquering Lisa's deathly fear of water at the local pool, so Persia knows that Lisa's car, found abandoned down by a pier, is a clue to mislead the police. Lisa had hinted she was close to discovering who took the money missing from her inheritance; but Persia's efforts to help her friend are interrupted by the reappearance of her ex-boyfriend when he throws a rock through the plate glass window of Venus Envy, as well as Persia's windshield. His attempts to get Persia's attention escalate as Persia gets closer to finding what happened to her missing friend. I am intrigued by the life of Persia Vanderbilt. She is woman, hear her roar! Persia is a confident woman happy in her own skin, and not afraid to let people know it. She and her aunt dance to their own tunes but yet are some of the most loyal friends people could have. The recipes of scents are included, as Persia's specialty is to create custom scents for the patrons of Venus Envy. This is a great cozy series for people who like to pamper themselves. The characters are strong, and despite the multiple story lines, a wonderful perspective on the hectic holiday season.

In this one, Persia's employee goes missing and it's up to her again to help a friend and unravel the motives of the likely suspects. After reading the other reviewers' gripes I hestitated on this one, so was pleasantly surprised when I actually sat down with it. All of India Ink's (a psuedonym) and Yasmin Galenorn's novels tend towards rich characterization, and I enjoy the depth. This one does take it's time, but I found it an absorbing quality and one I often miss, as opposed to novels where 2D characters move through a series of quick plot changes without nearly enough development. So take a chance, I thought the whole thing charming.

In Gulf Harbor, Washington, Persia Vanderbilt understands how important the holiday season starting with the Thanksgiving Gala is to her business Venus Envy, the spa she runs and owns with her Aunt Florence. Still she looks forward to the festivities ending so she can spend more quality time with her new boyfriend. At the Thanksgiving Gala, she is shocked when the newly hired makeup artist Lisa Tremont fails to show up as everyone is working that day. The police inform Persia that they found Lisa's car parked near Lookout Pier and soon conclude she drowned. Persia has a difficult time with the official position especially when Lisa's sister Amy agrees that something is not right as the woman feared deep water and coincidentally thought she found some of the missing inheritance that she and her sibling should have received when their father died. Though there is no proof of murder, Amy begs Persia to investigate, which she agrees even as her former boyfriend Elliot stalks her. Though there seems to be too much going on in Persia's life between the bash, the investigation, the former boyfriend and a friend struggling with a "monster-in-law", readers will enjoy this exciting amateur sleuth tale as the heroine is a courageous caring person. The "Bath and Body" whodunit is cleverly written so that the audience obtains a taste of the Puget Sound town preparing for the holidays, which with the exception of Elliot, leads to a fine cozy that will send readers to visit the spa (see SCENT TO HER GRAVE). Harriet Klausner