Hung Out to Die: A Stain-Busting Mystery

Josie Toadfern has been separated from her family since she was eight. Her parents dropped her off in the local orphanage, and her dad's family refused to have anything to do with her. Now her grandma "Mamaw" Toadfern wants her to come to Thanksgiving dinner. Against her better judgment, she accepts. Once there, she regrets going. Even more so when her long lost parents show up for dinner. Things go from bad to worse when she finds a dead relative while out walking with a friend. Her mom begs her to help clear her father's name. She doesn't want to do it. But to keep peace in the town, she decides to help. Can she clear her father's name and keep them from ruining the town with their new get-rich scheme? Can she do all this without putting herself in danger? In the meantime, she is having second thoughts about her situation with her boyfriend. Josie is a great character. I always enjoy reading a book in this series. She is so down to earth and likeable. It doesn't surprise me all the situations she gets into. The author has done a great job of creating a town full of quirky but likeable characters. I can't wait for the next book. I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

In Paradise, Ohio Josie Toadfern was two when her daddy abandoned her; not long afterward her mother dumped her in an orphanage. Whereas her paternal side led by her grandma said she was dead, her maternal Uncle Horace and Aunt Clara raised her as if she was their offspring. Twenty-two years later, her father's mother septuagenarian Mamaw Toadfern wants to allegedly see her after all this time when she only lived on the other side of the river from where Josie grew up and now runs Toadfern's Laundromat while claiming to be the national expert on stain removal. Thus that is why she is having Thanksgiving with the Toadfern brood when her parents arrive. They want to forget the past offering a deal involving a flea market. However, unforgiving Uncle Fenwick Toadfern rejects the peace offering with the two men threatening to kill one another. Not long afterward someone kills Fenwick trying to make it seem like a suicide, but local officials think hid death is a homicide and hone in on Josie's daddy as the prime suspect. Josie believes someone else killed her uncle after removing a stain from his favorite shirt. The first half of the tale is a soap opera family drama that introduces the audience to a horde of Toads and a heroine struggling with a sudden rash of relatives who never recognized her as alive until now including her biological parents. The interrelation dynamics are interesting to follow as the audience gain insight mostly from the baffled heroine who understands stain removal a lot better than blood relatives. The suspense comes in the latter half as fans along with Josie will learn that family is inside the heart, not the blood. Harriet Klausner