Murder of a Barbie and Ken (Scumble River Mysteries, Book 5)

Skye Denison is a school psychologist in Scumble River. Her boyfriend Simon, the coroner and funeral home owner, has joined the local social club, Grand Union of the Mighty Bulls, and he has talked her into joining the GUMB ladies' auxiliary. That's how she met Barbie Addison. Skye attended a Instant Gourmet party at Barbie's and ended up buying a week's worth of Instant Gourmet food. Skye's dad gives her a ride to Barbie's to pick up her food. Her Bel Air doesn't do well in really bad weather. They find Barbie and Ken (her husband) dead. Police Chief Walter Boyd asked Skye and Simon to help him investigate their murders. Skye has assisted in the past, but usually against everyone's wishes. This is a new twist for Wally to ask for her help. He knows he needs people who are in GUMB to help find out information. To complicate matters more, Simon's mother Bunny arrived at Skye's house one night in a snowstorm with no where else to stay. Skye thought Simon's mother was dead so she is quite surprised to meet her. At least that's what Simon had told her! Skye's Uncle Charlie who runs a local motel, referred Bunny to Skye's for the night. One night turns into many! Bunny isn't the easiest person to live with either. Simon was not too happy to see his mother.Skye and Simon find themselves in many interesting situations as they assist Wally in the investigation.I love the characters and their interactions in this series. Denise has constructed such a great cast of characters. Plus Scumble River is the typical small town (if any are typical). Everyone knows everyone's business and there are plenty of scandals.I highly recommend this book and the whole series! It's great! It is a wonderful cozy mystery series.

This is a fun little lite cozy murder mystery, offering insights such as this father-daughter advice from 30-something School Psychologist Skye Denison's dad: You only need 2 tools, WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use the WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use the duct tape. Anything more complicated than that, call me.And here's a fun flashback from Skye's Funeral Director Beau's Mom, Bunny: In the 60s, we took acid to make the world weirder. Now the world is weirder than we can handle, and we take Prozac to make it normal.The plot and pace are perky. The style's breezy. If you live in small town, or used to, you KNOW some of these characters!/TundraVision, out of a farmland village of about 900 souls in the Illinois heartland.

There is no limit to the intrigue going on in Scumble River either! You already know the basics, so just let me say that you'll love Skye, May, Charlie and Simon. Oh, wait until you meet Bunny! 'Murder of a Barbie and Ken' is a welcome relief from hard-edged, dark mysteries and at least you can turn off the lights at night when you've finished reading. I love Denise Swanson's books and I know you will too. As a mystery writer myself, I know how hard it is to create loveable characters that you care about. Denise is a master.

Settle into a comfortable chair and get ready for another side-splitting visit to Scumble River. In Swanson's latest Skye Dennison adventure, she and Simon have joined the Scumble River social club in order to expand their horizons. One of the women in the club, Barbie, invites Skye to a Instant Gourmet party where she pressures her into buying a week's worth of gourmet food. Barbie and her husband Ken seem to have such a perfect life it was almost as if it were scripted. But when Skye goes to their house a week later to pick up her food and finds them both murdered, she realizes that the police will need her help with this one, whether they want it or not. As she begins to dig into their lives, she finds that the old saying about beauty being skin deep is especially true in this case as she uncovers the ugly secrets that both Barbie and Ken hid.And of course, since this is Skye, she always has several complications in her personal life to deal with. This time Simon's estranged mother has showed up and has moved in with Skye, much to both Skye's and Simon's dismay, especially when they find out she is having some problems with the law. Also, two of Skye's 16 year old students are determined to help her solve the murders so they can write about it for the school paper, and then the monster snow storm hits and paralyzes most of the area.Swanson has once again taken us to one of the funniest towns we will ever visit, filled with some of the quirkiest and eccentric characters we ever have met, with a sharp, witty protagonist who once again is thinking that running away from home wasn't such a bad idea after all.

After she graduated high school Skye Denison couldn't wait to get away from her small Illinois hometown of Scumble River. The only reason she moved back was because her fiancé dumped her, she lost her job and her credit cards were maxed to the limit. The townsfolk have given her a second chance and she has made a place for herself as the school district psychologist and part-time homicide solver. She is seriously involved with Simon Reid, the town coroner and funeral director who has finally realized that if he wants Skye in his life, he has to come to terms with her investigations.His resolve is severely tested when Skye goes over to Barbie's house to back up the merchandise she ordered at a neighborhood party and finds her hostess and her husband Ken murdered. Naturally she wants to find out who the killer is and many people, including the sheriff ask her to look for clues. Her mind is not totally on the case because Simon's estranged mother comes to town and maneuvers herself into Skye's home and life.Fans of small town cozies are going to have a good time reading MURDER OF A BARBIE AND KEN. Between dealing with her boyfriend's mother, tracking down a killer, taking care of her students and trying to find some private time to spend with Simon, the beleaguered heroine does not have time to breathe. Denise Swanson has written a clever, well thought out mystery that is almost impossible to solve, but it is the heroine that makes the novel.Harriet Klausner