Scent to Her Grave (Bath & Body Series)

Persia left Seattle and her cheating live-in boyfriend when he was arrested for embezzling from "good-fellas" you don't want to mess with. Now she lives with her Aunt Florence and a menagerie of animals on an island outside of Seattle. Together they run Venus Envy, a spa that also sells Persia's custom blended fragrances. All is going well until the snippy town beauty queen is murdered in their store, Persia's treasured mirror is stolen, and one of their loyal employees is the prime suspect. Persia goes into amateur-sleuth mode to find the killer, protect the employee, and find her mirror. (Through it all she even maintains a regular exercise schedule we all can envy.) Persia is a character you will admire and want to hang out with, especially when she's getting even with her drunk ex-boyfriend when he tries to make nice after he gets out of jail. Add in a couple of good looking men vying for Persia's attention (with a little, okay a lot of, help from Aunt Florence) and a quirky best-friend and you've got an entertaining read. Overall, a recommended read.

Persia Vanderbilt is helping her aunt in her local bath and body store, Venus Envy, in Gull Harbor, Washington. Persia blends custom oils for the customers. Lydia Wang won a local beauty pageant, but she is not very nice. She wants the Mirror of Aphrodite that Persia's friend brought back for her. It reflects only the most beautiful aspects of the person looking into it. It's not for sale. The next morning Persia arrives at the shop to find not only Lydia dead, but the mirror missing. The police suspect Trevor, one of the shop's treasured employees. Persia sets out to prove that Trevor didn't do it. Can she find out the truth without becoming a victim herself? This is the first book I've read in this series, but it definitely won't be the last. I really enjoyed Persia. She is a fun and likeable character, and she didn't do stupid things in her investigating. The plot was well written and the story moved along at a good pace. It is a great cozy mystery. I highly recommend it.

It's been awhile since I've found such a cute new series. The plot was a little bit thin, but the characters were likable and very well-developed, making it an extremely enjoyable read. I look forward to the next in the series!

This was a very impressive mystery, and I anxiously await more by this author in the Bath and Body series. Persia Rose is the main character in this book, and she is a perfume maker at her aunt's spa/beauty store called Venus Envy. In other mysteries it often seems like the characters and the eventual crime are very contrived, but this book didn't feel that way at all. The crime - the murder of Lydia Wang, a local celebrity - was very believable, and Persia wasn't involved as an amateur sleuth so much as a concerned business owner. Although she was on the trail of a killer the whole time, there was a lot more to the story than catching Lydia's murderer. We get to learn a lot about Persia and her previous life in Seattle, we meet the other characters who populate Gull Harbor, and the book envelopes you in a sense of serenity. It was fast paced and easy to read, and made me want to continue the entire time through. Another plus was that the mystery wasn't particularly easy to solve - you were guessing up until the very end.

Smart, savvy, and kickass Persia Vanderbilt works at her Aunt's bath and beauty shop Venus Envy in the quaint Pacific Northwest town of Gull Harbor. But all is not what it seems in Gull Harbor. After the local Beauty Queen is murdered in Venus Envy and one of their own employees arrested Persia must turn herself into an amateur dectective to find out what happened and clear her friend's name! Wonderfully written, deeply suspenful, this book truly captures the beauty of the pacific northwest with it's wonderful scenery and wild storms. It's also very accurately captures the politics, treachery and comfort of small island life with its warm friends and easy living. And if that wasn't enough it contain actually beauty and spa tips that really work! My favourite was the Lite Dreams Oil with its tips on getting a full restful night's sleep. Can't wait for the next book!