Wash and Die

This is a fun lighthearted mystery to read. Barb Colley is a great writer.

Wash and Die proves that an author can keep the books in a series getting even better. Barbara Colley's book is filled with twists and turns and intersting characters that keep the reader guessing. I highly recommend this book!

Charlotte LaRue, owner of Maid for a Day, is a super sleuthing amateur detective who returns home from work one day and finds Joyce Thibodeaux sitting on her porch swing. Joyce is Charlotte's next door tenant Louis Thibodeaux's ex wife. Joyce is just out of rehab and asks Charlotte if she can put her up until she can find a place of her own. Charlotte acts against her better judgment and agrees to help Joyce when she's down on her luck. Charlotte discovers that Joyce has stolen her dad's gold watch and hocked it at a pawn shop for cash to tide her over until she can get a job. Charlotte throws her out of her house and Joyce threatens to make her regret it. Charlotte comes home the next day and finds Joyce murdered on her living room floor and her pet parakeet, Sweety Boy, missing. And, of course, the police place Charlotte and Louis, who was out of town the whole time until the day of Joyce's murder, at the top of their list of suspects and even her niece, homicide detective Judith Monroe, can't help her. Charlotte realizes that if she is ever going to be cleared of the crime, she was going to have to find the murderer herself. She sets out on a dangerous mission beginning at a pawn shop in the French Quarter and leading to the hospital psych ward where Joyce had been admitted. Things get so bad that Charlotte has to fight to save her life, which she does--twice. And all the while, she manages to welcome twin grandchildren amidst all the mystery and clue gathering. Of course she solves the crime and all the conflicts resolve nicely at the end of the story. Wash and Die, the seventh in the series, kept me entertained the whole time I was reading it. It's a page turner and a great read. I recommend it highly.

Charlotte LaRue owns Maid for a Day cleaning service in New Orleans. When she returns home from a hard day of cleaning, she finds Joyce Thibodeaux waiting on her porch. Joyce begs Charlotte to let her stay with her for a few days. Joyce is a known liar and con artist and has just gotten out of rehab. Against her better judgment, Charlotte says yes. Joyce was once married to Charlotte's tenant Louis Thibodeaux. It doesn't take long for Charlotte to regret letting Joyce stay. Joyce can't keep her room clean, lies about why a San Francisco inspector shows up looking for her, and steals Charlotte's father's gold watch and pawns it. Charlotte tries to recover her watch, but the pawn shop denies who pawned it and says it is sold. Charlotte comes home to find her house has been trashed and Sweety Boy, her parakeet, is missing. Since Charlotte fought with Joyce and kicked her out, she is a prime suspect. She and Louis, also a suspect, talk about the facts they each know and decide on avenues they will each pursue. When Charlotte goes sleuthing at the hospital where Joyce last stayed, she find herself in danger. If she's not careful, she might just find herself face-to-face with a murderer. I love this series. Charlotte is a great character and New Orleans is a wonderful setting. I like the fact that Charlotte is a maid. So many times people talk in front of the maid, helping her to find answers. This book has plenty of twists and turns to keep you turning the page. I highly recommend this book.

In New Orleans, Charlotte LaRue, owner of Maid for a Day, is unhappy to return home after a hard day of cleaning to see Joyce Thibodeaux waiting for her on her porch. With no place to stay, Joyce, formerly married to Charlotte's tenant Louis Thibodeaux and just out of rehab, begs her to let her stay here for a few days. Against her better judgment as Charlotte knows that Joyce is a lying con artist, she realizes she can not let the woman sleep on the street. Their arrangement fails to work out as Joyce may be a guest but she keeps her room looking like a pig sty, lies about why a San Francisco inspector wants to speak with her, and steals the gold watch Charlotte inherited from her father. After tossing out Joyce, Charlotte tries to recover the watch that the woman hocked, but the pawn shop proprietor rejects her plea. Frustrated, Charlotte comes home to find her house trashed from an obvious search, Joyce shot to death amidst the mess, her parakeet Sweety Boy gone. Charlotte and Louis discuss possible suspects before she begins her investigation to find her missing bird and a killer. Her snooping almost gets her killed twice by different people who want the dirt to remain unclean. Readers will admire the sexagenarian business owner who is determined to cleanse her name from the mud that it recently took as much as she also wants her beloved bird back. Yet with her cleaning enterprise, an amateur sleuth investigation and much more, Charlotte welcomes her newborn twin grandchildren with love and tenderness. She is the role model that insists the sixties today are the forties of yesterday. Readers will enjoy this fine thinking person's cozy as Charlotte escorts the audience around New Orleans in search of cleaning up a murder. Harriet Klausner