Murder Buys A T-Shirt - Christy Fifield

Murder Buys A T-Shirt

A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery
Christy Fifield
Berkley Prime Crime
 
Mystery

During a lovely early fall day in Keyhole Bay, Florida, Glory Martine is on a shopping trip.  She and her friend, radio reporter Karen, are visiting out-of-the-way places in search of unique items for Glory’s shop, Southern Treasures.  On the way home, Karen’s scanner broadcasts the news of a fatal wreck.  It’s one car, overturned in the middle of the field.  The driver of the car was Kevin Stanley, the high school quarterback who should have had a bright future in front of him. 
 
When Glory returns to her shop, it’s a mess.  It looks like Bluebeard, the Amazon parrot she inherited with the shop from her great-uncle, has been active.  Nothing is missing; just vigorously re-arranged.  Quoth the parrot: “It wasn’t an accident.”  And he might have said that using her great-uncle’s voice.

The police are more than willing to call the wreck an accident, but gossip spreads quickly that Kevin was leaving a kegger.  In a small town, it seems more than likely that the polite fiction of ‘accident’ would be maintained.  It’s clear fairly early on who the culprit is, although the details are well obscured.  Glory is a fun new character, with Bluebeard acting as scene-stealer quite often.  This is a very solid first installment in a new series.
 
Rating: 6 ½
March 2012
ISBN# 978-0-425-24886-5 (paperback)