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Little Shop of Homicide (A Devereaux Dime Store Mystery #1)
Dev Sinclair is the happy new owner of the old-fashioned shop in her small Missouri town. But if she doesn't focus on finding the killer of her ex's fiancée, this five-and-dime owner may find herself serving twenty-five to life...
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
March 6th 2012
by Signet
(first published March 3rd 2012)
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Denise Swanson finally started a new series. Very good mystery even if the cast is a bit formulaic. You know protagonist with father in jail, mom run off, fiesty gramma, and several other standard cast characters. The mystery was good. The dialogue and plot were very interesting. Although the romance part was typical romance novel crossed wires. If less of the story was spent in angst over whether or not to have sec and more on they mystery it would have expected improved an already good story....more
Devereaux (“Dev”) Sinclair has moved from Kansas City 40 miles away to Shadow Bend, Missouri, population 4,028 [the residents somewhat disconcertingly called Shadow Benders], buying a local shop now called, fittingly, Devereaux’s Dime Store and Gift Baskets. Her background is also a bit disconcerting: When she was in high school, her father was involved in a DUI accident and imprisoned, her mother abandoned her, the boy who had vowed to love her for all eternity walked away, and her grandmother...more
2012 may just go down in history as THE year for debut novels setting up brand new series’ fiction to be introduced to the world. This fun read is Book I in what will eventually become a slew of stories titled, The Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery series.
Devereaux, commonly known as ‘Dev,’ Sinclair has purchased an old-fashioned dime store located in her hometown of Shadow Bend, Missouri. Naming it Dev’s Dime Store and Gift Baskets, she truly loves her business. Soon it is thriving and Dev is maki...more
Devereaux, commonly known as ‘Dev,’ Sinclair has purchased an old-fashioned dime store located in her hometown of Shadow Bend, Missouri. Naming it Dev’s Dime Store and Gift Baskets, she truly loves her business. Soon it is thriving and Dev is maki...more
Denise Swanson's Little Shop of Homicide has been on my TBR pile for quite some time, and I'm very happy it finally made it to the top. Denise is the author of the long running Scumbler River Mysteries, featuring school psychologist Skye Denision. This new series stars Devereaux Sinclair, who quit her big city job to come back to her small hometown to take over the five-and-dime store, and look after her grandmother. Devereaux shares Skye's curly hair and curvy figure, but there the resemblance...more
What a great beginning to a new series for the Scumble River queen, Denise Swanson.
The book is smartly written and has more than a few witty, LOL moments. I liked one bit of humorous dialogue so much I posted it on my Facebook page! I wouldn't, however, classify this book as a straight "cozy" because I truly think it's more romance. The romance figured a bit more promininently than the murder Jake and Devereaux needed to solve in order to keep the finger-pointing small town detective from forma...more
The book is smartly written and has more than a few witty, LOL moments. I liked one bit of humorous dialogue so much I posted it on my Facebook page! I wouldn't, however, classify this book as a straight "cozy" because I truly think it's more romance. The romance figured a bit more promininently than the murder Jake and Devereaux needed to solve in order to keep the finger-pointing small town detective from forma...more
When the her grandmother's doctor tells Devereaux Sinclair that the elderly woman shouldn't live alone, Dev quits her high-stress job in the city and moves back to her hometown of Shadow Bend, Missouri (pop. 4,028). She sinks most of her savings into purchasing the local old-fashioned dime store, which she turns into Devereaux's Dime Store and Gift Baskets. She soon realizes she left her investment job at the right time, because a few months later, her former boss was arrested for running a Ponz...more
A Granddaughter, Devereaux Sinclair has returned to her hometown,Shadow Bend, Missouri to own a small retail store and care for a loving Grandmother, Birdie. Dev returns under a cloud though. Everyone in town knows her past, as is normal in small towns, and she left behind a job that months later fell to scandal.
The book opens with Dev being shocked as she learns the fiance of her ex-boyfriend, Noah, was killed using implements in one of the Valentine's baskets for lovers Dev had fashioned for t...more
The book opens with Dev being shocked as she learns the fiance of her ex-boyfriend, Noah, was killed using implements in one of the Valentine's baskets for lovers Dev had fashioned for t...more
This book read more like a romance than a cozy mystery. I did enjoy it more than the author's other series, the Scumble River mysteries. But it seemed like the mystery was merely an after thought to Dev's love life. The conclusion was unsatisfying and out of left field. It felt like the murderer was random, and took the fun out of trying to figure out whodunnit.
Then there's the characters, the lifeblood of any book. I didn't feel like I connected or identified with any of the characters. Perhap...more
Then there's the characters, the lifeblood of any book. I didn't feel like I connected or identified with any of the characters. Perhap...more
Denise Swanson is my go-to these days for cozy mysteries. She tells a solid story, with fun characters and neat little mysteries set in the midwest. Her Scumble River series is actually set in the general vicinity of the town I grew up in. This new series, the Devereaux Dime Store series (this is the first) is also set in the midwest, near Kansas City, Missouri.
In this story, Devereaux has returned to the town she grew up in and has purchased the Dime Store. She makes gift baskets as part of th...more
In this story, Devereaux has returned to the town she grew up in and has purchased the Dime Store. She makes gift baskets as part of th...more
A few years ago on a lazy Sunday afternoon I was watching some strange sport which involved horses and what appeared to be a dead animal...and I think at some stage all the players started shooting at each other. As I was sitting there I had what I thought at the time was a Eureka moment. I really love sushi and I really love sandwiches, so that being the case why not combine them?
Wandering into the kitchen I discovered I had all the ingredients I needed...one cucumber, half an avocado, rice, a...more
Wandering into the kitchen I discovered I had all the ingredients I needed...one cucumber, half an avocado, rice, a...more
#47 Book Read in 2012
Little Shop of Homicide by Denise Swanson
This is the first book in a relatively new cozy mystery series. Deveraux has returned to her hometown and taken over a dime store and also has a business making specialty gift baskets. Also in her hometown is Noah, her ex from her younger years. Their relationship broke up with Dev's father was convicted of a crime.
When a socialite is murdered using parts of the gift basket Dev was hired to make for her, Dev becomes a prime suspect-...more
Little Shop of Homicide by Denise Swanson
This is the first book in a relatively new cozy mystery series. Deveraux has returned to her hometown and taken over a dime store and also has a business making specialty gift baskets. Also in her hometown is Noah, her ex from her younger years. Their relationship broke up with Dev's father was convicted of a crime.
When a socialite is murdered using parts of the gift basket Dev was hired to make for her, Dev becomes a prime suspect-...more
Devereaux Sinclair makes a few life-changing decisions. She quits her city job, after a huge scandal rocks her company, moves back to her small hometown in Missouri, Shadow Bend, and buys an old fashioned five-and-dime store. Dev is quite happy until her ex-boyfriend’s fiancé, Joelle, turns up dead. The murder weapon just happens to be items Dev used in a gift basket that Joelle purchased, making Dev the number one suspect.
With her father already serving time in prison, Dev has no desire to join...more
With her father already serving time in prison, Dev has no desire to join...more
Little Shop is the first in A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery. Denise also writes the very good Scumble River Series.
Devereaux Sinclair has left her high pressure finance job and has returned to small hometown, Shadow Bend, and has bought a Dime Store that was up for sale. A side line she has at the store is making adult gift basket for special occasions. As she is putting the finishing touches on her latest masterpiece when a Det. Woods enters the store and informs her that her former boyfriends...more
Devereaux Sinclair has left her high pressure finance job and has returned to small hometown, Shadow Bend, and has bought a Dime Store that was up for sale. A side line she has at the store is making adult gift basket for special occasions. As she is putting the finishing touches on her latest masterpiece when a Det. Woods enters the store and informs her that her former boyfriends...more
This started kind of weird, I saw on the cover that the author has another, successful mystery series under her belt. I thought it was odd to have a crazy cop questioning the main character out of the blue, he kept on throughout the book... being a jerk, but nothing came of it. So it was out of place in hindsight. I also didn't like the altering narration from the girl and the guy, it was like a romance novel, since the only insight was what they thought about each others body. I like a little r...more
I like her Scumble River Mystery series. I give most books three, some four, and rarely five stars. That series has been getting three and four starts. Given that, I tried this new series. Let me make this simple: way too much "romance." Scumble series has some, but not too much (usually), this one was romance centric with some mystery. Thus, I did not like it.
She took an interesting approach to the mystery thread (at least in concept). Rather than emphasis finding the murderer, she emphasized p...more
She took an interesting approach to the mystery thread (at least in concept). Rather than emphasis finding the murderer, she emphasized p...more
I have an odd quibble with this author's works which is probably totally invalid, but it is annoying that the main characters always drive a stupid car. In this one the woman keeps a totally impractical sports car. In the Scumble River series Skye Denison drives a car from the 1950s despite it being 2012 because her loved ones fixed it up for her. She drives from school to school constantly and is always encountering crime, so it's hard to believe she wouldn't want something a lot easier to care...more
I've been reading Swanson's Scumble River series for a while, so when I saw that my library had this first in another series by her, I put it on hold. I liked it well enough, but didn't love it. Dev seems younger than Skye, but the writing still feels a little off. Again, I don't see anyone but tweens actually calling someone their BFF or Bestie unless there's a heavy dose of sarcasm thrown in. Yet the characters here use it a lot. I also always get annoyed when the police are so extreme in thei...more
Devereaux Sinclair is in trouble. She's quit her high-paying job to buy her home-town five and dime store and take care of her aging grandmother, but now a detective from nearby Kansas City is accusing her of murder. The glamorous fiancee of her former high school boyfriend, who threw her over when her father was arrested, has been killed and Dev's fingerprints are all over one of the weapons. Fortunately, grandmother Birdie has a local friend she can call on for help, and Dev's two best friends...more
I absolutely love Denise Swanson's Scumble River mystery series and was excited to check out this new book but I have to say that it was not that great.
The story seemed to be more about setting up the characters to continue the series on through the next several books and the murder was just a sideline (that was solved in a very offhand way at the end as if the author suddenly thought, I have met my number of pages deadline so I better find a way to end this).
I hope Denise Swanson continues her...more
The story seemed to be more about setting up the characters to continue the series on through the next several books and the murder was just a sideline (that was solved in a very offhand way at the end as if the author suddenly thought, I have met my number of pages deadline so I better find a way to end this).
I hope Denise Swanson continues her...more
I think this book was a very strong first in a new series by Denise Swanson. I really liked the main character, Devereaux Sinclair. I found her to be very realistic and likeable. She gave up a high powered position to return to her hometown to look after her aging grandma, and take over the local five and dime store. She gets caught up in a murder and the nephew of a neighbor, offers to help her clear her name. Sparks begin to fly between her and this man, Jake. I loved the mystery, AND the roma...more
If I hadn't needed something to read, I probably never would have picked this up. Now I vow to keep my phone charged at all times. I read this in an afternoon between naps after grabbing it from a book swap shelf on my way to the doctor's office. Terribly written, boring characters, and a homicide that seemed incidental to the main character's fretting about being dumped in high school, her (framed?) father behind bars, her grandmother's senility, and Jack's a'mahzing bod. [And did I mention her...more
Listened/Read for Fun (Audible/Paperback)
Overall Rating: 3.75
Story Rating: 3.50
Character Rating: 4.00
Audio Rating: 3.50 (not part of the overall rating)
First Thought When Finished: Dare I say that this was a steamy cozy mystery? Had a bit of a kick in the romance department *hubba hubba*
Story Thoughts: Quirky, Fun, and a little outrageous is what I would call a Little Shop of Homicide. It was a fantastic afternoon read with a who-dun-it that was a little off the beaten path. It was fun, saucy, a...more
Overall Rating: 3.75
Story Rating: 3.50
Character Rating: 4.00
Audio Rating: 3.50 (not part of the overall rating)
First Thought When Finished: Dare I say that this was a steamy cozy mystery? Had a bit of a kick in the romance department *hubba hubba*
Story Thoughts: Quirky, Fun, and a little outrageous is what I would call a Little Shop of Homicide. It was a fantastic afternoon read with a who-dun-it that was a little off the beaten path. It was fun, saucy, a...more
Welcome to Devereaux’s Dime Store and Gift Baskets complete with a 3 stool soda fountain and a glass candy case. The best thing Dev ever did was quit the rat race, move home and buy this store.
Today she is rethinking her big decision as Kansas City Detective Woods arrives before the store is even open to accuse her of murdering her ex-boyfriend’s fiancée Joelle Ayers. Just because some items from a gift basket she created were used as murder weapons didn’t mean she had anything to do with the wo...more
Today she is rethinking her big decision as Kansas City Detective Woods arrives before the store is even open to accuse her of murdering her ex-boyfriend’s fiancée Joelle Ayers. Just because some items from a gift basket she created were used as murder weapons didn’t mean she had anything to do with the wo...more
Devereaux Sinclair owns Devereaux's Dime Store and Gift Baskets, located in the small Missouri town of Shadow Bend. Dev left a job with a financial investment firm to move back to her hometown to take care of her grandmother. Unfortunately for Dev, the items from one of her gift basket creations were used to kill the fiancee of her ex-boyfriend, and now she has a cantankerous detective breathing down her neck. To make matters worse, he's got a personal vendetta against her, so putting her away f...more
Let's see...Dev's father is in prison, her mother ran away when Dev was a teen and she lived with her grandmother. And , oh yeah, she was accused of fraud when her former employer mishandled pensions. Of course, this makes her the prime suspect in her high school boyfriend's fiancee. That and the fact that she created the basket that was instrumental in the death. Enter a wounded US Marshall, two loyal friends and a couple of matchmaking snior citizens. Fun mystery. 3.5 stars
I enjoyed the book but as a fan of the Scumble River series, I was hoping for something a little different. There are SO many similarities between the two series, why write a new one? Single female, late twenties/early thirties, weight issues, blond, coming back to small town from big city, boyfriend is cop type, other possible love interest who really doesn't stand a chance, metrosexual male character, lawyer friend, teenage female sidekick, g rated kissing encounters, etc.
I've had this book sitting on my TBR pile for a couple of months. I was a little preoccupied with other things. I needed something to read on the train since I was heading into Manhattan today with a friend and knew it the right time to dive into it.
Denise has created an image of a town that would appear to be locked into the late 50's or 60's visually. The undercurrents between the Townies (the founders of the town) and the Country Club set are simmering just under the surface. This is the atm...more
Denise has created an image of a town that would appear to be locked into the late 50's or 60's visually. The undercurrents between the Townies (the founders of the town) and the Country Club set are simmering just under the surface. This is the atm...more
Devereaux is a fantastic character!
She comes to life on the page, she is the kind of character that most women can relate to...
She has history. A terrible ex, family issues, financial stresses, insecurities about her looks, etc.
Her friends are awesome, they are totally unique and they seem like they would be great to hangout with.
Gran is such a vibrant woman, she may be getting on in her years but she is still a pistol. I would not want to get on her bad side... I think she would hit someone wit...more
She comes to life on the page, she is the kind of character that most women can relate to...
She has history. A terrible ex, family issues, financial stresses, insecurities about her looks, etc.
Her friends are awesome, they are totally unique and they seem like they would be great to hangout with.
Gran is such a vibrant woman, she may be getting on in her years but she is still a pistol. I would not want to get on her bad side... I think she would hit someone wit...more
Devereaux, who is the new owner of a small-town gift basket/dime store and whose family and business histories have had brushes with the law, tries (along with the help of her two best friends and a possible love interest) to clear her name in the murder of her ex-boyfriend’s fiancée. This is the first in a new series. The mystery itself was okay, and it was certainly a very quick and easy read. I’ll be honest, though: I didn’t like any of the characters (especially the best friends) nearly as m...more
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I had a bit of trouble getting into the book at the beginning. Then once Jake came on the scene, I really got into it because things start heating up with Dev and Jake. Her grandma and his great-uncle make a good pair and I hope that they eventually enjoy their twilight years together. Nothing like murder to bring a family together and reveal those nasty family secrets.
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| Cozy Mysteries : Book Giveaway: LITTLE SHOP OF HOMICIDE by Denise Swanson | 4 | 35 | Mar 31, 2012 12:42pm |
Denise Swanson lives in Illinois with her husband, classical composer David Stybr and their cool black cat Boomerang. Unlike her protagonist Skye, Denise realizes she can never really move very far from her home town. But several times a year she and Dave sneak away for a little adventure.
More about Denise Swanson...
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Mar 10, 2012 07:56pm