Scrub-a-Dub
Dead
A
Charlotte LaRue Mystery
Barbara
Colley
Kensington
Books (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0766-2 (0758207662)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0766-1 (9780758207661)
Publication Date: December 2006
List Price: $22.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Maid for a Day Charlotte LaRue knows that sweeping
murder under the rug is anything but simple in the Big
Easy–especially since no smudge or stain is safe from her
scrutiny ...
Doing a favor for a friend in need has Charlotte cleaning rooms at the
New Orleans Jazzy Hotel. The historic Garden District mansion is
serving as a home-away-from-home for Shreveport’s chapter of
the Red Scarf Sorority, a group of socially elite women in their
forties.
While picking up beautiful red silk scarves from the floor of a room
she's cleaning, Charlotte is startled by the sudden arrival of its
ranting and raving occupant, who insists that Charlotte ignored the
Do-Not-Disturb sign on the door and threatens to have her fired.
Charlotte is stunned into silence, until the Red Scarf Sorority comes
to the rescue. The women manage to calm Tessa Morgan, who just had a
run-in with her estranged husband’s much younger mistress
Lisa—and learned that they plan to marry. After some of the
women jokingly suggest making Lisa permanently disappear, Charlotte
takes her leave. The situation gets even messier when Charlotte runs
into an old flame and learns that he is Tessa’s
stepfather—and that Lisa may be blackmailing him.
The next day, Charlotte gets back to work, only to learn that Lisa has
been murdered, strangled by what could have been a red scarf. The hotel
is awash in suspects, and soon Tessa is being dragged away in
handcuffs. It seems Lisa had more enemies than friends, and Charlotte
is convinced the police are on the wrong track with Tessa. It's time to
start scouring through clues before the person who rubbed out Lisa
makes a clean getaway ...
Review:
Scrub-a-Dub
Dead, by Barbara Colley, is
the sixth mystery in this series featuring Charlotte LaRue, owner and
manager her own New Orleans maid service for the genteel folk of the
Garden District.
Charlotte is looking forward to some well earned time off. Instead, she
agrees to help out a friend who has a contract cleaning rooms at the
Jazzy Hotel and is currently a bit-handed. While working at the hotel,
she encounters the members of the Red Scarf Society, a group of
socially prominent women from Shreveport who are visiting New Orleans.
When a young woman, who just happens to be the dating the estranged
husband of one of the society members, is found strangled with a red
scarf, Charlotte finds herself drawn into a complex web of secrets and
lies that just may involve a special person from Charlotte’s
own distant past.
This well written and constructed mystery has at its core a strong
character in the form of Charlotte LaRue. Charlotte is reminiscent of
one’s favorite aunt, someone who’s weathered more
than her fair share of life’s personal storms, yet maintains
a positive outlook and whose advice, when given, is meaningful and
sound.
Colley frequently allows the reader to follow Charlotte’s
reasoning in analyzing the crimes, sorting out what’s
possible and impossible, plausible and implausible. For a story that
has a fairly complex set of relationships, this approach helps clarify
(both for Charlotte and the reader) who may be innocent and who most
probably is not. Many mysteries would be greatly improved if their
authors followed Colley’s lead in this regard.
What is disappointing in the book is the general lack of depth and
originality in the supporting characters, most of whom are completely
unmemorable. It’s likely that twenty minutes after finishing
the last chapter, one would be hard pressed to name any of the victims
or even the perpetrator of the crimes.
Potential readers who assume, not unreasonably, from the title that
this is some light, frothy cozy will be sadly disappointed. Scrub-a-Dub Dead
is definitely a cut above the average book in this genre.
Special thanks to Breakthrough Promotions for providing an ARC of Scrub-a-Dub Dead for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Scrub-a-Dub Dead? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Maid
for Murder
Kensington Books (Hardcover), February 2002
ISBN-10: 1-57566-873-4 (1575668734)
ISBN-13: 978-1-57566-873-4 (9781575668734)
Death
Tidies Up
Kensington Books (Hardcover), February 2003
ISBN-10: 1-57566-875-0 (1575668750)
ISBN-13: 978-1-57566-875-8 (9781575668758)
Polished
Off
Kensington Books (Hardcover), February 2004
ISBN-10: 1-57566-877-7 (1575668777)
ISBN-13: 978-1-57566-877-2 (9781575668772)
Wiped
Out
Kensington Books (Hardcover), February 2005
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0762-X (075820762X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0762-3 (9780758207623)
Married
to the Mop
Kensington Books (Hardcover), January 2006
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0764-6 (0758207646)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0764-7 (9780758207647)
Scrub-a-Dub Dead
Kensington Books (Hardcover), December 2006
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0766-2 (0758207662)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0766-1 (9780758207661)
Wash
and Die
Kensington Books (Hardcover), February 2008
ISBN-10: 0-7582-2251-3 (0758222513)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-2251-0 (9780758222510)
Omnimystery
keywords for Scrub-a-Dub Dead
...
Location(s) referenced: New
Orleans, Louisiana.
