Deed to Death
A Toni Matthews Mystery by D. B. Henson
Review: Nashville real estate agent Toni Matthews' wedding is less than 72 hours away when tragedy strikes: her fiancé, Scott Chadwick, is found dead at the base of the hotel his company was building — and the police are calling it suicide — in Deed to Death, the first mystery in this series by D. B. Henson.
According to the police, there is no evidence of foul play, that Chadwick entered the construction site alone and proceeded to the twelfth floor from where he jumped. But Toni refuses to believe he would kill himself, even when she learns that his firm was in financial difficulty. His fall must have been the result of some horrible accident or, dare she say it, murder. Her pleas to the authorities to reopen their investigation falling on deaf ears, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Look to who benefits from Scott's death, she reasons, and comes up with only one suspect: Scott's estranged brother, Brian, who is seeking to be the sole beneficiary of Scott's estate, even though Scott had a will leaving everything to Toni. The more she finds out about Brian, the more she's convinced he had something to do with his brother's death. But in the process, she also comes to realize that she may not have known the man she was about to marry quite as well as she thought.
It is hard to pigeon-hole the subgenre of this book, as it would likely appeal to both chick-lit and mystery readers. The murder plot of Deed to Death captures the reader's attention and has a compelling whodunit element to it, but what makes the story come alive is the character of Toni Matthews. Her vitality in the face of adversity is remarkable, a strong woman capable of handling all that life throws at her … but also one who recognizes that she's not infallible herself. It is a good start to what will presumably be a series to feature this character.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Deed to Death.
Acknowledgment: Simon & Schuster provided a copy of Deed to Death for this review.
Review Copyright © 2011 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Location(s) referenced in Deed to Death: Nashville, Tennessee
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Deed to Death by D. B. Henson
Publisher: Touchstone
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-4516-4960-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-4516-4960-4
Publication Date: July 2011
List Price: $14.00
Synopsis (from the publisher): At twenty-nine, Toni Matthews is on the cusp of having it all — a successful career as one of the top real estate agents in Nashville, great friends, and the partner and family she’d always longed for in her fiancé, architect Scott Chadwick.
But just days before their planned nuptials, Scott plummets to his death at one of his construction sites and Toni is forced to bury her fiancé on their wedding day. Now living all alone in their new, custom-made dream house, dealing with her loss becomes even harder when the police rule his death a suicide. Yet Toni refuses to believe that it could be anything other than a tragic accident.
When she learns that Scott’s estranged brother, Brian, is contesting the will, threatening to take away her home, Toni starts to suspect that it may not have been a mere accident but something more sinister. Without the cooperation of the police, and in spite of her friends’ growing concern that she’s in denial and not dealing with her grief, Toni begins investigating on her own. As she crisscrosses Nashville on a mission to prove to herself and the world that Scott wouldn’t try to escape this life, Toni can’t shake the sinking feeling that something is off, that she’s being followed — and that her search for truth may have deadly consequences.