The Happy Housekeeper's Guide to Homicide

Written by Blythe Baker

Narrated by Alex Picard

Bloody murder is the last thing on Barbara Hollis's mind when she agrees to travel to a sleepy little town to keep house for her widowed brother. Aside from chasing after her irritating young nephews, she thinks the biggest challenge she'll face is learning to cook a proper soufflé. But a bizarre encounter on a train quickly draws her into a more complicated and dangerous future than she bargained for . . .



When a local woman turns up dead, and Barbara's sheriff brother is too inept to solve the case, Barbara finds herself joining forces with a handsome deputy in search of a cold-blooded killer. But her new hometown is crawling with secrets, and Barbara just might discover that unmasking one villain is only scratching the surface . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: May 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9798855545883

[joannefm2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Barbara Hollis left the big city to go to a small town in Georgia to keep house for her widowed brother and his two twelve-year-old twin boys. She's sure that she's not going to like it much, but since she left behind her luxury apartment and lost her job, she hasn't got much of a choice. It's a good thing her brother Craig doesn't know the reason she left, as she doesn't want to discuss it.

But when she arrives, she's a bit downcast, since her room is smaller than she imagined, and she thinks she'll be bored here. So she decides to give herself a spa day and heads to the only hair salon in town, Sharon's. Since no one is out front, she spots a woman under a hair dryer, and wishes she didn't. The young woman is dead, and at that opportune moment, Sharon arrives and starts screaming. After Barbara calls Craig, she waits to be questioned by his deputy -- who wonders if she killed the young woman.

But Craig will have none of it, and the town over arrests Sharon for the murder. Neither Craig nor Barbara believe it (even though she's just met the stylist); and Barbara decides to surreptitiously help her brother by gathering clues. It might not be her greatest idea, but if she can avoid the killer in town that she knows is still loose, she might be able to find them. Unless they find her first...

This is the first in the series, and I thought it sounded interesting, so I wanted to read it. First off, I must say that the blurb is wrong. Craig is not inept; he's just never dealt with a murder before, and the town's police department consists of him and his deputy. He just believes the other town would be better equipped to handle it, and he comes to regret his decision quickly.

Secondly, I really had no idea that this took place in the 1950's while reading it. I did wonder about the lack of cell phones, but aside from descriptions of a few cars, there wasn't really anything that pointed to the year this takes place. So that was the reason I took off one star. In future books I would like to read about some of the things occurring during that time; something to draw us into the story timeline.

Other than that, I found this interesting, even if it was a short book. I would like to see more character development, but in stories this short, you aren't going to get much of that. However, I am not dinging the author for it, since I died enjoy reading this quite a bit. In fact, I read it in one sitting, and I hope that others will enjoy it as much as I did. In the climax, it all came together quickly, and everything was tied up nicely. I look forward to the next in the series. Recommended.