Die Job
A Southern Beauty Shop Mystery, No 3
Lila Dare

Berkley Prime Crime
Jan 2012/ ISBN: 978-0-425-24588-0
Mystery/Cozy
Amazon

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

Grace Terhune is happy enough with her life in St. Elizabeth, Georgia. After a divorce, she is back home, living and working with her mother at Violetta's, the salon her mother operates out of the front of the house. The salon keeps her busy with keeping the clientele beautified, as well as keeping up with all the latest gossip.

Its fall now and there is a hurricane brewing. As the staff of Violetta's and the customers share their previous experiences with major storms, another kind of storm is brewing and Grace is about to find herself stuck in the eye of it.

After agreeing to chaperone a group of high school students on a ghost hunting field trip for their science class, Grace heads over to the Rothmere mansion to get the lay of the land ahead of time. She leaves with a box of old letters that tell the sad story of the demise of Cyril Rothmere. It has never been determined if he died from an accidental fall down some stairs or if he was murdered.

When a student on the field trip, Braden McCullers, is seriously injured, the intrigue runs even deeper as there is apparently a connection to the Rothmere mystery. Rachel, a high schooler employed at Violetta's (and the one who talked Grace into chaperoning the ghost-hunt) asks the women of Violetta's to help her find out who hurt Braden, and find the links to the past that connect the dangerous events.

I absolutely love how author Lila Dare joins the past and the present almost seamlessly, while spinning the web of both crimes into a pattern that will ultimately intersect. The small town of St. Elizabeth, Georgia represents the epitome of a cozy setting with southern traditions and history. Each character is written so vividly the reader can picture them and hear them speak. The dialogue is smart and witty, and I found the book to be as driven by the inhabitants of St. Elizabeth as by the dual-mystery plotlines.

Die Jobis a fast-paced, fun read that will intrigue mystery lovers, history buffs, and readers who enjoy a true southern small town feel. As the structural bones of this series are set in a beauty salon, this might be a great series for women who meet at their own salons to read and discuss. Now that's an idea: a book club that meets at their hair salon!