Murder Of A Small-Town Honey (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
What a wonderful beginning to a Cozy mystery series! Skye Denison has moved back to her hometown after leaving upon her high school graduation 12 years prior with a serious "I'm-better-than-this-town attitude." Skye never expected to go back, but after a break up, loss of job and serious financial woes...there really is no better place for her to get back up on her feet. And that is all Skye has in mind when she returns home. She wants to put some work in, save some cash, and head right back out of Scumble River. Stumbling on a corpse sparks a change in Skye's short term plans.As Skye works on trying to find out more about the victim and solve the crime, the reader gets to enjoy small town life. There are quite a few people who aren't too keen on Skye any more, but plenty who are happy to see her back. Pretty much what you would expect out of people who really grow up and grow with you and then without you. It was also interesting watching her take on a job as a school psychologist, and that part totally gave me a new respect for the position. The mystery was perfect for me. I have read a lot of mysteries in my life (mostly thrillers), and I am always happiest when I do not immediately figure it out. Murder of a Small-Town Honey also had the benefit of that the author didn't throw anyone so far into the limelight that you were sure it had to be them and then pull someone out of a hat that couldn't have possibly been involved. I hate when authors do that. It all tied up in a way that made sense.All in all this foray into mystery and a small town made me want to come back. I enjoyed Skye and her whole family. It was nice reading about a character who is not described as absolutely stunning. Skye is a character you can relate to, because we have all pretty much stuck our foot in out mouths at some point and had to deal with the ramifications. And most of us aren't a size 2. The town sounds terribly small with everyone knowing everyone else, but living in a smallish town myself, I can definitely see how that can be. It is something I may have found ridiculous several years ago. I so looked forward to learning more, I quickly ordered the next book in the series. Which I will review soon.I received this book through PaperBackSwap. I actually had no prior knowledge of the author, but the title grabbed me.
Give me a good cozy series, and I'm in reader heaven. I like to get in at the beginning, and with a good series, following the characters as they continue to plot and grow gives me repeated entertainment. This book is the first in Denise Swanson's series about Skye Denison, and it has the potential to keep me interested beyond this one book. What I liked most about the beginning of this series is that Swanson gave just enough backstory to get things going, but she also withheld information that it will be interesting to discover later. She does this by inserting small references that I suspect will have greater reveals later but in no way keep her current story from going forward. Skye Denison is a tough nut to crack. She seems to be emotionally removed from most of the people in her life, but she will become involved and jump in to help when necessary. She kind of stumbles though the events of this mystery without really thinking of herself as an amateur sleuth or an extension of law enforcement like some of the cozy characters tend to do. She simply sees the crime from a different perspective than those investigating the case, so here and there she follows her own instincts in gathering more information. I gave this book what I consider to be a middle-of-the-road rating. I don't know if I'll commit to the whole series, but I'm definitely in for at least one more book.
What do You think about Murder Of A Small-Town Honey (2000)?
Don't read the author biography prior to reading the book. If you do then you realize a lot of the heroine is autobiographical; and then at least for me it becomes hard to look past the pretentious, self-indulgent portrayal that is supposed to pass off as charm.The heroine is constantly shown to be smarter than everyone else, and ALWAYS know just the right thing to say to put everyone in their place. You know when you have an argument with someone and then like ten minutes later in the car you think of just the right thing to say; well that never happens here because she always thinks to say it. She doesn't need to remember.In the real world nobody would like this person.That said the mystery was okay and I am going to read the author's second effort to see that she hopefully got all of "it" out of her system and starting writing a real character.
—David Peters
Murder of a Small-Town Honey by Denise Swanson is the first book in the Scumble River mystery series. Skye Dennison returns to Scumble River after being sacked from her job and dumped by her boyfiend, only to come across a murder and then becomes involved in the investigation when her brother is falsely arrested for the crime. I loved this first book and am glad I started at the beginning. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the town and can't wait to read the next installment. The mystery was very well written with plenty of suspects and clues. We also get to learn about the role of a school psychologist.
—Anastasia
Skye Dennison has come back to her hometown, 12 years after basically telling off the small town in her Valedictorian speech. She has come back home, found a new job as the school psychologist and wants to keep a low profile in town. But that will be hard to do. Skye ends up being the one to find a dead body during the towns Chokeberry Days Festival and her brother gets accused of the murder. Now she must try and find who did it to save her brother.This was a great story. Kept me intrigued. Skye is great. She's got attitude and sometimes it get's her in trouble because she just can't keep her mouth shut. But trouble seems to find her too. I love her family and boy do I know how it is with the small town nosiness. I laughed out loud and got mad and really felt connected. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
—Nikki13
