Dying for a Change

Author:  Kathleen Delaney

Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781592860630; 9780373268177
Worldwide Mystery
252 Pages
Various Prices Amazon;
September 30, 2002

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A corpse in a closet spoils real estate broker Ellie McKenzie’s first ever sale.  The victim, Hank Sawyer, a local hot-shot contractor, wasn’t known for his upstanding business practices.  In fact, he’d been pushing toward a controversial land deal to build a discount store.  Who hated him enough to want him dead?  Too many people to count, including Ellie’s own boss and the victim’s wife.

Ellie, newly relocated back in her Santa Louisa hometown, takes the murder personally.  After all, she found the body, and now her coworkers are under suspicion.  But digging into the dirty laundry of the folks she grew up with leads to the discovery of yet another body.  And if she’s not careful, her next closing might be her last.

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Ellen MacKenzie has moved back home after a divorce and recently gotten a job as a real estate broker.  But when she goes to show her first home she discovers the bloody corpse of Hank Sawyer, a local contractor, in the closet.  Once the police arrive she finds out that the chief turns out to be the boy she grew up to next door, Dan Dunham. 

While she has no plans to even investigate the murder, she finds out that the main suspect is another broker that she knows just wouldn't commit this crime.  So she decides to ask a few questions and see if she can find a more likely suspect.  But while it appears that Hank didn't have any real enemies, there were a few feathers he ruffled in the process of a new store coming to town, one that would have changed things in their little burg.  Did one of those against this development kill him?  Ellie will have to put her life on the line to find out...

This is an older book and since it's been sitting on my bookshelf for awhile I decided to read it, and I'm glad I did.  It was done nicely, with a good plot line and no real 'evil' people, which was a change.  Although the actual killer wasn't that hard to figure out, the process behind it was a delight to read.

There was plenty of intrigue, although not a lot of 'action' and I liked the fact that the police weren't bumbling idiots; even though we knew that Ellie and Dan would eventually 'connect' he actually acted like a police chief and didn't involve her in the case (asking her to help as others do, hint, hint) nor would he discuss it with her (much).  So that was a welcome change.

Another thing I liked is that Ellie actually wears makeup instead of "throwing on a little lip gloss" and thinking she looks great.  All lip gloss does is make you look like you haven't wiped your mouth after drinking a glass of water.  It doesn't count as makeup.  (Don't get me wrong; I get that some women wear minimal makeup, and that's fine as it's their choice; but lip gloss doesn't count as minimal makeup; it's non-existent).  Just my opinion.

That being said, there were enough likable characters in the book that I will read the next in the series and see where it goes, as Ellie is a smart woman who isn't invasive in her questioning, and that's nice to see.  It was a quick read but a pleasant mystery where even though you could pretty much see the end, was still entertaining.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/037363644X?SubscriptionId=0QCHRJVSKG6F3BRGBNG2&tag=pbs_00008-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=037363644X

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2406714900

More on Kathleen Delaney's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/kathleen-delaney/