Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781635115949; 9781635115918
Henery Press Publishing
254 Pages
$31.95; $15.95; $4.99 Amazon
April 28, 2020
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Laura Bishop's new home staging business is growing in popularity, though not with her nemesis. Laura has long suspected established interior designer Monica Heller of sabotaging her fledgling company -- and having an affair with her late husband.
when the ultra-chic Monica is caught at the scene of a murder, Laura is plenty happy to imagine her languishing in a prison cell with bedsheets far from her normal 600-thread Egyptian cotton. But her delight is short-lived.
When Laura's friends land on the police's radar, Laura must overcome her dislike of Monica to help solve the crime. Not an easy task since Laura and Monica have been at war since the second grade.
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Laura Bishop is a widow who's been trying to make a new life for herself with a home staging business. She's with her employees at the town square for the Louiston Small Business Fair. They have their booth in front of a funeral home, and the owner has allowed them to use the restroom when necessary. When her employee Nita runs to her telling Laura there's a body inside, she laughs and tells her it is a funeral home. But then Nita tells her it's a man with a knife in his back and everything changes - although Laura doesn't know that yet.
She's also concerned that things have been happening to sabotage her business - like when she ordered a moving truck but the order was cancelled and there isn't any others available. Laura soon discovers that an old school nemesis, interior designer Monica Heller, is dipping her hand into the home staging business, and she's sure the woman is causing her problems. But when she finds Monica standing over the body of another man who'd been stabbed in the back, she wonders if the two murders are related.
While she doesn't want anything to do with either one, when a nun who was once her teacher asks her to help Monica, she folds and agrees. But when she starts looking into the murders, what she discovers is more than she bargained for, and it might just get her killed...
This is the second book in a new series and I loved it as much as the first one. While the author is new to the cozy mystery genre, she's very good at it. Her characters are beginning to come to life, and Laura is beginning to realize that closing herself off from anything not related to work could be harming her. She's also hosting a visit from her Aunt Kit, her late mother's sister, and we're getting an insight into her childhood and how it helped to shape her into the person she is.
The mystery was done very well, with two different men who didn't know each other, and while it seemed that they had nothing in common, we soon see how wrong we were when the pieces of the puzzle start to come together. The portrait it paints is one of greed and how it affects others and changes them. Laura is an intelligent woman who can see the bigger picture and look for things that might seem insignificant but aren't.
I also like the fact that Detective Spangler is warming up to her and not being as hard-nosed as he was in the first book; it makes it so much nicer in the long run. I, for one, don't like police officers who treat the protagonist as if they were insects to be swatted away; and we're learning that Spangler has a human side, which makes him all the more likable. While I saw what was happening with her Aunt Kit, I was pleased to see that my hopes in that area are coming to fruition.
When Laura had put it all together and the murderer was discovered, it was a refreshing scenario that I know has probably not been done before; and I enjoyed it immensely. The ending was satisfying and gave us something to look forward to. Kudos to Ms. Topping on a very fun cozy and I look forward to the next in the series. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Staging-Wars-Laura-Bishop-Mystery-ebook/dp/B084BT29GG/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3343519676
More on Grace Topping's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/grace-topping/
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