The tart title hints at the importance of color in this 1st entry in a new series featuring a bright, enterprising interior decorator Hadley who is in town for a job interview and planning to stay at her aunt’s but instead is talked into house-sitting, pet sitting and an outdoor decorating project for a new client Kent who is leaving town for business but when he returns is throwing a surprise party for his fiancée and wants the outdoor area to be completely outfitted and decorated as part of the surprise. Hadley is thrilled and determined to get everything accomplished in time and is immersed in finding the perfect colors, decorative accents and furniture to style the pool and patio area when she suddenly finds herself trying to figure out what happened to her client’s fiancée who mysteriously disappears the night she unexpectedly arrives back in town.
Since a good decorator is all about the details not much escapes Hadley’s attention and when she finds a half dozen bottles of opened lotions from a local hotel, she can’t help but wonder why and decides to casually investigate. Hadley gets into a heap of trouble along the way, is threatened by the dead fiancee’s ex-husband with a gun, side swiped off a dangerous road into a ditch at night, locked in a tool shed by a pyscho trying to kill her and somehow still manages to put together a dream outdoor entertaining space.
This is a fun and well written cozy style mystery with a Southern twist and is entertaining and smart. The plot is plausible and since Hadley is new in town, she kind of suspects just about everyone which dovetails with a new series set in a small town, so the major and minor characters are introduced as Hadley gets to know them so does the reader.
I rate this mystery 4 yellow sun umbrellas using elements from the book!
Plot: ***
Characters: ***
Setting: **
Romance: **
Humor: ***
Social themes: **
