Review and Giveaway: Sealed With a Kill by Lucy Lawrence

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Berkley (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425240258
ISBN-13: 978-0425240250

In Sealed With a Kill we find Brenna Miller agreeing to lead a group of "leaf peepers" on a tour. The leaves they gather will then be used in a decoupage project at Vintage Papers, a business run by Brenna and her best friend Tenley Morse. What she expected was a leisurely walk with some pleasant people; what she got was a big surprise in the unpleasant discovery of a dead body buried under some leaves. Oh, no! This just can't be happening to her again.

No one at the crime scene knows who the victim is because. . . . well, because half of his face is missing! Fortunately, the elderly busybody Porter twins who know everyone in town and seem to know everything that happens as soon as it happens arrive at the scene and manage to  identify the body. I just loved the twins, Ella and Marie; they sure knew how to create a diversion to satisfy their overwhelming curiosity.

"So, how is it Miss Porter that you know the identity of that body?"

"It was only a little peek, " Ella sniffed. "Not really worth mentioning."

"When? Chief Barker's face was becoming redder by the second. "Do not tell me it was while your sister was trying to run us down?" (pg. 43)

The victim is the business partner of Tenley Morse's father. Since Tenley is Brenna's best friend and business partner, Brenna ends up getting involved to try to prove that Tenley's dad is not a murderer. It's not easy and there are some really scary moments. She has to use all her wiles, a little bit of subterfuge and even luck to help her pull it off!

Lucy Lawrence is the pseudonym for Jenn McKinlay one of my absolute favorite cozy writers. Lucy/Jenn has the ability to breathe life into her characters to the point that they just leap off the page and really engage the reader. I love the way she injects humor into her books along with a well constructed mystery plot. 4****

Sealed With a Kill is the third book in the Decoupage series set in the small New England town of Morse Point. To find out more about this series, visit Lucy's webpage.

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Berkley in exchange for my honest opinion.

To celebrate this month's release of Sealed With a Kill, Berkley is allowing me to host a giveaway for one copy of the book - open to US only. Deadline to enter is March 16th. Please be sure to leave an e-mail address for your entry to count. If you cannot leave a comment and would still like to enter ( I don't allow anonymous comments) just send me an e mail with Sealed With a Kill entry in the subject line. Include your name and preferred e mail contact. Send to florida982002[at] yahoo.com and I will enter your comment for you.

As always, bonus entries can be earned by:

+ 2 being a follower, Tell me under what name you follow
+3 tweeting or posting about and linking to contest (sidebar is ok) Just be sure to give me the link in a comment. Good luck!