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Library | Call Number | Format | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Quincy Thomas Crane Library | COX | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
When former party girl and society photographer Theophania Bogart flees to San Francisco to escape a high-profile family tragedy, a series of murders drags her unwillingly out of hiding. In no time at all she discovers she's been providing cover for a sophisticated smuggling operation, she starts to fall for an untrustworthy stranger, and she's knocked out, tied up and imprisoned. The police are sure she's lying. The smugglers are sure she knows too much. Her friends? They aren't sure what to believe.
The body count is rising and Theo struggles to find the killer before she's the next victim or her new life is exposed as an elaborate fraud. But the more deeply entangled she becomes, the more her investigation is complicated by her best friend, who is one of her prime suspects; her young protégé, who may or may not have a juvie record; her stern and unyielding grandfather, who exposes an unexpected soft center; and the man on her washing machine, who isn't quite what he appears, either.
Susan Cox's Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning novel is a charming debut with wacky, colorful characters and a delightfully twisted mystery.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Theo Bogart is hiding under an assumed name in San Francisco, trying to distance herself from the headline-grabbing tragedy involving her family in England. She runs a bath and lotion shop with flighty Nicole and works with a group of diverse characters in their close-knit neighborhood. Then a series of bizarre and ever-more-threatening events, culminating in murder, bring the police into play, and Theo's false identity and new life seem about to be exposed. There's a whole lot going on here a smuggling operation, a handyman who falls out a window, a body in a compost heap, and, of course, the titular man on the washing machine, who is not at all what he seems. But, then, neither is much of anything in this madcap romp. First-novelist Cox controls the seeming chaos of her plot with finesse, keeping readers in the dark until the very end as to who is involved in what. An impressive debut that makes a natural read-alike for Lisa Lutz's equally zany Spellman series, also set in San Francisco.--Alessio, Amy Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Theophania Bogart (not her real name) ran away from a family scandal in London and washed up in the Fabian Gardens neighborhood of San Francisco. Managing Aromas, a charming B&B emporium that she started with her partner Nicole, Theo is getting to know her neighbors. One morning, Theo is horrified to see Tim Callahan, the local handyman and ne'er-do-well loser, fall out of a third-story window to his death. Then Theo is attacked in her building. What is going on? Why has Nicole become so elusive? VERDICT Winner of the Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award, this delightful debut cozy introduces the feisty and intrepid Theo along with a cast of colorful, idiosyncratic San Francisco denizens. Readers of Jacqueline Girdner, Elaine Flinn, or Rebecca M. Hale will be pleased to discover an up-and-coming author to follow. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.