Review: Iced Chiffon by Duffy Brown

Iced Chiffon by Duffy Brown

Berkley

October 2012

Format: Paperback, 304 pages

Source: Author

First line: I poured out the last of the pinot and lifted my glass as I gazed around the dining-room table.

From the back cover: There’s always
something to gossip about in Savannah, Georgia, and Reagan Summerside
always seems to be in the middle of it. She’s busy enough running her
consignment shop, the Prissy Fox, with her vivacious auntie, KiKi, but
now the gossip–and the sales–are about to pick up, after a gruesome
discovery…

Reagan’s messy divorce has left her with
nothing but a run-down Victorian and a bunch of designer clothes.
Strapped for cash, Reagan makes use of the two things she has left,
turning the first floor of her home into a consignment shop and filling
it with the remnants of her rich-wife wardrobe.

Thanks to his
cunning lawyer, Walker Boone, her ex got everything else, including the
Lexus–not to mention a young blonde cupcake. When Reagan finds the
blonde dead in the Lexus, she’s determined to beat Boone to finding the
murderer. As it turns out, the gossip fiends flooding Reagan’s shop can
give her a lot more than just their unwanted clothes–they have
information more precious than a vintage Louis Vuitton…

My thoughts: This is the first in Duffy Brown’s Consignment Shop Mystery series and I was contacted by Duffy Brown herself wondering if I would read her upcoming release, Killer in Crinolines, the second in the series. I told her yes, and had mentioned that I had her series on my to-read list, but had yet to get to the first book. She graciously sent me a copy of it – a copy she took the time to sign. 

Iced Chiffon introduces us to Reagan, the sassy and funny main character of the series. Reagan is dealing with the aftermath of her divorce – a divorce that has left her with only an old house that she loves, but with no way to keep it. In an effort to bring in some money, she decides to use the bottom floor of her Victorian mansion as a consignment shop, deciding to sell all the fancy clothes from her former life. Along with her aunt Kiki, who lives across the street, and the UPS driver, Chantilly, and her tweets, the consignment shop takes off. 

Of course, the fact that Reagan and Aunt Kiki find a dead body in the trunk of Reagan’s ex-husband’s car, seems to help spear people’s curiosity and bring them down to the shop in droves. The deceased is none other than Reagan’s ex-husband’s current girl friend, Cupcake and there is no love lost between Reagan and Cupcake. Who would have killed her and left her in the trunk of a car until she was discovered? Needing to clear her husband’s name so that he does not take anything else from her, Reagan starts investigating. Along the way, she keeps bumping heads with Walker Boone, her ex’s lawyer. 

I really enjoyed this first installment and am looking forward to seeing what other adventures Reagan finds herself in. I love the Southern charm that is interspersed throughout the book along with the cast of characters we meet. Aunk Kiki is a pip – always quoting her idol, Cher, and Boone has a bit of mystery surrounding him. 

If you read cozy mysteries, do you read them for the mystery or the theme?

Books in this series:

1. Iced Chiffon
2. Killer in Crinolines