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When Sally Collier shows up to clean her client’s house, she finds his dog locked in a closet. And, later, after the dog digs him up, she finds Mel Birnbaum dead at the bottom of the garden. To make his death even worse, he appears to have been alive when the killer buried him. Sally calls her boyfriend, Chief of Detectives George Tullock, and the investigation begins.
All summer long, no one had been at the Birnbaums’ home but Mel. His wife, Renee, had apparently moved out, and their daughter, Claire, had been helping out at Lake Quinault Camp. The last time Sally talked to Mel, he’d seemed grumpy but otherwise okay. Now he’s been murdered, and Sally can’t imagine who would want her client and friend dead—unless it was his estranged wife, her new love interest, or perhaps a disgruntled Claire.
As Detective Tullock investigates Mel’s death, Sally takes a trip down memory lane, starting with her emigration from London to the United States, where she’s built a prosperous cleaning business. She covers her life with George, the women she works with, and her many clients, all while trying to help George puzzle out Mel’s murder.
The Dead Husband is the perfect cozy mystery for a rainy day. Though the mystery often takes a backseat to Sally’s life story, it’s still an interesting read, because Sally is such an attention-grabbing character. But don’t worry; Mel’s murder is still thrown in enough to keep you wondering who killed him, which will make you want to keep reading to the end to find out what happened.
I immediately warmed up to Sally—maybe because I clean my boss’s house once a week, so I can relate. But she’s such an ordinary, down-to-earth character, which is hard to find in fiction these days. It’s a refreshing change from all of the kick-ass heroines and heroes to encounter a character who could be just like me.
The Dead Husband is the first book in the Sally Sees Cozy Mystery series, and, after enjoying the appealing characterization and the absorbing mystery in this one, I look forward to picking up book number two.
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