Signet (Paperback), ISBN 0-451-20548-0
High school psychologist Skye Dennison meets with on-campus murder when a teen beauty sleeps her long sleep on the set of the school play. Tapped to play the lead in that yet-to-be produced school play, the beauty also played a role of considerable importance in the school and the town. Now, it's up to Skye (who got her job through nepotism and retains it through skill) to do what Uncle Charlie needs her to do -- not that she wouldn't have done it on her own.

Skye's Uncle Charlie, chairman of the school board and one of the two most influential men in town, asks Skye to find out who murdered Beauty (a.k.a. Lorelei Ingels, daughter of the other most influential man in town). Skye must find the who and the why before the school district gets into even more trouble. I don't suppose Charlie meant to expose his favorite niece to some very real danger, but Uncle Charlie loves the school district a lot.

Murder of a Sleeping Beauty, the second of Swanson's Scumble River mysteries I've read, provides me with even more reasons to like the series. Tangled and devious, the plots this installment and my previous read (Murder of a Small Town Honey) lead the unsuspecting reader into a maze, but they never allow him or her to become lost. The characters, quirky and unpredictable, wear their flaws like medals and accept petty behavior as a fact of life. I confess myself a devoted fan of Skye and Scumble River. I love Skye's relationship with her mother, her uncle, her brother and her best friends. I even like the cat, Bingo (but I tend to like all cats). Bright and headlong, loyal and foolish, Skye's life remains totally out of control, especially in the male life-partner area.

If you want a good read, one that will make you grin a bit and scratch your head in puzzlement but never tempt you to stop reading as fast as you can, this book meets all the criteria.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White's latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.

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