Death of a Russian Doll

August 6, 2018
In Early’s appealing third Vintage Toyshop mystery (after 2017’s Murder on the Toy Town Express), the budding romance between Liz McCall, who works in her father’s vintage toy shop in East Aurora, N.Y., and Ken Young, the town’s police chief, abruptly ends when Ken’s beautiful Russian wife, Marya, breezes into town and quickly finds work at the hair salon next to the toy shop. When Marya is found strangled with the cord of a hair dryer, Ken is in the sticky position of being a person of interest for the police force he heads. This problem is solved when the mayor appoints Liz’s dad, the former police chief, to step in as interim chief until the killer is apprehended. The plot is complex enough, Liz and her gang of relatives and friends are entertaining, and the descriptions of the array of vintage toys create a nice mood of nostalgia. This quick and easy cozy is as comfy as its narrator’s well-worn Scooby-Doo pajamas. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary Agency.

August 15, 2018
What to do when you discover that your boyfriend is married and may have murdered his wife? Get ready, get set, detect.Liz McCall dated Police Chief Ken Young until his wife, Marya, who cuts hair at a local barbershop, showed up and reclaimed him. Liz, who helps her dad, the former police chief, run a toy shop in a Buffalo suburb, has helped him solve a few murders along the way (Murder on the Toy Town Express, 2017, etc.). So when Marya is found strangled with the cord of a hair dryer, Liz goes on high alert, especially after Ken is suspended and the mayor asks her dad to take back his old job until the murder is solved. Although Liz is willing to believe that Ken's innocent and that he took Marya back only because he felt sorry for her, she still can't forgive him for concealing his marriage in the first place. In addition, there are two new men in her life, FBI accountant Mark Baker and wealthy playboy Ian Browning, whose family foundation she hopes will finance a charitable project her sister has cooked up, restoring old dolls for poor children. Since Marya was born in Russia, it takes a while to dig up background information about her, but the police learn that she was brought up by an older sister who worked in virtual slavery in a chicken factory. Marya couldn't possibly have been making a profit at the prices she charged for haircuts, yet large amounts of money passed through her bank account. Liz is determined to help solve a case in which she's a suspect herself while juggling her suddenly byzantine love life.A down-to-earth heroine faces plenty of complications in her attempt to solve a crime that hits far too close to home.

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