Thursday, May 10, 2012

Hot Button-Kylie Logan

Hot Button


Kylie Logan

Berkley Prime Crime, Jun 5 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780425251355



Who would ever have thought that buttons and murder would go together like peanut butter and jelly? Button Box Shop owner Josie Giancola never remotely saw that deadly combo until she was Button-Holed in a homicide.



Currently Josie as the Chair of the International Society of Antiques and Vintage Button Collectors hosts an international conference. Her first inkling that this gala will not be smooth occurs at the airport where she picks up the star attraction Thad Wyant who is abrasive and arrogant. He expects hand and foot catering to his needs including an endless flow of alcohol. He is the guest of honor because he is the only known collector to possess a historic Geronimo button with the correct provenance. At the conference, he proves even uglier than at the airport; he has a public feud with a collector, pushes aside an elderly woman, and steals supplies from a vendor. A hotel security guard finds Thad’s corpse in the hotel laundry room. Josie’s friend Detective Nevin Riley leads the investigation and though he hesitates he enlists her help since he knows nothing about the world of button collectors and she proved to be a good sleuth on a recent homicide case (see Button-Holed).



The second Button Box mystery is a fascinating cozy starring an interesting cast that includes the gala attendees (eccentric crowd), the victim (a pompous A-hole), the protagonist (independent and resolute though others insists obstinate and obsessive), the cop (think Colombo) and the king of chutzpah Josie’s ex-husband Kaz needing a favor. Once again, Kylie Logan overcomes the sub-genre flaw of why the heroine investigates with this entertaining whodunit.



Harriet Klausner

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