Holly Swimsuit Mystery: Book 5
Publication Date: September 4, 2024
Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik discovers the Bainbridge Department Store Easter Bunny slumped over dead and obnoxious swimwear buyer Sue Ellen Magee is arrested for the crime. Despite her differences with the nasty buyer, Holly is convinced the Queen of Mean didn’t do it. The wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to nail the real killer. But the trail has more twists than a pretzel and more turns than a rollercoaster. And nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent on revenge.
Just in time for Easter, Peter Rabbit is found murdered in a department store, catapulting Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik on the case to find the murderer in Author Susie Black’s fifth book in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery series, Death by Jelly Beans.
Humor abounds in this cozy mystery, such as the murdered Easter Bunny’s name is Peter Rabbit, but in Spanish. I loved the humor that this author used in this book. I found this utterly hysterical!
I also loved the jelly bean Easter theme the fictional department store created. One of the secondary characters had a thing for jelly beans, and I also loved the coffee Klutch each morning and that her friends were Yenta’s. I wasn’t sure what the word meant, but it means a gossip or “busybody.” Holly’s friends always have her back, and I appreciate that loyalty.
Learning about characters from different backgrounds is truly enjoyable to me. I learn something new about their culture, traditions, and language.
I liked the zaniness of the scenes the author creates, which gets Holly, the female lead, in trouble. The mystery is delightful and enjoyable.
Wackiness and comedy abound in Death by Jelly Beans. You won’t want to miss this amusing, cozy read!
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple, but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.
