Holly Swimsuit Mystery: Book 1
Publication Date: June 9, 2021
Everyone wanted her dead…but who actually killed her? The last thing swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik expected was to discover ruthless buying office big wig Bunny Frank’s corpse trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey with a bikini stuffed down her throat. When Holly’s colleague is arrested for Bunny’s murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to find the real killer. Nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she matches wits with a wily murderer hellbent for revenge.
When I was asked to review the newest release in Author Susie Black’s Holly Swimsuit Mystery series, I knew I couldn’t just jump into the sixth book but had to start at the beginning with Death by Sample Size. And I’m glad I did because I have a feeling this book is setting the stage for the series.
Death by Sample Size follows Holly as a sales executive for a swimwear company as she stumbles upon the body of one of her colleagues, a woman that very few people like. When her friend is arrested, Holly decides to play detective and won’t give up until she solves the murder, even when she starts to be targeted.
The positive is that this is a pretty solid mystery. There were plenty of valid suspects and red herrings. Enough clues were sprinkled throughout the story to make the reveal of the murderer and their motive make sense and not feel like it came out of left field. I didn’t have any complaints when it came to the plot.
As for the characters, there were several of them, and it was a little hard to keep track. Luckily, there were just a few core characters to focus on. There were the four or so people who were the suspects and, of course, the victim. Then there was Holly, her sidekick Queenie, and Detective Martinez. I liked Queenie and the detective and wonder if they’ll be around in future stories. Holly is a little harder for me to like due to her wacky antics.
Here’s the slight downer for me. I almost gave up in the beginning. I felt so lost for the first few chapters as I thought I was thrown into this strange world. It was as if I should have understood the whole world of apparel sales from the start, from the Mart where Holly worked to all the different roles people have. It all eventually mostly gets explained, but even at the end of the story, I don’t feel I have a good grasp on the whole setting of the series. I hope that it clears up in future books.
In the end, I liked Death by Sample Size. I’m looking forward to reading more of this series, which has a solid mystery and an interesting setting within the apparel sales world. 
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.
