Murder of a Botoxed Blonde by Denise Swanson

Genre: Cozy Mystery

The last place Skye Denison wants or expects to spend her Thanksgiving weekend is at a health spa. However, her close friend Trixie convinces her to accept the complimentary weekend, but they are more than surprised to find their Thanksgiving meal consists of tofu.

Things only manage to get worse when her mother and her ex-boyfriend’s mother decide to join them for the long holiday weekend. The spa’s owner informs them that the only food available to them is the healthy kind, so they have to resort to smuggling in their own calorie laden food or they’d pass out from starvation. To top things off, a group of protestors stir up all kinds of mischief in an attempt to close down the spa. They are against the spa’s message that only the beautiful and thin deserve a place in this world.

To make matters worse, the newspaper publishes a report that there is buried treasure somewhere in the spa. When a beautiful and wealthy woman turns up dead in her mud bath, everyone wonders could the killer be a treasure hunter or a protestor?

The spa’s owner pleads with Skye to work undercover for her and try to figure out this mess. Skye agrees and the race is on before another spa guest is found dead.

This was a fun book where we also saw the return of Skye’s new boyfriend, Wally, and things heat up. Then, Skye learns the true reason behind the breakup with her last boyfriend which could possibly jeopardize her new relationship.

Skye is a down-to-earth type of heroine. She’s someone we can all identify with, especially when she smuggles in her junk food. She faces all the same problems any everyday woman might face – not being thin, men trouble and an overprotective mom. This series is one of a few that makes me feel as if I’m part of Scumble River.


For reading challenges: Amateur Sleuth Reading Challenge, Read Your Own Book Reading Challenge, Themed Reading Challenge, Cozy Mystery Challenge