Review Suspicious Minds and Giveaway

Summary: In this smart and suspenseful sequel to Hazardous Duty, crime-scene cleaner Gabby St. Claire finds herself stuck doing mold remediation to pay the bills. But her first day on the job, she uncovers a surprise in the crawl space of a dilapidated home: Elvis, dead as a doornail and still wearing his blue suede shoes. How could she possibly keep her nose out of a case like this?

Elvis turns out to be Darnell Evans, a down-on-his-luck impersonator whose luck just got a lot worse. When his widow begs her to help, Gabby takes on his case of who-killed-the King. In the meantime her would-be rival, Chad Davis, is turning into one hunka hunka burnin' love and starting to dish out some serious TLC, which is the last thing Gabby needs right now.

Realizing the futility of running from God and from her responsibilities, Gabby decides to reconsider her priorities. But when the ersatz Elvis's killer catches on to her investigation, will she survive long enough to be able to? -- book jacket

I am very grateful to have received SUSPICIOUS MINDS by Christy Barritt from litFUSE Publicity Group. When I read the book's description, I thought it sounded like something I would probably like. Every once in awhile, I enjoy mysteries that tend to be on the lighter side; and I was curious how the author could incorporate the Christian angle into a murder mystery. I ended up really enjoying this book and its cast of characters.

Probably the most obvious comparison that came to mind when I read SUSPICIOUS MINDS was Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, except without the raunchy parts of course! The main character, Gabby, is a down-on-her luck crime-scene cleaner who somehow gets involved in solving murders. I thought Gabby was a terrific character and very well developed. She's also very funny and caused me to laugh quite a few times! I mean the book starts with Gabby finding a dead Elvis impersonator while crawling under an old, abandoned house -- you can imagine some of the puns and jokes based on this alone.

I thought the mystery aspect of the book was pretty well done too. I have to admit that I didn't figure out who dunnit until it was revealed to me, but it's possible that I was a little slow on the uptake. There were enough possible motives and suspects to keep the reader guessing for awhile (and if you're like me -- until the last few pages.) The suspects were all very unique and provided lots of enjoyment.

As I've mentioned a few times here, I am really just starting to read Christian fiction. I have found that I do enjoy it for the most part. I find it kind of nice to read a good book and get a nice message from it. One thing I really liked about SUSPICIOUS MINDS was how the author chose to handle the Christian aspects -- it was a little different than what I was expecting when I picked up the novel. Gabby, the main character, is not a church-goer or someone with strong faith (at this point in her life). Rather, her good friend and next-door neighbor Riley is the one with strong Christian values. He doesn't really force his opinions on Gabby, but he lives his life in such a way that she picks up on his faith and spirit. I thought this was a very effective way of introducing the Christian message.

Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was how Gabby learned from her mistakes and grew as a person. It's clear to the reader that she really is a good, honest person; however, she makes mistakes like the rest of us. I found it very endearing that, by the end of the book, she was re-evaluating her life and her relationships. After reading SUSPICIOUS MINDS, I'm very interested in finding out what happens to Gabby.

SUSPICIOUS MINDS is the second book that Ms. Barritt has written in the Squeaky Clean Mystery Series. I definitely want to go back and read the first one, HAZARDOUS DUTY. Having said that, SUSPICIOUS MINDS can stand on its own; and you don't have to read the series in order to appreciate the books (although I am anxious for book 3.) I felt like the author did a good job of explaining background information about the characters, and if I was missing out on something that happened in the earlier book, I couldn't tell!

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of SUSPICIOUS MINDS to share with one of you! Please leave a comment with your e-mail address is you are interested. If you would like to double your chances, you can also blog about the contest. I will be accepting comments until Friday, September 12th at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced on September 13th! Unfortunately, this contest is open to those of you with U.S. and Canadian addresses only. Good Luck!