Deadly Summer by Denise Grover SwankMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a delicious comedic, romantic mystery.
I have read several of Denise Grover Swank's YA/NA novels and contemporary romances but have shied away from her mysteries until now but the premise lured me in - and how glad I am.
Poor Summer Butler. Famous for being a child star of a popular TV show in which she played a child detective she is now unable to get other acting roles (because she's been typecast) or a normal job (because she has that residual fame). Her mother was always hungry for money and fame, she pushed Summer into bad career choices (and child pageant shows) then ran off with all of Summer's money. Now, 10 years after the show finished, Summer is practically bankrupt and desperately looking for ways to raise money, not to save her Malibu home but to make a balloon payment on a mortgage on the family farm which she countersigned when her grandfather was still alive. A family farm that she has been banished from by her MeeMaw.
After a disastrous pitch to a TV producer which culminated in Summer punching an aggressive 'fan' in the face, Summer thinks her only option is a nude coverspread for a tacky magazine, until her agent calls and tells her the producer liked one of her random pitch ideas. Summer in tongue-in-cheek desperation suggested that she could do a reality TV show loosely based on her famous character by solving real-life mysteries as a PI. Of course, being reality TV, Summer is being set up. The show is based in her home town of Sweet Briar, Alabama, her assistant is her cousin Dixie and as soon as she arrives in town she is literally flung head first into her childhood sweetheart Luke Montgomery who is now the Chief of Police.
The woman producing the TV show is determined to make Summer look ridiculous, manufacturing mysteries such as who impregnated a pet dog, a workers compensation investigation, a missing man investigation for one of the town's drunks, and a cheating spouse investigation - all of which have been carefully primed in advance. But as Summer tries her hardest to make the show a success in order to save the farm, she realises that the missing man investigation may not be the scripted non-event that her producer expects.
This book is chock-full of family drama, second-chance romance, comedy, mystery, stalkers, and redemption.
I loved this book from start to finish. Literally. The book opens with Summer sitting in an upscale Vietnamese and Portuguese fusion restaurant called Magnum - I could picture it perfectly. Summer is such an endearing character and her family is quirky and lovable, even grumpy MeeMaw.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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