About the book . . .
Laura Berry agreed to move from Chicago to Dullington Estates in Boring, Indiana, so her husband could follow his dream of owning a pharmacy. But after nine months, Laura is still missing the big city and her job with a PR firm. She doesn’t feel that she fits in with the community that must adhere to whatever the Home Owner’s Association decides.
To make matters worse, the move has made her feel even more distanced from husband of seven years. He wants to spend all his time at work—and to add to her discomfort—she discovers that he leaves work every Friday for an hour, without explaining to her or his assistant where he’s going.
Out of all the ladies in the neighborhood, Laura feels she has one true friend—a spunky seventy-year-old woman called Babe. Things liven up when Laura and Babe check in on one of their neighbors and find the woman on her couch dead—with a bag of pork rinds close by.
When the news gets out that the pork rinds were coated with sleeping pills and the woman was murdered, Babe and Laura set out to help solve the mystery. The woman’s husband—furniture store owner and couch king—was supposedly out of town golfing. But almost everyone in the neighborhood seems to have possible motive for killing the woman. Things go from bad to worse for Laura when she begins receiving threats, and she wonders if she’s closing in on the truth as to who poisoned her neighbor.
My review . . .
In Death of a Couch Potato’s Wife, the author introduces us to a batch of quirky, distinguishable characters. There’s Babe—the elderly woman who does Zumba. Harry—the guy who diligently runs the neighborhood watch because he desperately wants to be a policeman. Hillary, Donna, and Tiara—three neighbors who have their own agendas and reasons for wanting to be Laura’s friend. The new couple with suspicious behaviors. People present themselves one way, but as Laura unveils their secrets one by one, she learns not only how important real friends are, but also a lot about herself.
Although faith issues, attending church, and God are mentioned, the author does a great job of weaving them into the story so it feels natural. There is a spiritual theme, but it is never preached.
This isn’t the first time I’ve read this author’s work, and it won’t be the last. I tend to lean towards reading books with more serious tones, but I really enjoy Christy Barritt’s style of writing and her sense of humor. Her books are like treating yourself to ice cream on a hot day—refreshing.
If you enjoy reading cozy mysteries that include humor and a thread of Christian faith, I highly recommend reading Death of a Couch Potato’s Wife.
Christy Barritt is an author, freelance writer and speaker who lives in Virginia. She’s married to her Prince Charming, a man who thinks she’s hilarious–but only when she’s not trying to be. Christy’s a self-proclaimed klutz, an avid music lover who’s known for spontaneously bursting into song, and a road trip aficionado. She’s only won one contest in her life–and her prize was kissing a pig (okay, okay… actually she did win the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Suspense and Mystery for her book Suspicious Minds also). Her current claim to fame is showing off her mother, who looks just like former First Lady Barbara Bush.
When she’s not working or spending time with her family, she enjoys singing, playing the guitar, and exploring small, unsuspecting towns where people have no idea how accident prone she is.
