I will disclose right off the bat that I chose today's book because it came with a package of candy conversation hearts. I don't even like candy conversation hearts but the gimmick caught my attention, so there you go.
Luckily, Sweetheart Deal (William Morrow, 353 pages, $23.95) by Claire Matturro, is a good read. Apparently it's the fourth in a series featuring the plucky Lilly Cleary, an attorney who always finds herself with an odd case...
This time, Lilly is headed to her hometown of Bugfest, Ga., where she hasn't been in 20 years. That's right, Bugfest, which is revealed to be an appropriate town name early on as she rolls into town and right away gets into an accident:
"The mosquito sharing the front seat with me took the lull in my frantic hand-waving as a prime opportunity and bit me in the middle of my forehead. Oh, great, a car wreck and a red welt. This was going well, I thought, then wondered exactly what I had expected. After all, there'd been plenty of reasons why I had left this town right after high school graduation night."
Lilly has returned to Bugfest because her mother's in a coma AND accused of murder — a case worth pursuing, I'd say.
Matturro's writing style is fun and breezy enough for the chick-lit set and quirky and mysterious enough for the legal thriller fans. Not a bad combination.
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