TOO RICH AND TOO DEAD

Author: Cynthia Baxter ISBN: 9780553590364 4/2009 MYSTERY Publisher: BANTAM

Have suitcase, will sleuth... Mallory Marlowe, travel writer for the Good Life magazine, heads to Colorado to answer the question: Can nonskiers have fun in Aspen? It’s also a chance to visit a now rich and famous high-school classmate, Carly Cassidy Berman. Cheerleader, homecoming queen, and class president, Carly had it all then and still does—a sprawling mountainside home, an adoring husband, and a multimillion-dollar business centered around her super-exclusive Tavaci Springs spa. But not all is what it seems in Carly’s golden life, because within twenty-four hours of Mallory’s arrival, Carly’s corpse turns up in a mud bath. Against a dazzling backdrop of majestic ski slopes, ritzy boutiques, and slumming celebrities, Mallory suddenly discovers that Aspen’s main attraction is a dazzling array of suspects—one of whom is eager to see this accidental sleuth’s travels come to an end. As Mallory begins to uncover the secrets hidden amid Aspen’s snow, will a desperate killer make this playground for the pampered and privileged Mallory’s final destination?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

The second installment in the Murder Packs a Suitcase mystery series, TOO RICH AND TOO DEAD, is just as good a read as the first book was. I am completely taken with the heroine, a widow with two college-age kids who decides to become a travel writer. She goes to places that have been reviewed by many others before her but brings a new slant to what may have been tired, overdone topics.

In this story, Mallory goes to posh Aspen to show how the skiing mecca can still be interesting to those who don’t ski. She also hopes to catch up with an old schoolmate, and to see how Carly’s fame and fortune are affecting her life. What Mallory doesn’t bank on is finding herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Barely a dinner and cocktail after she’s reunited with Carly, Carly turns up dead. The question is who among the wealthy Aspen elite is responsible?

Cynthia Baxter writes one heck of a good mystery. She has a flair for pulling characters into unusual situations and making those moments pop off the page. I was absolutely entertained by this story, and look forward to reading more of this interesting series.

Kay James