Killer Cousins

by: June Shaw

Published by: Five Star (Jan. 21, 2009 release)

Reviewed by Nikki Young

Killer Cousins, June Shaw’s second mystery, is a charming story. Grandmother Cealie Gunther is tricked into visiting her eccentric cousin Stevie, whom she has never really gotten along with, in Tennessee. Stevie believes she has psychic abilities, is very into feng shui, is trying to quit smoking, and generally freaks Cealie out. Our tales opens with Cealie tripping over a dead body in Stevie’s backyard. It turns out that the body belongs to a member of Stevie’s stop-smoking group.

A series of deaths follow, and it turns out that all of the victims are part of the same stop-smoking group. Will Stevie be the next victim? Police ask Cealie to remain in town until they have more information regarding the first death, since she discovered the body. She is determined to find out who’s behind the murders, so she can get back to her vacation and away from her crazy cousin.

Killer Cousins has several interesting characters and issues that all women can easily relate to. Cealie is one of the most interesting grandmas around; she has a “slut outfit” (leather mini skirt and low-cut shirt), sleeps in sheer lingerie, and has a hunky Cajun lover. Stevie’s quirky personality is punctuated with new-age rituals, moods swings from quitting smoking, and self-image issues. With all of the main characters being in their “golden years,” I wasn’t expecting the story to have so many issues that I could relate to. I was interested to see that these ladies were dealing with–and many are the same dating and life issues a 20-something person deals with.

Overall this was a good book, I give it three stars. There were some places in the sub plot where the author could have given more detail to draw the reader in. Killer Cousins is listed as a mystery, but feels more like chick lit. The mystery is there but it really takes a back seat to the other issues the characters are dealing with. With that said I would still recommend this book.

Armchair Interviews says: This fits a cozy mystery genre– some read like a chick lit.

Author’s Web site: http://www.JuneShaw.com