Death of a Blogger, by Danae M. West, is the perfect book for a cold winter evening, the literary equivalent of hot chocolate and cinnamon toast. There's no angst, no blood and gore, and no realism. Instead, there's the small town, incompetent law enforcement officer wanting to sweep a local murder under the rug and a perky, clever heroine to make sure justice is done. It's the traditional 'cozy' murder mystery.

Wendy Wallace, local blogger, is much read and little loved. She spends her evenings prowling the streets taking pictures of the local population in embarrassing, compromising and, at worst, criminal situations. When she's found dead in the local flower shop, the sheriff has a large number of suspects. He is only interested in one - Molly, who owned the flower shop. He arrests Molly and declares the case closed.

Effie Dodd, owner of Interiors by Effie, sets out to prove her best friend Molly is innocent. Is it the dodgy doctor? The evangelical preacher who is not as good as he should be? Some suspicious land deals tied in to the local election? Effie's ex-boyfriend, exposed as a cattle rustler by Wendy? Effie investigates each in turn. A couple of attempts on her life suggest one of the many trails she's investigating is the right track.

Effie combines her investigations with running her jailed friend's campaign to become mayor, organizing the local pumpkin festival and running her small interior design shop. She's good at multi-tasking and the writer, Danae M. West, is very good at pulling the multiple strands of Effie's activities into catching the killer.

The main requirements for a successful 'cozy' are likable characters and enough clues distributed among the red herrings for the reader to feel the mystery has been satisfactorily solved. Effie is very likable and she's surrounded by assorted eccentric kin and friends. Secondary, minor and even walk-on characters are deftly done. West is very good with names - Petunia Pickford, for example. There's a real sense of fun in the book - playing with murder and language.

There are plenty of red herrings. I was surprised when the murderer was unmasked. Yes, there were clues, but, for me, they were a bit too few and a bit too obscure.

I enjoyed Death of a Blogger. If you like Diane Mott Davidson, JoAnna Carl and Cleo Coyle, you'll probably enjoy this. I prefer Effie to Davidson's Goldie Schultz - Effie never takes herself too seriously. I hope it's the first of many, and Stranded, Idaho joins Cabot Cove and St. Mary Meade in challenging Detroit's murder rate.

Reviewed By Wenonah Lyon
© November 2007