The Scent of Murder

Rating:
Summary: the Scent of Murder
Review: A fun read about the goings-on in a busy shopping mall that climax in murder in a department store. Is the scented vandalism connected with the murder? That's what Marissa has to answer when the body of the woman who stole her husband is found draped over her desk. Marissa must find the murderer to keep herself from being charged with murder. An ailing child, an incompetent boss and others add to her problems making the situation almost chaotic. I recommend this book to any mystery fan. Lots of false trails and suspects.

Rating:
Summary: Recommended for an enjoyable read
Review: Jeffrey Marks has taken a step aside from General Grant and his post Civil War historical mysteries and written a modern mystery with an ordinary setting (a shopping mall). Marissa Scott is the manager of the Cosmetics Department in Kantor's Department Store where someone is playing perfume-related pranks. So far, it's only an inconvenience; but when a perfume model is found murdered in Marissa's office, things turn deadly serious. Since the model is that of the woman who broke up her marriage and the body is found in Marissa's office, she's the police department's number one suspect. Added to the mix is a ruthless boss, a sick child, a grieving ex-husband and a boyfriend who wants to rush her into marriage. As if Marissa's life isn't complicated enough, there's another murder. The police seem to be looking in all the wrong directions and Marissa decides to find out for herself just what is going on and because of the character of the dead woman, there are plenty of suspects.
I enjoyed this book and I really liked Marissa. The author has written a well crafted mystery in which Marissa's back story is very much an integral part of the plot. I particularly liked the fact that she didn't stupidly put herself in harm's way, she let the police know anything she found out and her actions and reactions were that of an ordinary, intelligent woman working out her problems, even if one problem was murder. The story clips along as in between dealing with her personal life, she delves into the whys and wherefores of who might have hated her enough to implicate her in the two murders.