Some women have all the luck and wealth, some are simply comfortable and others are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Unfortunately, the following are in the third category, but they find ways to make ends meet. These entertaining tales are the perfect addition to toss into your beach bag or to read while you’re out lounging by the pool as these summer days pass by.
In Dorothy Howell’s debut mystery, “Handbags and Homicide,” Haley Randolph is obsessed with the latest and greatest handbags, but unfortunately her current financial situation doesn’t allow for these splurges. She’s forced to take a job at Holt’s, a middling department store, to help subsidize her obsession. While on duty, she stumbles upon a store manager, dead in the stockroom, and so the investigation ensues with Haley as the lead suspect. She ends up in a series of tangles, mainly because of her own stories she concocts to cover her tracks, which make her come across even guiltier. This first in a series with a cliffhanger ending will have you looking forward to the next installment.
