Wednesday 29 March 2023

Star Tangled Murder (Bad Hair Day Mystery #18) by Nancy J. Cohen

Hairstylist Marla Vail and her husband get tangled up in murder when their Fourth of July visit to a living history village ends with a bang—and a body.

Salon owner Marla Vail and her detective husband Dalton are having a blast visiting a Florida living history village over Fourth of July weekend. But when a Seminole battle reenactment turns up a real dead body, it sets off fireworks among the villagers. One of the cast members has gone off script to murder the town marshal with a tomahawk.

As Dalton gets involved in the investigation, Marla determines to help him solve the case. Her flare for uncovering secrets reveals that everyone in the village is a suspect. Instead of celebrating the holiday with red, white, and barbecues, she discovers secrets, lies, and false avenues. Did the marshal’s murder have anything to do with a lost Confederate payroll, or did his plans to renovate the park light a fuse that he couldn’t snuff out?

In a place where history comes alive, the dead bodies are piling up. Marla would rather be chilling and grilling, but somebody’s mind is on killing. If she’s not careful, her sleuthing might blow up in her face like a faulty firecracker and she’ll become the next victim. Recipes Included!

“Another delightful installment ... Star Tangled Murder finds Marla facing more changes in her life as she investigates a murder that connects to history while she balances motherhood, the salon, and sleuthing.” Readers' Favorite.  (Summary via Goodreads)


Star Tangled Murder is the EIGHTEENTH book in the Bad Hair Day Mystery series by Nancy J. Cohen.......EIGHTEENTH !!!  I haven't had the pleasure of reading all of the books in this series, I have kind of bounced from reading the second book in the series to going straight to the fifteenth and reading from there.  I know that there was a lot that was missed by not reading all of the books in this series but I can tell you that you can catch up pretty quickly.  If you have read all of these amazing books, that is awesome and I am a bit envious.

In Star Tangled Murder there is a lot going on !!  Marla who owns a hair salon and day spa is looking to cut back her hours so that she has more time to devote to her family.  Marla's husband Dalton is a homicide detective and just a few months shy of retiring.  And Dalton's daughter, Brianna, is getting ready to leave the nest and go to college in Boston.

Unfortunately while Marla and Dalton are on an outing to Pioneer Village to see an enactment of a battle that started the Second Seminole War, someone is murdered and it becomes Dalton's case.  And there is a great group of volunteers on the suspect list but will anyone come out of character to be of any help to Dalton ?  Marla decides to help Dalton in this case so that she can be sure his retirement goes smoothly....but who is kidding who ?  Marla always gets in the middle of the investigations with or without Dalton's approval.  And Dalton is going to need it with this case...especially when someone else from Pioneer Village ends up murdered.

Readers cannot help but love this series and I would say with EIGHTEEN books in the series, there are a lot of fans !!  And now with Dalton retiring and changing to a less stressful job and Marla cutting back hours at the salon, things have to be much quieter for them.....but knowing Cohen I can only imagine what will happen next....and I am sure readers are going to love it !!!





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