Dirty Deeds

Title: DIRTY DEEDS

Author: Christy Barritt

Publisher: self published

July 2013

ISBN: 978-1491036358

Genre: Cozy Mystery

“Promise me one thing. No snooping. Just for one week.”

Gabby St. Claire knows that her fiancé’s request is a simple one that she should be able to honor. After all, Riley’s law school reunion and attorneys’ conference at a hoity-toity resort is a chance for them to get away from the mysteries Gabby often finds herself involved in as a crime scene cleaner. The weeklong trip is a chance for them to be “normal,” a word that leaves a bad taste in Gabby’s mouth.

But Gabby finds herself alone for endless hours while Riley is busy with legal workshops. Then one of Riley’s old friends goes missing, and Gabby suspects one of Riley’s buddies might be behind the disappearance.

When the missing woman’s mom asks Gabby for help, how can she say no? Secrets abound. Gabby even has some of her own. When the dirty truth comes out, the revelations put everything in jeopardy—relationships, trusts, and even lives.

DIRTY DEEDS is book 4 in Ms. Barritt’s Squeaky Clean Mysteries series. Readers will want to read Hazardous Duty, Suspicious Minds, It Came Upon a Midnight Crime, and Organized Grime as the books are all a continuation of Gabby’s adventures. (I’m admitting to some confusion here. There are four books listed as before this one in the series, yet this one is labeled #4.) I did read the first two books, not the second two, and then I got this one for review, so I missed some of Gabby’s history.

I enjoyed catching up with Gabby and her newest misadventure. What could possibly go wrong at a hoity-toity resort filled with a convention of lawyers? Apparently—everything. Some of the events seemed a bit connived, and some contradicted what was written a bit earlier in the book (something a good advance reader would catch) but overall, the story was good and held my interest. There are lots of characters, so lots of potential suspects. If you like cozy mysteries, you’ll love DIRTY DEEDS and any of the other books in this series. $9.99. 282 pages. 4 stars.  

NOTE from author:

I saw the review for Dirty Deeds and just thought I'd let you know that one of the books in the Squeaky Clean series (It Came Upon a Midnight Crime) is an "in between novella." It's officially numbered 2.5. I released it last Christmas since I had several readers asking for more Gabby books and I didn't have time to write another full-length one at that time. That's why the books are numbered like they are, and why Dirty Deeds is #4.