"Third Samantha Shaw mystery is excellently witty, funny and fast-paced."

With her lying, cheating husband dead, Samantha Shaw is struggling to make a success of her new business, Heart Mates. So she's disappointed when the appointment she thought would bring her a new client for her dating service instead wants her assistance as an amateur sleuth - her other sideline. You see, Sam has gotten quite a reputation for involving herself in certain investigations in her home town of Lake Elsinore, CA. It's not her fault that those investigations always seem to end up with someone dead.

This time, Janie, a woman Sam knew from her soccer mom days, is suspicious that her ex-husband, Chad, has been stealing funds from the soccer league he coaches. Janie wants Sam to find the proof, which she knows is on Chad's office computer.

Well, the sneaky way Sam goes about confronting Chad leads to a situation that finds part of her shirt being eaten up in Chad's paper shredder (don't ask!). Chad's new girlfriend walks in, sees the partially unclothed Sam in Chad's arms and flies into a rage. In the melee, Sam makes a hasty getaway, since she's gotten what she came for -- a copy of the soccer file on a computer disk. Job accomplished!

But things never go according to plan for Sam. Chad is soon found dead (of course!), and Sam is involved up to her silicone-enhanced cleavage.

Working with her hot new boyfriend, ex-cop-turned-P.I. Gabe Pulizzi, and trying to stay one step ahead of Detective Vance, Sam must solve the case before she's arrested as the main suspect. This is not easy, since Sam also has to deal with her quirky assortment of Heart Mates clients, her disrespectful (male) receptionist, her best friend Angel (who's launching a new business), her magician (and computer savvy) grandpa, her two teenage (but still lovable) sons, their beer-guzzling (but very smart) guard dog and other assorted odds and ends of unusual acquaintances. And the mystery surrounding Chad's girlfriend only adds to the mixed-up brew. Oh, did I fail to mention that Sam also writes reviews of romance novels for Romance Rocks magazine? Is she something, or what?!

This third book in Apodaca's Samantha Shaw Mystery Series (following DATING CAN BE MURDER and DYING TO MEET YOU) is a laugh-a-minute with witty repartee, hilarious (and truly likable) characters and a fast-paced plot. I enjoyed it so much, I didn't put it down until I was done! Bring on the next one!

Reviewed by Tanzey Cutter
Posted April 14, 2004