"Dandy amateur sleuth"

After their adoptive father died, Abby and Kate became heiresses, inheriting the mansion, the business and the art. Abby spends her days by the pool and avoiding the advances of her ex-husband. One day the yardman Ben tells Abby that he needs to speak to her and Kate later that evening. She agrees and falls asleep by the pool only to be awakened by the dog barking.

She finds Ben dead in the garage and later learns that he was the victim of cyanide poisoning. She also finds out that he was a suspect in the killing of his first wife, also by cyanide poisoning. Ben's second wife convinces Abby that her husband was innocent and asks her to find his killers. A determined Abby does just that and her investigation leads to revelations that put her at the mercy of a ruthless killer who know secrets that were kept from her.

This is Leann Sweeney's debut novel and it is a dandy amateur sleuth novel once you accept Abby investigating a crime. What helps is that the protagonist is stubborn and determined, a woman intending to keep an impulsive promise though secrets that are decades old come to light and hurt the living. PICK YOUR POISON is fast-paced and contain many action scenes but it is the characters that make this who done it a cut above the average. This author has talent with a capital T.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted April 30, 2004

Summary

Out of school, out of work, and out of motivation, Abby Rose is contemplating her life and wondering what to do next. It's the kind of situation that would get some girls down, but luckily Abby's got a heart the size of Texas-and a bank account to match. But when she discovers the gardener dead in her greenhouse, Abby realizes what she needs to do with herself: she needs to solve a murder...