Suspicious characters swarm around Calista like mosquitoes on a sultry low country evening: her certifiable mother, a fake aunt, her control-freak psychoanalyst, a private yoga instructor, her peculiar housekeeper, and an obsessed ex-husband. Before Liz can open a case file, Calista's life coach is executed. She's the spitting image of Marilyn Monroe.īorn precisely fifty years after the ill-fated star, Calista's life has eerily mirrored the late starlet's - and she fears the looming anniversary of Marilyn's death will also be hers. Liz Talbot thinks she's seen another ghost when she meets Calista McQueen. I LOVE THIS BOOK!' – New York Times Bestselling Author, Darynda Jones). She continues her lively storytelling in the highly entertaining “Lowcountry Bombshell.'Susan Boyer delivers big time with a witty mystery that is fun, radiant, and impossible to put down. The setting of Charleston and environs enhances the story as Boyer mixes in real restaurants such as the historic Blind Tiger Pub and critically acclaimed Anson.Ī light mystery melded with the private detective genre has proved to be a winner for Boyer, whose debut last year “Lowcountry Boil” landed on a couple of best-selling lists and earned her the Agatha and the Daphne du Maurier awards. And in a time in which “Toddlers and Tiaras” show just how desperate parents can be, the idea of a family modeling their daughter to be Marilyn Monroe’s doppelganger doesn’t seem out of line. In small towns, the diners often double as a town square and Boyer makes the most of the Cracked Pot, where gossip is as much a part of the menu as the chicken pot pie. But there may be a more realistic reason for Calista’s fears than the Monroe resemblance ― Calista is a rich woman, wealthy beyond comprehension.īoyer keeps “Lowcountry Bombshell” moving on a steady course, with bits of humor enhancing the plot.

She’s also a little skeptical of Calista’s alleged similarities to the famous actress, from the names of her client’s former husbands to her celebrity-obsessed family. A recent transplant to Stella Maris, a fictional island adjacent to Charleston, S.C., Calista is convinced that someone wants to kill her and that it will occur on the anniversary of Monroe’s death. Her latest client is Calista McQueen, who glides into Liz’s office looking like a picture-perfect likeness of actress Marilyn Monroe. At least that’s often how it appears on the surface. Private detective Liz Talbot pretty much has her feet on the ground with a practical view of the world, despite her rather complicated love life. “Lowcountry Bombshell” surprises at every twist as Boyer infuses her lighthearted plot with a look at obsession with celebrity, unadulterated greed and an affectionate look at South Carolina. Boyer deftly shapes characters with just enough idiosyncrasies without succumbing to cliches in her engaging second novel. Eccentric characters go together in Southern mysteries like, well, shrimp and grits.

Lowcountry bombshell