First I need to state that I got a free copy of this book for my honest review. Business aside, now down to the actual review.
The Mattress Mart Murder is a new book from Kayla Michelle. The heroine, Chloe Cook, is a cosmetic salesman on Cape Cod who suddenly finds herself in the middle of a murder case. One of the chief suspects in the murder is Kristina Miller, who has been a loyal customer of Chloe’s for a number of years. Kristina works at the Mattress Mart, and at the company picnic finds herself fired the afternoon before owner, Marty Diamond, is found murdered in the store’s parking lot.
Spoiler alert: if you want to read the book for yourself, stop here. Suffice it to say that it’s a good book, worth the read.
Kristina, after finally dumping an ill-repute boyfriend, asks Chloe to accompany her to the company picnic, since she will be going stag. When Kristina and Chloe arrive, everyone at the party is going through the motions, but it’s obvious that there is much wrong going on below the surface.
First to set off Marty is an encounter with his chief rival, Walter Gold. Marty finds Walter talking to his wife, Delia, after handing her some kind of envelope. It turns out that Marty has been cheating with his secretary, Jennifer Carter. Walter apparently has uncovered some damning evidence of the affair and has made sure that Delia is aware of Marty’s peccadillo. Blow up number one.
In return, Marty reveals that he has discovered that Walter has an illegitimate daughter, named Candace McDowell, that he is been supporting for almost 20 years, unbeknownst to his own wife. Threats are exchanged between Walter and Marty before Walter leaves the party. Blowup number two.
Delia confronts Marty about his infidelity, and Marty, in true Marty fashion, demeans his relationship with Jennifer within her hearing. Jennifer, of course, storms off when she discovers how little her relationship with Marty matters. Blowups three and four.
Marty’s son, Stewart, shows up with a girl named Lucy, who is the daughter of Patrick Lemke, a man who was injured in Marty’s warehouse after a pile mattresses fell on him. Because of his disability, he tried to sue Marty for million dollars, but Marty’s lawyer made sure that Patrick only got the minimum payout possible. Marty openly calls Lucy a “shameless, low class, gold digger,” and accuses her of trying to get Stewart’s inheritance. Marty tells Stewart that if he doesn’t get rid of Lucy, he’s going to be disinherited. Blowup number five
After all of the other hullabaloo between Marty, his wife, Walter Gold, Stewart and Lucy, Kristina finds herself fired, her position being given to a stranger that she saw Marty talking to after she first arrived. She can only assume this stranger is some sort of family member of Marty’s, because usually only family members managed to get any kind of promotion within the company. Blowup number six.
Into all this chaos stir in the fact that Chloe’s ex-boyfriend, Mark O’Doul, shows up, married. To add insult to injury, his new wife, Vicki, and he had returned to attend the baby shower being thrown for Vicki. A harsh blow, considering he had always made it known to Chloe that he never wanted children.
Lastly, Chloe’s mom, Amanda, is intent on setting up a blind date for Chloe with a podiatrist that Amanda found out about through her friend, town divorce lawyer, Wanda Winger.
Take all of these parts, toss liberally, and you have the essential elements for the Mattress Mart Murder.
There are several twists and turns in the book that kept me on my toes. I have to admit that I didn’t get the ending at first, but after rereading it (and I won’t give away the ending), my reaction was, “Well duh, of course that was the answer!” Like Jessica Fletcher of the “Murder She Wrote” franchise, she was just a teeny bit ahead of the rest of us viewers, and I find I’m going to have to get my thinking cap reset to those old, but reliable, standards.
I really appreciate the fact that there was little adult language and swearing in the book. I also appreciate the fact that Kayla Michelle did not feel the need to describe the murder in gory details. Although I enjoy the more technical thrillers, sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and try to puzzle things out without the author practically giving everything away using the modern methods like the science of DNA, etc.
In my circle of friends, family and acquaintances there are several whom I think would appreciate the style of writing. There’s still enough mystery to keep it interesting, and I feel that it’s a great mystery book to recommend to Christian and young adult readers. It’s a brain exercise without all of the gory sensationalism present with other writers.
The main character, Chloe Cook, has a regular sort of job that many of us can identify with, as well as problems that a normal person might face in everyday life. Mom wants to get her married, and as soon as possible, and Chloe finds that she has a love affair with pie that could be an issue with her figure. I think it’s empowering for women and girls everywhere see that, with a little bit of cleverness, even a regular person can rise to the occasion and solve a difficult problem on her own.
All in all, a good read, and I find myself waiting to see the next book in the series.
OR
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A fun book to curl up on a cold winter night with.
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