image The Death of a Garage Sale Newbie
by Sharon Dunn

Ginger is a bargain shopper and she cannot buy something NOT on sale.  The thought makes her break out into a cold sweat. She’s not alone as she is joined by Kindra, a college student, Suzanne, the pregnant mother of three and Mary, a real estate agent. For this group, the Bargain Hunters Network, their common passion goes horribly wrong when Mary goes missing and is later found murdered. Mary left one last message on Ginger’s answering machine that maybe a clue to who killed her.  The three remaining members of BHN are determined to retrace Mary’s steps back to that fateful morning.

They have one ally in the police department, Officer Tammy, who’s been suspicious about her superior’s desire that she leave the case alone. Together, the women trace Mary’s shopping venture back to one particular garage sale purchase that leads to a twenty year-old secret. Now after twenty years, someone is certainly not about to let a group of garage sale shopping women expose deeply hidden secrets. They killed one woman, and are not afraid to take out the others.

The Death of a Garage Sale Newbie is my first read by Sharon Dunn. I’m not familiar with the world of garage sale shopping, but I like the premise for the Bargain Hunters Mysteries. These women brought together by this common hobby are a variety of ages and backgrounds. Really quite different from your usual book series involving a group of women.

There are quite a cast of characters, points of view and subplots which keep the story moving. These helpful additions helped the pacing which tended to move a little slow for me during certain chapters. But cozy mysteries are something new I’m reading now, and I am used to reading faster paced suspense thrillers. With the more laid back story development, I did appreciate reading more into the lives of Ginger and her marriage, as well as Officer Tammy’s struggles as a single mom.

Sharon Dunn’s writing style is definitely appealing and I look forward to reading future books by this author.  Book two, Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear was released in January 2008 and book three, Death at a Discount will be released January 2009.

Reviewed by Tyora Moody