Book Review: Thirty and a Half Excuses by Denise Grover Swank

Thirty and a Half Excuses
Author: Denise Grover Swank
Series: A Rose Gardner Mystery (Book 3)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (October 13, 2015)

Description: Life is turned upside down in Denise Grover Swank's New York Times and USA Today bestselling series.

Henryetta is full of gossip about the arrival of a controversial televangelist, but it's the death of a little old lady on Rose's street that catches her attention. The local police deem her death to be of natural causes, but Rose suspects foul spay and so does an unlikely supporter--the president of the Busy Body Club, her eighty-two-year-old neighbor Mildred.

But Rose is in the middle of opening her nursery with her sister Violet, as well as stalling her boyfriend Joe's family of rich socialites who are determined to meet her. Add in far too many encounters with Fenton County's new assistant DA, Mason Deveraux III, and it's just another day in the life of Rose Gardner--complete chaos.

My Thoughts: This third Rose Gardner mystery has Rose opening a nursery with her sister Violet and reluctantly investigating the deaths of a couple of elderly women. Joe is off on an an undercover assignment leaving Rose to depend on her friend Mason for support. Because of past actions, Joe and Mason do not get along which makes Joe jealous of Rose's relationship with Mason.

Rose also gets a job doing the landscaping around the new church in town. Jonah is a televangelist who is gaining parishioners at the expense of the other local churches. He also seems to be attracted to Rose which makes her unhappy because both Joe and Mason have warned her that Jonah and the church are under some kind of investigation.

Between Violet's marital troubles, Joe's socialite parents who are pressuring him to follow their plans and who hate Rose, and her investigation, Rose is in the middle of her usual chaos. What I like about Rose is that she does things because they are the right thing to do. She is a strong supporter of the underdog and the outsider because she has felt like an outsider all of her life. She also seems to have no concept of personal danger and stumbles into situations that are hazardous all the time. I like the way she is becoming stronger and more confident with each book.

I can't wait to read Rose's next adventure. I really want things to work out for her.

Favorite Quote:

"I told you that I can't drive a stick shift. I'm trying."

The car rolled, stopping when I banged into the sheriff's patrol car.

"You just hit a police car!"

"I didn't mean to! Stop shouting at me! You're making me nervous!" I let my foot off the clutch and the car jerked, hitting the patrol car again. "Crap!"

I got this book for review from the publisher. You can buy your copy here.