There’s nothing pretty about murder.Meet Toni Diamond, make up artist to middle America. She’s got a nose for trouble and a passion for solving mysteries. Imagine Columbo in a lavender suit. She never met a woman who wouldn’t look better with a little help from the Lady Bianca line of cosmetics. But don’t be fooled by appearances. Underneath the fake diamonds and the big hair is a sharp brain and … brain and a keen eye that sees the details as well as the funny side of life. When a Lady Bianca sales rep is murdered at the annual convention in Dallas, Toni is the one who notices things that some people, like sexy Detective Luke Marciano, might easily miss. Only someone who understands as much about how to make appearances deceiving could see into the mind of this killer — a murderer who wants to give Toni a permanent makeover. Into a dead woman.
At the sales convention, Toni has to deal with her arch rival Nicole Freedman, a woman who would stab Toni in the back if it would get her the coveted top sales award. She’s got her own beauty consultants to encourage, her mother who’s taken Dolly Parton as her pattern and her patron saint, her daughter Tiffany, who, at sixteen, is mortified by everything her mother does. Including breathing.
In this humorous, cozy mystery, complete with a wily and entertaining amateur female sleuth, a sexy police officer, a murder or two, a little comedy and some racy scenes, a suburban cosmetics sales woman matches wits with a fiendish murderer.
New York Times Bestselling author Lori Foster calls Nancy Warren’s writing ‘sexy and wonderfully witty.’
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Typical female entrepreneur meets detective and they fall for each other. A great cozy for before bed.
I like this line [which definitely is not an exact quote, just what I recall].
woman tells detective, ‘I don’t sell cosmetics so women look nice for men, I sell cosmetics so women feel good about themselves.’
This shows author insight and …
Definitely light reading. Characters are not well developed, plot doesn’t have a lot of depth, but it’s an escape to somewhere else read.
Easy to read good characters and humorous
silly subject matter but the characters were likable enough – good for a light quick read
I enjoyed this mystery. It was a bot over zealous on the make-up front. When the mystery got going, it was a quick read. I would read another by this author.
Ok characters you
just a fun read!! great weekend “reading vacation” kinda book.
Predictable, but entertaining.
Liked that main character was smart enough to live & not dashing into danger. Has usual romantic angle but not overdone. Interesting career. Good characters
Easy read and great characters.
An easy read, yet with a couple of more interesting twists than typical cozy mysteries. Very good character development as well — will definitely read any other books in this series
to ritzy and unbelievable.
What was funny had a friend who went overboard buying cosmetics to sell and it caused friction in the family
I loved the main character and her family. I was rooting fir her. Interesting story. Kept me wanting more.
An enjoyable light read, but just too warped up in brainless women.
It’s cute, I like the protagonist, Toni Diamond. The book is formulaic, the detective/love interest is cut and paste, but the three women are original, intelligent and fun to follow. I actually bought and read all three in the series.
Thoroughly enjoyed this series. loved the silliness and the action, the relationships and the over the top antics. A very good read.
It was a different approach to a murder mystery. I found it hard to put down. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
Easy and fun to read. Enjoyable
Love this book. Tony Diamond is quite a salesman and detective.