Murder of a Barbie and Ken

Rating:
Summary: fine small town cozy
Review: After she graduated high school Skye Denison couldn't wait to get away from her small Illinois hometown of Scumble River. The only reason she moved back was because her fiancé dumped her, she lost her job and her credit cards were maxed to the limit. The townsfolk have given her a second chance and she has made a place for herself as the school district psychologist and part-time homicide solver. She is seriously involved with Simon Reid, the town coroner and funeral director who has finally realized that if he wants Skye in his life, he has to come to terms with her investigations.

His resolve is severely tested when Skye goes over to Barbie's house to back up the merchandise she ordered at a neighborhood party and finds her hostess and her husband Ken murdered. Naturally she wants to find out who the killer is and many people, including the sheriff ask her to look for clues. Her mind is not totally on the case because Simon's estranged mother comes to town and maneuvers herself into Skye's home and life.

Fans of small town cozies are going to have a good time reading MURDER OF A BARBIE AND KEN. Between dealing with her boyfriend's mother, tracking down a killer, taking care of her students and trying to find some private time to spend with Simon, the beleaguered heroine does not have time to breathe. Denise Swanson has written a clever, well thought out mystery that is almost impossible to solve, but it is the heroine that makes the novel.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Mystery--About a not so perfect couple
Review: Denise Swanson has done it again. In the fifth of her Scumble River mysteries featuring school psychologist, Skye Dennison, she has once again written a thoroughly entertaining story.

Skye has now been back in Scumble River for a couple of years and despite a reluctant return has begun to settle into small-town life. She has embarked on a romance with Simon Reed, the town coroner and he has convinced her to join a social club, the GUMBs (Grand Union of the Mighty Bull). Unfortunately this club has a dark side-nearly every female member sells something in home demonstration parties and all the women GUMBs are expected to attend and buy the products.

MURDER OF A BARBIE AND KEN begins with Skye trapped at yet another of these parties. The hostess with the mostess is Barbie Addison and her company, Instant Gourmet is one of the biggest scams going. Lots of tension is in the air, and Skye is glad to finally escape even if it costs her big bucks to do so. A few days later she returns to Barbie's dream house to pick up her Instant Gourmet order, only to find Barbie and her handsome husband, Dr. Ken murdered.

Both the police chief, Wally Boyd, who realizes he will never crack the secrets of the GUMBs, and Skye's boyfriend, Simon, encourage her to help solve this murder.

Complications arise when Simon's supposedly dead mother, a Las Vegas showgirl, shows up on Skye's doorstep during a Midwest blizzard and ends up sleeping on her couch. Simon wants nothing to do with her, but Skye can hardly kick her out. On top of this two students from the school newspaper decide to investigate.

A Midwest snowstorm, Thanksgiving dinner with Skye's eccentric family, Skye's day-to-day duties of a school psychologist, and a dysfunctional orgy add to the fun of this light-hearted, entertaining mystery.

Swanson creates the ideal small-town, which she depicts with both fondness and wit. She exposes the foibles, but never in a mean or belittling fashion.

The main character, Skye, is an endearing and realistic heroine whose imperfections make her believable. She doesn't quite fit into small-town life, but tries hard to get along. The other characters are human and appealing-someone you might actually meet at the next Tupperware party you attend. The action starts early, when Skye ends up dressed in wallpaper, and the pace never slows down. The ending is both funny and poignant.

I loved this book. I kept trying to put it down and go to bed, but ended up reading until the very end. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, your favorite quilt, and a cozy chair, and treat yourself to a fun read.

Rating:
Summary: Pretentious & Boring...
Review: I love mysteries.... good ones, that is. I found this book begging for attention from a character that acts wrongly superior to any other characters by her side. I felt her looking down her nose at others and insulting the small-town life that is clearly a part of the authors life. In additon, I found the conversations and descriptions of the days happenings to be over-detailed and more than a little annoying. I mean, really --- is it necessary to describe just how much make-up was applied; listen to Skye debate over what to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner; how the whole dinner played out with men in one room and women in the other --- when she's supposed to be solving a murder?! The polt has a ton of potential and could be a good read if there were a stronger, less superficial main character (and author). This is the first 'Scumble River Mystery' I've read. Maybe the others are better.... but I'll never know.

Rating:
Summary: Getting Silly
Review: It's never a good thing when an author bases their main character so much on themselves that it interferes with forming the character individually in the reader's mind. In this case of this series, it's obvious that's just what this author has done, just by reading the little bio blurb in the back cover. At least try for a little deviation from yourself, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally.

Skye has become increasingly annoying as the series progresses. There's no justifiable reason whatsoever for her sticking her nose into these cases, and even less reason for a police chief to not only allow her to do it, but give her access to confidential information in order to faciliate her "assistance." It gets even more ludicrous when her mother, the town police dispatcher, gives her permission to go into the store room to poke through evidence while the chief is out of the office. Shouldn't that be grounds for termination?

If Skye's romance with Simon is supposed to be sexy, the author is doing a poor job of portraying that. These are two grown adults, neither is attached, the whole town knows they're dating, and yet they feel they have to sneak around? That no one has figured out they're sleeping together? What is this, junior high school? There's nothing at all appealing about this couple.

Add in the silliness of Bunny, Frannie and Justin at the end, and this was almost a painful book to finish. If the author wants to continue this series, then she needs to have her characters grow up and stop acting like a bunch of teenagers trying to form their own "in-crowd."

Rating:
Summary: A good one to curl up with
Review: Settle into a comfortable chair and get ready for another side-splitting visit to Scumble River. In Swanson's latest Skye Dennison adventure, she and Simon have joined the Scumble River social club in order to expand their horizons. One of the women in the club, Barbie, invites Skye to a Instant Gourmet party where she pressures her into buying a week's worth of gourmet food. Barbie and her husband Ken seem to have such a perfect life it was almost as if it were scripted. But when Skye goes to their house a week later to pick up her food and finds them both murdered, she realizes that the police will need her help with this one, whether they want it or not. As she begins to dig into their lives, she finds that the old saying about beauty being skin deep is especially true in this case as she uncovers the ugly secrets that both Barbie and Ken hid.

And of course, since this is Skye, she always has several complications in her personal life to deal with. This time Simon's estranged mother has showed up and has moved in with Skye, much to both Skye's and Simon's dismay, especially when they find out she is having some problems with the law. Also, two of Skye's 16 year old students are determined to help her solve the murders so they can write about it for the school paper, and then the monster snow storm hits and paralyzes most of the area.

Swanson has once again taken us to one of the funniest towns we will ever visit, filled with some of the quirkiest and eccentric characters we ever have met, with a sharp, witty protagonist who once again is thinking that running away from home wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Rating:
Summary: A good one to curl up with
Review: Settle into a comfortable chair and get ready for another side-splitting visit to Scumble River. In Swanson's latest Skye Dennison adventure, she and Simon have joined the Scumble River social club in order to expand their horizons. One of the women in the club, Barbie, invites Skye to a Instant Gourmet party where she pressures her into buying a week's worth of gourmet food. Barbie and her husband Ken seem to have such a perfect life it was almost as if it were scripted. But when Skye goes to their house a week later to pick up her food and finds them both murdered, she realizes that the police will need her help with this one, whether they want it or not. As she begins to dig into their lives, she finds that the old saying about beauty being skin deep is especially true in this case as she uncovers the ugly secrets that both Barbie and Ken hid.

And of course, since this is Skye, she always has several complications in her personal life to deal with. This time Simon's estranged mother has showed up and has moved in with Skye, much to both Skye's and Simon's dismay, especially when they find out she is having some problems with the law. Also, two of Skye's 16 year old students are determined to help her solve the murders so they can write about it for the school paper, and then the monster snow storm hits and paralyzes most of the area.

Swanson has once again taken us to one of the funniest towns we will ever visit, filled with some of the quirkiest and eccentric characters we ever have met, with a sharp, witty protagonist who once again is thinking that running away from home wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Rating:
Summary: Skye has a house guest
Review: Skye Denison and her boyfriend Simon join a social club and begin participating in activities with other couples in the club. Skye even finds herself at the home of the glamour couple, Ken and Barbie Addison, attending an Instant Gourmet party. When Skye goes to the Addison home to collect the food she purchased at the party, she finds that someone has murdered Ken and Barbie. Another unpleasant surprise occurs when Simon's mother, Bunny, shows up unexpectedly and decides to stay with Skye. Since Bunny has a bad relationship with Simon, this puts Skye in an awkward position. Skye manages to do her job as a school psychologist, date Simon, deal with his mother, and investigate the murders all at the same time. There are no end of suspects because Ken Addison was a much reviled person who cheated in his personal and professional lives. Skye persists in her investigation until she and Simon are almost added to the list of murder victims. This is another delightful book in the Scumble River series and should be pleasing to Denise Swanson's fans.

Rating:
Summary: Who killed socialites Barbie & Ken and why?
Review: Skye Denison is a school psychologist in Scumble River. Her boyfriend Simon, the coroner and funeral home owner, has joined the local social club, Grand Union of the Mighty Bulls, and he has talked her into joining the GUMB ladies' auxiliary. That's how she met Barbie Addison.

Skye attended a Instant Gourmet party at Barbie's and ended up buying a week's worth of Instant Gourmet food. Skye's dad gives her a ride to Barbie's to pick up her food. Her Bel Air doesn't do well in really bad weather. They find Barbie and Ken (her husband) dead.

Police Chief Walter Boyd asked Skye and Simon to help him investigate their murders. Skye has assisted in the past, but usually against everyone's wishes. This is a new twist for Wally to ask for her help. He knows he needs people who are in GUMB to help find out information.

To complicate matters more, Simon's mother Bunny arrived at Skye's house one night in a snowstorm with no where else to stay. Skye thought Simon's mother was dead so she is quite surprised to meet her. At least that's what Simon had told her! Skye's Uncle Charlie who runs a local motel, referred Bunny to Skye's for the night. One night turns into many! Bunny isn't the easiest person to live with either. Simon was not too happy to see his mother.

Skye and Simon find themselves in many interesting situations as they assist Wally in the investigation.

I love the characters and their interactions in this series. Denise has constructed such a great cast of characters. Plus Scumble River is the typical small town (if any are typical). Everyone knows everyone's business and there are plenty of scandals.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series! It's great! It is a wonderful cozy mystery series.

Rating:
Summary: Who killed socialites Barbie & Ken and why?
Review: Skye Denison is a school psychologist in Scumble River. Her boyfriend Simon, the coroner and funeral home owner, has joined the local social club, Grand Union of the Mighty Bulls, and he has talked her into joining the GUMB ladies' auxiliary. That's how she met Barbie Addison.

Skye attended a Instant Gourmet party at Barbie's and ended up buying a week's worth of Instant Gourmet food. Skye's dad gives her a ride to Barbie's to pick up her food. Her Bel Air doesn't do well in really bad weather. They find Barbie and Ken (her husband) dead.

Police Chief Walter Boyd asked Skye and Simon to help him investigate their murders. Skye has assisted in the past, but usually against everyone's wishes. This is a new twist for Wally to ask for her help. He knows he needs people who are in GUMB to help find out information.

To complicate matters more, Simon's mother Bunny arrived at Skye's house one night in a snowstorm with no where else to stay. Skye thought Simon's mother was dead so she is quite surprised to meet her. At least that's what Simon had told her! Skye's Uncle Charlie who runs a local motel, referred Bunny to Skye's for the night. One night turns into many! Bunny isn't the easiest person to live with either. Simon was not too happy to see his mother.

Skye and Simon find themselves in many interesting situations as they assist Wally in the investigation.

I love the characters and their interactions in this series. Denise has constructed such a great cast of characters. Plus Scumble River is the typical small town (if any are typical). Everyone knows everyone's business and there are plenty of scandals.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series! It's great! It is a wonderful cozy mystery series.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Mystery--About a not so perfect couple
Review: There is no limit to the intrigue going on in Scumble River either! You already know the basics, so just let me say that you'll love Skye, May, Charlie and Simon. Oh, wait until you meet Bunny! 'Murder of a Barbie and Ken' is a welcome relief from hard-edged, dark mysteries and at least you can turn off the lights at night when you've finished reading. I love Denise Swanson's books and I know you will too. As a mystery writer myself, I know how hard it is to create loveable characters that you care about. Denise is a master.