Swamped

In Sandy Gingras's Swamped, the first installment in the Lola Polenta cozy mystery series, this debut would keep you hooked on every page. Lola left her husband  and teaching career in New Jersey and headed for the hills to live in Florida to start a new life. She started talking PI lessons over the Internet and lives in a trailer park community near the Everglades. But when one of her neighbors wounded up clobbered in the head with a golf club, it was up to Lola to talk to her neighbors. She learned that her former neighbor blackmailed them and vowed to keep their secrets. Each one of them had a motive to kill him, except for Joe, who becomes Lola's newest friends. She also had a crush on Detective Johansen who was on the case, a single father with a teenage daughter, as they had butted heads from time to time. The closer Lola gets into the truth, the more she becomes swamped with more suspicions on her neighbors, when one of them would stop her from finding out for good.

This was a charming cozy debut. I did care for Lola and how she made a fresh start in Florida out of all places. I did think she would make a great PI if she put her heart into it some more. I did think she might wind up in a love triangle with Joe her neighbor or Dave the police detective. I did like the Florida swampland area for an interesting setting for a trailer park. I did think Squirt has a charming nickname and that some of Lola's neighbors were a bit suspicious to say the least. This would keep you on the toes and make you want to read more with drama, non-stop action, intrigue and a scoop of mystery.

Don't be Swamped and check this out today!