Reagan's ex-husband, Hollis, is accused of murdering his fiancée. If Reagan does not find the killer, she may lose her house to attorney fees. So she starts looking for the murderer and keeps running into Walker Boone, her ex's lawyer.

I laughed throughout this book I enjoyed it so much and cannot wait to read more of the series. Reagan is a mess. I loved her. Her Auntie Kiki is a riot. Together the two are a scream. Totally complement each other. Hollis is a jerk. And I think Walker may be sweet on Reagan, although he has a weird way of showing it. There is a wild cast of characters that make this book memorable. I haven't had so much fun in a book in a long time. I was sucked in from the beginning and couldn't wait to get back to this world. So much fun! ( )

This is billed as a Consignment Shop Mystery and must be the first in the series. Reagan Summerside has just survived a divorce with only her fixer-upper Savannah home to show for it. Then her ex is arrested for the murder of his current wife - the Cupcake who broke up her marriage. Reagan should be jumping for joy but the ex might just have to renege on his promise and sell her home to pay his bills. What is a girl to do but find out who the murderer is herself before the house goes to pay the lawyer who took her to the cleaners in the divorce?

The action moves quickly. Reagan stumbles from one disaster to the next. Not only does she open up a consignment shop through the auspices of her UPS delivery driver but she solves the murder with the help of her Aunt Kiki. Can she keep up the pace through the rest of the series?

In spite of several things being fundamentally wrong with this story, and the fact that I nailed the murderer almost from the start, I enjoyed this book.

First what I didn't like:
The story is about a woman just coming out of her divorce who gets nothing except her house. He ex has yet to sign over his half of the house to her, so when he's arrested for murder he claims he's going to force her to sell the house to pay his legal fees. Now, I've been divorced in Georgia and the agreement for house would be in writing in the legal document outlining the divorce agreement, so he wouldn't have the right to sell something he'd previously given away.

Now, I understand not everything is truly accurate in cozies, but this is rather huge as it's meant to set up the whole motivation for her investigating this murder - to keep her ex from trial and to keep her house from being sold. So, the whole fallacy makes the plot much weaker and like an amateur effort.

Also, throughout the book Reagan makes constant mention of what the lawyer fees are costing her - but never in the book is it mentioned that she's taking on responsibility of paying for her ex's legal fees. Why would she do that? She doesn't like the man, has no residual feelings for the man. His legal fees are his responsibility, especially once the house is taken out of the equation. It feels like this, too, was contrived merely to give an excuse to the banter between her and Boone and it felt weak and amateurish.

What I did like:
I love stories taking place in Savannah - it almost guarantees a quirky setting and interesting characters. If a town was ever made for mystery, it is Savannah.

The supporting cast of characters are wonderful - each unique, quirky, and southern in the best way. Vividly written and likeable.

The tension between Reagan and Boone promises to be great fun and I love the friendship between Reagan and her Aunt Kiki. Boone has the requisite amount of mystery in his background that he could be interesting for a long time to come.

I'll read the next book in the series eagerly and hope for a more well developed, thought-out plot than this first effort offered. And I really truly look forward to seeing what the great cast of characters gets up to next. ( )

Iced Chiffon gives the reader a plucky and amusing heroine to cheer on. This book has so many fun threads it's hard not to give things away while praising it's virtues. If you are looking for a fresh new series to follow I highly recommend this one - it has humor, solid writing, red herrings with style, and a cast of characters not soon forgotten. This reader is looking forward to more in this series. ( )

"Iced Chiffon" is a fun little cozy mystery, and as paperback original cozies go, you could do much, much worse. If you're a fan of "Murder, She Wrote" or Hallmark's "Mystery Woman" movies, this series is worth a look. It's not great literature, and it's not supposed to be, but it is fun, entertaining, and well-paced. The characters are charming--in Savannah, even the bad guys are witty and entertaining--and while the book is unlikely to keep you spellbound for days, it's a great escapist mystery for a week by the pool (or a tough week at work when all you want to do when you get home is imagine being somewhere infinitely more genteel). By the way, the mystery itself isn't bad either--not so many suspects that you can't keep them straight nor so few that you get bored. And if you figure it out before the protagonist, well, that's just one of the joys of cozy mysteries. ( )