Book 3 in the Good Buy Girls Mystery series, has the quartet – Maggie, Ginger, Claire and Joanne – faced with another murder close to home. Joanne and Michael are expecting their first child, and she’s feeling fat and unattractive, especially since Michael hired the pretty young, blond Diane as an assistant at the deli. When Diane is found strangled in the back room, Michael and/or Joanne are immediate suspects.

This has all the elements of a successful cozy mystery series: a group of friends who serve as amateur sleuths, a villainous temptress “mean girl” who is the bane of their existence, a handsome sheriff with a definite interest in widowed Maggie, and a lovely small community with a high murder rate.

I identified the culprit the first time said culprit made an appearance in the book. But it was still fun to watch everyone else catch up. The one thing that really annoys me is the relationship between Maggie and her former high-school rival, Summer. These two forty-year-olds act like they are still in junior high, throwing tantrums and all but wrestling one another to the ground. Grow up, ladies! Seriously.

Cozy mysteries are my reading comfort food, and as winter approaches, I’m sure I’ll be reading more of them. ( )

Buried In Bargains is the third book in the A Good Buy Girls Mystery series. I think it is the best yet.

The holidays are getting near and things are busy for Maggie at home and at her shop, My Sister's Closet.

Everyone is also busy getting ready for the Holiday Ball to held at Bianca's fashionable home. Joanne, one of the Good Buy Girls, is in the early term of her pregnancy and is feeling jealous of the new girl that her husband Michael has hired at their deli. When Maggie overhears a private conversation between Michael and the girl, Maggie begins to wonder if something is going on. The next day Maggie goes to the deli to order additional food for holidays and finds the young lady has been strangled and Michael lying in a pool of blood from a head injury.

So it's time for the Good Buy Girls to put their heads together and to make sure the police don't continue to look at Joanne and Michael as the murderer.

All the character we have learned to love and hate are back. Summer is back to reek havoc on Maggie's sanity. Also Britney's obnoxious self is back.

Also Laura, Maggie's daughter, is home from school and is a joy for Maggie to have help out at the shop.

Oh, yes, and Maggie has seemed to have made a decision of who the love of her life will be.

Definitely looking forward to this next book. ( )

The first two books in this series were bad. I thought they actually really sucked. So why, oh why, did I buy the third one you may be asking? Because Josie Belle is a pseudonym for Jenn McKinlay, she of the very entertaining Cupcake Shop series, the even better Library Lovers series, and the spectacular debut this year of the Hat Shop Series. Before Josie Belle I'd have said this woman couldn't write a bad book if she tried. Really really tried.

The MC in the first two books was completely immature and unlikeable on a level that left the whole concept completely unbelievable. Far more tolerant reader-friends found this series' MC to be more than a little unreadable with her silly temper tantrums and inability to think rationally. They gave up after book 2. But, it's Jenn McKinlay! I can't just write the whole thing off! I had to give it one more chance - a three strikes kind of deal.

So, Buried in Bargains, the make-it or break-it book. It's a good news/bad news kind of deal. The good news? Maggie grew up! No stupid, ridiculous, immature, irrational temper tantrums. If this was the first book in the series you'd read, you'd find the MC to be friendly, responsible, well-adjusted and rational. Quite pleasant, really. Her friends have always been likeable and they still are here. Maggie's daughter is lovely. Maggie also stops acting like an idiot around Sam. These characters are MUCH more what one would expect from Jenn McKinlay.

The bad news? Plot holes galore. Most of which I can't actually point out without spoilers.

So, the bad news is that there's at least one plot hole and I thought the killer was screamingly obvious. BUT, not everyone might see the same things I do the same way, and if you like the characters, this book is worth reading.

The bad news for me is that I now have no clear idea if I should read the fourth one or not. I really expected to be donating these three to the library and washing my hands of the series after this book. The improvement in this book has left me wondering... do I stay or do I go? ( )

I've come to the conclusion that one of the reasons why I enjoy Josie Belle's Good Buy Girls mysteries so much is that, by reading them, I experience something I've never had: the close friendship and emotional support of a group of women. These books almost make me want to start wearing nail polish and looking for bargains on shoes. Almost. (Sorry, Jenn, but I never was and never will be a girly girl.) This time around, Maggie and her friends are still dealing with the dangerous diva, Summer Phillips, but the emphasis is less on bargains and cat fights, and more on family, relationships, and a first-rate mystery.

Another thing that I love about this series is that no character is really left behind. When a long-married couple splits in one book, they don't disappear; we get to see how they deal with living apart. When these amateur sleuths help a dead woman's daughter, the next book shows us how she is coping-- and how she is able to move with her life. This is definitely a series about family and about friends, and while a killer is being hunted, Buried in Bargains really delivers. A word of warning: when reading about the fancy dress Christmas ball, please have tissues on hand. You will need them. It's one of the very best cry-for-happy scenes I've read in a long, long time. I also have to admit that finally getting a chance to see Maggie's daughter was a bonus-- as well as watching further progress in the relationship between Maggie and Sheriff Sam Collins.

If you love feeling invested in the crime fiction you read, get hold of the Good Buy Girls series. The whodunit aspects are good, and the cast of characters is so strong that you'll wish you could move to St. Stanley, Virginia, to become a part of such a loving, supportive group. Buried in Bargains is the best of the bunch so far. It can be read as a standalone since the author does provide enough backstory for you to get a feel for the characters, but I'd advise that you read 'em all. Why deny yourself the pleasure?

Bring on the next one-- I have my coupons ready! ( )

“Buried in Bargains” by Josie Belle

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘Good Buy Girls’ (GBG)? If you say a bunch of women who like smart finds, then you guessed it. But second hand shops, stationary stores, delis, and accounting are not all Maggie, Joanne, Claire, and Ginger are up to.

Much to the dismay of Sheriff Sam Collins—an ex-boyfriend of Maggie’s from her younger years—Maggie and her entourage insist on getting involved when a young girl is murdered. Joanne’s husband Michael is very protective of Diane Jenkins, his new hire at the deli, and the GBG girls can’t figure out why. Until plots, schemes, and stalkers make an appearance after Diane is murdered and Michael is knocked out and left for dead in his deli.

Maggie and Sam are lighting up their old flame again, but Maggie’s insistence in coming to the aid of her friend and getting in the way may be the one thing that may put that flame out again. But she can’t help herself when Michael becomes a suspect in Diane’s murder.

This is a tale of suspicions, Maggie’s amateurish sleuth, off-the-wall ideas, and mayhem, and it’s a load of fun! Recommended!

Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”