Deadly Summer by Denise Grover Swank

New York Times bestselling author Denise Grover Swank gives a former TV star one more shot at fame—and it proves to be a killer comeback…

Ten years ago, Summer Butler was television’s most popular teenage sleuth. Since then, she’s hit—what gossip sites just love to call—the gutter. Nearly bankrupt, betrayed, estranged from her greedy mother, and just about unemployable, she’s coaxed into that desperate haven for has-beens: reality TV.

Winging it as a faux PI, she’ll solve off-the-cuff mysteries in her hometown of Sweet Briar, Alabama. For added drama, there’s police chief Luke Montgomery, inconveniently Summer’s first and only love.

It’s when Summer stumbles upon a very real corpse that Darling Investigations takes an unexpected twist. The growing list of suspects is a big draw to viewers, but the reality is that Summer doesn’t know whom she can trust. Someone has written this killer new scene especially for her, and unless Summer gives the role everything she’s got, it could be her last…

Book 1
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~  Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
This is as sweet and fluffy as a murder mystery gets. The story of a washed-up teen star who stumbles into a real crime while filming a ridiculous reality TV show is full of small town Southern charm. It’s a fun read that builds slowly to a surprisingly exciting end.

I couldn’t help but like Summer more than I wanted to. She has more substance than anyone expects, and she is more self-deprecating than the first few chapters suggest. Her mind is sharp and her humour is slightly darker than I expected.

The murder mystery takes some time to start and it felt like it wandered in circles for a while before there was any real excitement in the book. I enjoyed Summer and Dixie’s unconventional investigation, but parts of the story aren’t terribly plausible.

The romance is almost negligible. Summer’s high school boyfriend is now the police chief and the two have unfinished business. There isn’t much heat in this story but there are some entertaining moments as Summer’s investigations interfere with Luke’s job.

Denise Grover Swank is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Rose Gardner Mystery Series, the Magnolia Steele Mystery Series, The Wedding Pact Series, The Curse Keepers Series, and others. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and lived in the area until she was nineteen. Then she became a nomad, living in five cities, four states, and ten houses over the course of ten years before moving back to her roots. Her hobbies include witty Facebook comments (in her own mind) and dancing in her kitchen with her children (quite badly, if you believe her offspring). Hidden talents include the gift of justification and the ability to drink massive amounts of caffeine and still fall asleep within two minutes. Her lack of the sense of smell allows her to perform many unspeakable tasks. She has six children and hasn’t lost her sanity—or so she leads you to believe.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Deadly Summer (Darling Investigations #1) by Denise Grover Swank to read and review.