Cadyville, Washington – Present Day

A dead body. An empty drinking glass. Spilled chemicals. Uh-oh.

Sophie Mae Reynolds finds Walter Hanover lying on the floor of her workroom. An empty glass and a puddle of sodium hydroxide, or lye, has been spilled. Sophie can't believe that Walter is dead, but what worries her most is that someone might think he drank her lye – the very same ingredient she uses in her crafting business, Winding Road Bath Products. And because she's worried the police will hold her responsible, she makes up her mind even before she calls 911 that she must find Walter's killer.

Sophie's landlady and best friend, Meghan Bly, makes the emergency call and paramedics show up immediately, followed by hunky Detective Barr Ambrose. Barr, much to Sophie Mae's dread, concludes that Walter somehow helped himself to Sophie Mae's supply of lye used to make soap. He asks her to report to the police station and make a statement. But when Sophie takes it upon herself to investigate Walter's death, she's in more danger than she knows.

LYE IN WAIT is the first installment of a fresh new cozy mystery series by author Cricket McRae. (Book 2, HEAVEN HELP US, is due out soon.) Sophie Mae Reynolds has a smart mouth and stands on her own quite well when she's not plunging headlong into trouble. After being widowed and alone for a few years, Sophie Mae is just a little attracted to Barr Ambrose. Mostly, Barr annoys her. He always seems to read what's on her mind or guess her next move. But if Sophie Mae would simply step back and let Barr do his job, she might not find herself in trouble over and over again.

The characters all work well together and the story is told in Sophie Mae's first person voice. Meghan and her daughter, Erin, are Sophie's family while she tries to establish her fledgling business. Other secondary characters include Meghan's ex-husband, Richard Bly; Walter's landlady, Mrs. Gray; his mother, Tootie Hanover, and his friends, Jacob and Debby.

I thought that Sophie Mae really crossed the line several times, butting into the business best left to the police. She kept too much information to herself rather than telling Barr what she learned, which annoyed me, and sometimes she was just plain thoughtless, charging ahead without thinking. There are lots of red herrings, but all the threads are neatly tied up when the story concludes. Ms. McRae has a unique talent for turning phrases in her wording, and LYE IN WAIT is a promising start to a new series.

Diana Risso