The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis (2008, Paperback)

Krista Davis has a great start on this new series. It moves right along from the first page. The main character is Sophie Winston, who lives in a large, old Federal style house outside of Washington, D.C. She's forty-four and just divorced from her husband Mars, who left her for Natasha Smith, her school nemisis and D.C. entertaining diva. The story takes place at Thanksgiving and Sophie has her parents, her sister Hannah and Hannah's fiancee all staying with her, not to mention Bernie, her husband's best friend and her ex-mother-in-law, June. On top of all this, Sophie is determined to win the Stupendous Stuffing Shakedown contest and beat out Natasha. In the meantime while Sophie is searching for the perfect turkey to bring home to feed everyone, she finds a body in back of the grocery store in the dumpster. She doesn't know the victim, but apparently he knew her because he had her name and photo inside his car. This doesn't look good at all, and even Detective Fleishman (he is called Wolf by everyone) is having a hard time believing her story, especially when another murder happens and a few break-ins and a peeping Tom to top it all off. Fast paced and witty! I love Sophie's neighbor, Nina, who is right in the action mix with her. Lots of other whacky neighbors popping in and out which gives the book plenty to draw on. You'll have a hard time guessing who did the dirty deeds! At the end of the book there are some great sounding recipes that were cooked up in the story. Two thumbs up!