Diamonds & Disguises by Laina Turner

Murder on the Back Burner

Presley’s back in Chicago after her vacation in Wisconsin, and the store is doing record business under the direction of the new staff. Presley’s barely settled in when a customer is murdered right in her store. The woman looks like she has just collapsed, but she was overdosed with insulin, apparently right in the store. Cooper’s back from New York, and it seems like he’s in Chicago to stay as he has hired a new worker who can do a lot of the legwork. But then someone breaks into Cooper’s office.

Who killed Susan in the shop? Will Presley be under investigation? Who’s the culprit at Cooper’s office?

I’ve been reading the series in order over the last couple of weeks. I found this installment a little frustrating on several levels. I was definitely happy to see Cooper back as I enjoy his and Presley’s interactions. But I felt like the mysteries took second place to relating what was going on in Presley’s life, like the time she spends with Cooper and at Silk. This book seems to have a more significant number of issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage compared to early books of the series as well as other current published fiction. Commas were hugely problematic, not being where they needed to be—like between independent clauses in a compound subject or after introductory phrases—as well as improperly used in a way which formed comma splices. A character’s name was misspelled. I am an RN, so I can state that the way she had Presley discuss insulin was not true to fact; Presley states, “I thought those injectors came in regulated doses.” Insulin is not given to a person in preset amounts like a pill (though a specific number of units is prescribed depending on need). Instead, a person would either draw up the amount from a vial or use an insulin pen, dialing up or pulling back the number of units needed. So a person with ill intent could definitely draw up and inject a lethal dose.

By the way, this book ends on a cliffhanger.