WHEN ZEFFIE GOT A CLUE
A Cozy Mystery - #3
Peggy Darty
Waterbrook
ISBN 9781400073337
March 2008
Christian fiction - Cozy Mystery

Zeffie Adams is a young orphan living with her terminally ill grandmother in Summer Breeze, Florida. In order to help pay for her grandmother's medicines, Zeffie takes a jewelry box to a trash to treasure boutique called "I Saw It First", which is run by mystery writer Christy Castleman and her aunt, Bobbie. Wanting to help the little girl, Christy buys the box and befriends Zeffie, who seems so sad and lonely yet determined. Preparing to makeover the scruffy jewelry box, which had once been a quality piece, Christy comes across an appraisal slip which is just the clue needed to re-open a cold case murder investigation. Though members of Christy's family do not want her to risk her safety by investigating the mystery, she endeavors to find out all she can because the victim had been a friend from childhood--and she quite literally owes him her life!

WHEN ZEFFIE GOT A CLUE is a delightful cozy mystery full of endearing characters set against a narrative which radiates plenty of southern charm. Though the third installment of Ms. Darty's cozy series, I found WHEN ZEFFIE GOT A CLUE to stand alone very well. Christy is a likable protagonist and I found her internal struggle with issues concerning her boyfriend to be particularly humanizing. Little Zeffie is a character which really touched this reader. Her happiness became, from my perspective, to be more important than finding out whodunit!

Having enjoyed WHEN ZEFFIE GOT A CLUE, I would not hesitate to read the other installments in this series or anything else by Ms. Darty. Recommended!

Reviewed by Melissa Fowler
Rating 4