Maid of Murder by Amanda Flower

India Hayes is a librarian in a small town.  Single, she lives with her cat, and her elderly landlord neighbor, Ina, born again Irish believer, keeps her on her toes.  Ina keeps leprechauns and pots of gold scattered on her yard, names the statues, and religiously rotates them.

Back in the day when they were younger, India's friend Olivia dated her brother Mark.  Mark is a math geek, but fell in love with Olivia.  Unfortunately for Mark, he was the rebound guy, and Olivia coldly cast him away.  Mark never got over Olivia, and the sad part is that over the years, Olivia would call Mark.  Talk about leading a guy on.

Out of the blue, Olivia calls India to be her bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding.  India agrees but doesn't share the information with her family about Olivia coming back to town, most of all, Mark.  But Mark finds out and crashes a party at Olivia's parents, where the girls are trying on their horrid bridesmaid dresses.  He beseeches Olivia to reconsider and that he just wants to talk.  He urges her to see him at his office the next day.

The next day, India gets a call and rushes over to the College that Mark teaches at.  A woman has been found in the fountain, bleeding profusely, and Mark pulled her out.  The woman is Olivia, and she dies.  Mark is the prime suspect for her murder, but India is confident he is innocent and begins her own investigation to prove it.

Along the way, India's hippie parents create quite a few ruckus's, someone is setting Mark up, or he isn't as innocent as he proclaims, and India finds the detective on the case a bit more handsome then she remembered.

A quirky, entertaining, laugh-out-loud cozy mystery that you won't want to miss.  Ms. Flower has penned a magnificent debut and I can't wait to read the next in the series!  The characters are delightful and charming, the mystery is solid and page-turning, and the humor sometimes dry, ironic, to the point of belly laughing.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Cozy lovers will fall in love with India Hayes -- pick this one up as soon as you can!!

Visit Amanda Flower here.