Lila Dare - Polished Off (Southern Beauty Shop)

Table of Contents

Praise for

Tressed to Kill

Fans of the themed cozy will rejoice as new talent Dare debuts her Southern Beauty Shop series... Dare turns this off-the-rack concept into a tightly plotted, suspenseful mystery, and readers will love the pretty, plucky, smart, slightly damaged heroine and the rest of the charming cast.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Humor, heart, and a first-class whodunit... Readers will be anxious to make the return trip to St. Elizabeth, Georgia, to check in on the adventures of the girls from Violettas.

Casey Daniels, author of Tomb with a View

Tressed to Kill sparkles... Stylish, swift-paced, and charming.

Carolyn Hart, author of Laughed Til He Died

Enticing and eccentric Southern characters combined with suspenseful tension and twists.

Linda O. Johnston, author of Feline Fatale

This first in a new series will certainly charm readers with its close-knit group of beauticians who work together to solve this nicely plotted and well-executed mystery. With its uniquely Southern setting and snappy characters, this mystery is an exceptionally good addition to the cozy genre.

Romantic Times (4 stars)

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Lila Dare

TRESSED TO KILL
POLISHED OFF

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

PUBLISHERS NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.

POLISHED OFF

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / February 2011

Copyright 2011 by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

eISBN : 978-1-101-47712-0

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

http://us.penguingroup.com

For Don and Dolores, people of conviction. Rest in peace.

[ACKNOWLEDGMENTS]

If I said it takes a village to nurture a book from idea to manuscript to publication, my husband would gag, so Ill just say thank you to the many, many friends, colleagues, and publishing professionals who improved Polished Off , especially my critique group buddiesAmy, Lin, Marie; my agent, Paige Wheeler; my editor, Michelle Vega and all the wonderful people at Berkley Prime Crime; Greg Gillis and Ellory Gillis-McGinnis, amazing web designers of www.LilaDare.com ; and Joan Hankins, my first reader and dearest friend. To my husband and daughtersthanks for the love and support and the grand adventure that is our family life together.

Chapter One

[Tuesday]

THE DAY GOT OFF TO A ROCKY START WHEN A HYSTERICAL bride-to-be pitched a hissy in the salon. We all have bad hair days, but brides tend to look at lank locks, or humidity frizz, or a dye job thats more flaming idiot than Flaming Auburn, as a catastrophe on par with a mud slide burying their reception site. And this bride, twenty-year-old Penny Williams, had a real problem: shed tried to iron her hair straight and toasted it.

Look at it, she wailed from Moms styling chair. She was a tiny thingbarely topping five feetwith long hair and brown cocker spaniel eyes, currently reddened by crying. She grabbed a hank of light brown hair and waved it. I cant get married now... I look hideous. Jarrett will want his ring back. She waved her left hand, sparking a twinkle off the diamond chip embedded in fourteen-carat gold.

Jarrett loves you, Penny, Mom said soothingly, patting the distraught girls shoulder. The sun streaming through the wooden blinds made a halo of Moms short, spiky salt-and-pepper hair and glinted off the lenses of her rimless glasses. Sixty years old, she still had smooth, relatively unlined skin and deep periwinkle eyes. Her figure was comfortably rounded and she favored practical clothes when working: washable cotton-knit or linen pants, sneakers, and blouses with pockets to hold clips and combs.

But the weddings Saturday! Penny said despairingly. Itll never grow out by then. I need to call my mom so she can cancel the flowers. And the photographer. And the She dug through her purse and came up with her cell phone.

Mom drew her fingers through Pennys hair. Look, hon, its just the ends that got a bit... crispy. I can trim those off in a jiff, do a bit of layering around your face, and youll be a radiant bride.

You think? She hiccupped at her reflection in the mirror. A half-hopeful look flitted across her face.

I know, Mom said firmly. Lets get you shampooed.

While Mom led Penny to the shampoo sink that sits behind a half wall of glass bricks, I called Jarrett Noblitt, the groom-to-be. It struck me that a little reassurance from her beloved might help Penny put the hair fiasco in perspective.

Ill be right over, he said. Thanks, Grace.

I hung up smiling. Sometimes being part of a small deep-South community can be a blessing. Having lifelong friends and neighbors who care about you and know your business can be a huge help. Of course, having those same friends and neighbors meddle in your life can also prove frustrating and embarrassing. Theres a thin line, Id noted years ago, between caring and meddling. Like when your marriage ends up on the rocks and everyone has a theory about what went wrong. Or, worse, they want to fix you up with their friend/cousin/nephew/coworker who will be just perfect for you. Since Id returned to St. Elizabeth from Atlanta after my divorce, Id fended off offers of blind dates from well-wishers ranging from clients to my landlady.

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