Laura Bishop just nabbed her first decorating commissionβstaging for sale a 19th-century mansion that hasn't been updated for decades. But when a body falls from a laundry chute and lands at Laura's feet, replacing flowered wallpaper becomes the least of her duties.
To clear her young assistant of the murder and save her fledgling business, Laura's determined to find the killer. Turns out it's not as easy as renovating a manor home, especially with two handsome men complicating her mission: the police detective assigned to the case and the real estate agent trying to save the manse from foreclosure.
Worse still, the meddling of a horoscope-guided friend, a determined grandmother, and the local funeral director could get them all killed before Laura props the first pillow.
STAGING IS MURDER by Grace Topping | A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you'll probably like them all.
Praise:
"A promising series debut with pleasing characters, plenty of suspects, and helpful tips on home staging." β Kirkus Reviews
"A delicious read! Well-researched and authentic to the true life of a home stager, Staging is Murder will keep you guessing about whodunit, while taking the mystery out of marketing a home. The fun staging tips in each chapter are worthy of as much investigation as the crime." β Debbie Boggs, Co-Founder, Staging Studio
"A first-time home stager, fascinating settings, and meddlesome characters make Grace Topping's Staging is Murder an engaging read and delightful series debut." β Debra H. Goldstein, Agatha-Nominated Author of One Taste Too Many
"I liked how this mystery was staged from the first chapter, giving me just enough intrigue to whet my appetite for more and the more I read, the more I enjoyed what was going on throughout this tale...An enjoyable read." β Dru's Book Musings
"Staging is Murder has everything any cozy reader could want in a mystery with a side of humor and so much more." β Sherry Harris, Agatha-Nominated Author of All Murders Final!
Author Bio:
Grace Topping is a recovering technical writer, accustomed to writing lean, boring documents. Let loose to write fiction, she is now creating murder mysteries and killing off characters who remind her of some of the people she dealt with during her career. Fictional revenge is sweet. She's using her experience helping friends stage their homes as inspiration for her Laura Bishop mystery series. The first book in the series, Staging is Murder, is about a woman starting a new career as a home stager. Grace is the current vice president of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a member of the SinC Guppies, and Mystery Writers of America. She lives with her husband in Northern Virginia.