Mini Monroe works in a bookstore and lives with her mother, but that doesn’t mean she’s a mild Minnie Mouse. In fact, she’s smart and sassy — and she needs to be to negotiate the complexities of the relationships in the bookstore. Owner Colin has multiple ex-wives and daughters, plenty of quirky long-time customers, and over-the-top staff members, plus sundry friends and connections who keep in touch for love or money.
Mini’s friends and family are quirky and complicated, too. When some of them happen upon a corpse in the doorway of the bookstore in the wee hours of the morning, Detective Maus is on the case.
The handsome detective’s name is Michael and he goes by “Mickey.” The appalling irony of this, and the difficulty it creates for Mini as she gets romantically involved with Mickey, seems to go unnoticed by the stalwart sleuth, but it occupies a lot of Mini’s attention.
Can they solve the crime without implicating any of Mini’s favorite people? Can Mickey resist Mini’s wilder ideas well enough to avoid getting thrown off the force? Can Mini avoid being done in before she decides whether she could stand to be part of a couple called Mini and Mickey Maus? You’ll have fun finding out.
The book is funny and sharp, written with a light hand and an eye for detail. The characters are so much fun that we’re hoping to see them again soon.