loved it! ( )

This is the first book in the Yellow Rose Mystery series. Abby is described as being "out of school, out of work, and out of motivation."

When the book opens, her gardener Ben approaches Abby and tells her that he needs to tell her and her sister Kate (her fraternal twin) something, but he wants to wait until Kate comes home so he'll only have to tell the story once. He seems really nervous and agitated, but Abby can't convince him to spill the beans early.

Abby takes a nap, but when she wakes up, Ben is dead. Since she was the only other person at the house at the time, Abby quickly becomes the primary suspect. Since she has no job (and no prospects), she begins to do her own digging, especially when she discovers that Ben wasn't actually Ben. It seems that he was there for ulterior motives, and he may have been involved in another murder. Abby in convinced that things are not what they seem, and she is determined to get to the bottom of things, even if the police are dragging their feet.

The other characters are her aforementioned sister; they were both adopted as babies by their late father. Steve, Abby's ex-husband, is still hung up on Abby and is determined to make her see that he's changed, no matter what it takes. And their aunt meddles in their lives as much as Abby meddles in the police investigation.

It all makes for an entertaining read, a great mystery, and wonderful cosy. I didn't figure out the culprit until Abby did, which is always satisfying, and the subplot was great. Sweeney's sense of humour is great, and she infuses her Southern charm into the characters with just the right touch without going overboard. ( )

Pick Your Poison is the first in a cozy series featuring Abby Rose, a divorced and unemployed young Texas heiress. Three months after their adoptive father's death, Abby and her grad student sister, Kate, are still living in his large Houston home. One afternoon, the gardener, Ben, approaches Abby to let her know that he has something to tell the sisters after Kate gets home. The three never get the chance to talk. While Abby sleeps by the pool, someone poisons Ben in the greenhouse, leaving his body for Abby to discover. Abby's search for Ben's family leads to a series of investigations and endangers her own life.

I never really connected with Abby. She seems more stubborn than smart, and she was often unnecessarily rude to just about everyone except her sister. There were several connected mysteries, and most resolved predictably. As is often the case in first novels, there were a few too many coincidences.

This is the sort of book for light lunch hour or travel reading. ( )

http://printedpage.blogspot.com/2008/01/pick-your-poison-by-leann-sweeney.html ( )

Out of school, out of work, and out of motivation, Abby Rose is contemplating her life and wondering what to do next. It's the kind of situation that would get some girls down, but luckily Abby's got a heart the size of Texas-and a bank account to match. But when she discovers the gardener dead in her greenhouse, Abby realizes what she needs to do with herself...she needs to solve a murder... ( )