Kiki Lowenstein has enough problems without an open-ended visit from her hypercritical mother. Her late husband's former partner--and killer--is determined to get her, too. Dodie, the principal owner of the scrapbooking shop where she is a minority owner, is not only acting distant and cool, but has taken on another partner without so much as telling her beforehand, much less consulting her.

And her new boyfriend's ex-wife, who through him out before Kiki and Det started dating, now blames Kiki as the "home-wrecker" who destroyed her happy life.

So she really, really doesn't need together time with her mother right now. It doesn't get better when Edwina Fitzgerald, one of the leading boosters of the private school Kiki's daughter attends, is shot dead at the school's annual May Day celebration. It gets a little worse when Kiki's mother's "dear friend," Claudia Turrow, shows up unannounced and just moves in with Kiki's mother--who is staying, with Kiki and her daughter Anya, at the home of Kiki's mother-in-law, Sheila Lowenstein.

Trying to figure out who killed Edwina, trying to protect herself from both Bill her husband's killer and Brenda, Det's ex-wife, and coping with the stressful situation at work, Kiki is already near the breaking point when she realizes her mother's "friend" isn't just annoying but likely a thief trying to cheat her mother out of what little of value she has. It's the intricate relationships that keep the plot lively and make this book a great read for a winter afternoon.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
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The story moved along quickly and there were some interesting characters. The ending was very abrupt and a few details left hanging. Over all it was a very good first novel that set the tone and characters for more books in the series. ( )

Kiki Lowenstein is an expert scrapbooker and a wonderful mother, friend and employee. However, she keeps getting involved in murder and mayhem. She is attending daughter Anya's May Day pageant when a sniper kills a respected alum of the exclusive school and also shoots her son in the leg. Thus starts a wild ride that involves fear, heartbreak and a murder.

This book was the one I've been waiting for, Kiki starts to truly stand up for herself, at the same time finds that she really does respect Sheila, her mother-in-law and that Sheila doesn't hate her. There are a whole bunch of loose ends that are tied up in this one, and now the characters can start to move forward.

Ready, Scrap, Shoot is a wonderful story and it is an excellent example of a "cozy", Kiki doesn't go looking for trouble but it seems to find her. Yet, she deals with it like a professional and keeps her self respect and her family safe along the way, as well as keep her business open and running.

I can't wait for the next in the series. ( )

WOW! What a book! I enjoyed this so much. Ms Slan has a real winner here. To me it answered questions but also left me with many more. I can't wait to read the next one, there is going to be a next one, right? ( )

Another fun installment of the misadventures of KiKi Lowenstein.

We get to meet her Mother, find out more about her family, deal with the death of a controlling family matriarch and get more acquainted with the main characters in this scrap booking series. I found the ending a bit abrupt, but then I guess it's more like a TBC in the next book. ( )