With her recent inheritance of a home and a fortune, Roe Teagarden has had an opportunity to change careers. With recent staffing cuts at the local library meant her hours being limited to just part-time. She wants something more and figured it would be natural to follow in her mother's footsteps in real estate and goes into a pseudo-apprenticeship.

With her mother running behind schedule Roe, meets up with a wealthy gentleman named Martin Bartell and his sister, both looking to move to the area. They are going to be taking a look at the largest house in towns. The siblings seem to be really liking what they see ... that is until they find a quirk in the master bedroom: the semi-clad, posed body of Tonia Lee Greenhouse. Tonia is an agent for a competing real estate firm in town.

Tonia is known around town for being friendly with the guys, to put it nicely. This quickly leads people to conclude that she might have been murdered by an ex, but people start getting their doubts when the body count starts to rise and all of the victims (and suspects are tied to the real estate community in town.

As Roe finds herself being drawn deeper into the mystery, she also finds herself falling in love with Martin. Her romance with the minister crumbled when it became clear she would not make the best minister's wife and he met someone who would be. The combination of her romance with Martin and the search for the murderers sweeps the reader up and races towards another near death conclusion for the unlikely detective.

I have really been enjoying the Aurora Teagarden series. This is the third volume, and it continues with the comfortable "cozy" format. The characters are rich and interesting, with many of the regulars familiar to readers of the earlier two books.

While I enjoy the book, I didn't enjoy it as much as the earlier two books. I felt that it was a little rushed. A number of characters, such as Martin's sister, seem to pop in and serve absolutely no purpose ... not even as a red herring.

Roe's relationship with Martin seems a bit rushed. It is presented at love at first sight, but it seems more like a one-night-stand that never ends. As a result, it is hard to believe her dedication to him and her willingness to resist people's accusations about Martin. Roe is quickly turning into the James Bond of cozies, with a new man in every book.

All-in-all, though, I am definitely going to be looking forward to reading the next book in the series.