• Little Shop of Homicide

  • A Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery, Book 1
  • By: Denise Swanson
  • Narrated by: Maia Guest
  • Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (540 ratings)

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Little Shop of Homicide  By  cover art

Little Shop of Homicide

By: Denise Swanson
Narrated by: Maia Guest
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Publisher's summary

Dev Sinclair is the happy new owner of the old-fashioned shop in her small Missouri town. But if she doesn't focus on finding the killer of her ex's fiance, this five-and-dime owner may find herself serving 25 to life.

©2012 Denise Swanson Stybr (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Little Shop of Homicide

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Definitely not what I expect from Denise Swanson!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I don't know. I have been listening to the Scrumble River series and thought I might also enjoy this. I enjoy mysteries, but this had a lot of throbbing body parts, touches that sent shivers down someone's back, and other things that you don't usually find in a good mystery. Another reviewer was correct when she said it was 1/3 mystery and 2/3 sappy. I think Ms. Swanson may have been trying to make it sexy, but failed miserably.

Has Little Shop of Homicide turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not the cozy mystery genre, but I'm not really sure what genre this belongs to. I definitely will not check to see if there is another book in this series.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment! I enjoyed the Scrumble River series from Denise Swanson and hoped this would be as good. It seems that Denise Swanson is trying to go in a steamier direction.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

If you like mystery you Must read this one

I have not read a book this good in a while. Devereaux Sinclair has moved back to the small town she grew up in to help her grandmother who is sick. She gets pulled into a murder investigation when a gift basket she created is found at the murder scene. The story is realistic and fun. The characters are enjoyable. The dialogue is fun and witty. The mystery was solved at the end of the book by the author and not me. If I could give it 10 stars I would. The only thing I do not like is that I have to wait while for the next book in the series.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

What a disappointment!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I'm not really sure who would like this book. It was about 1/3 mystery and 2/3 sappy, cliched, silly romance. It would be an insult to fans of romances to suggest they would like it.

Has Little Shop of Homicide turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I'm a long-time mystery fan, and it would take more than one book to turn me off to the genre. However, I won't read any more books in this series.

What aspect of Maia Guest’s performance would you have changed?

There was something funny about the way Jake was voiced -- what I suppose was intended to be kind of a sexy whisper.

What character would you cut from Little Shop of Homicide?

Jake (though Devereaux would have had to have some other way of getting access to information about the police investigation).

Any additional comments?

I have enjoyed Swanson's Scrumble River series from the beginning and was looking forward to this one. It's particularly disappointing that this book isn't better because there were some good elements. I actually did like Devereaux quite a bit, at least when she wasn't mooning over Jake. The mystery itself was pretty good, and some of the other characters were entertaining. I feel like it could have been the beginning of another very good series.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fun story - speaker not my favorite.

Would you try another book from Denise Swanson and/or Maia Guest?

I like DS very much and I really wanted to like this one. I just couldn't get past MG's voices. Poppys voice was very hard to listen to. Very manly and why so quiet? The voice of Jake was just silly...is he out of breath? Or is that supposed to sound sexy? I will still read DS but not listen if MG is the narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Little Shop of Homicide?

I enjoyed the scene in the police station after the Grandmother was picked up. Dev is talking to the chief and Grandmother cuts in with a completely with it and snarky comment for the cheif.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Voice were not good.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No because they would propably only use the same five actors that are in any movie :) Plus I like my own interpretation of a story.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I think I would have loved this book... if...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I don't even know how to say this in a nice or not offensive way. The book itself seems to be something I could end up loving enough to follow her entire series. But... The narrator. Oh no, no no no!! Her actual voice is not bad, but all the other voices she tried to take on, range from pretty bad to OMG what was she thinking?!? Poppy sounded like a creepy troll or someone on her death bed. Ick, just horrible.

Would you be willing to try another one of Maia Guest’s performances?

Good grief NO!!!!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Cute easy read

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Cute, easy read. Nice little detective story. I always enjoy these and would recommend.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

More Romance than Mystery

I was looking for an amusing but intriguing mystery. This is not it. It's really a romance novel with a whodunnit as a means to get the two main character together. I am not a romance novel fan so I couldn't make to the end.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing to put it mildly

The story might have been fine, the mystery part was reasonable, but the characters lacked development as if they’d been dropped into the plot as afterthoughts without continuity or grace. The romance parts were so poorly written that I cringed when listening to them. I’m perfectly aware that love scenes can be very difficult to balance between too little and too much. If an author wishes to ‘fade to black’ that’s fine, and if they can be more graphic with polish, I’m ok with that too, but these were neither, and were all absolute clinkers with no rhyme nor reason. If the romance aspect of the book had been less heavy handed, the mystery parts might have held up better, but getting yanked out of the story repeatedly made me sure I won’t want to explore any more of this series again.

The narration was flat and uninteresting, though I’m not sure I blame the narrator since she had so little to work with.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Painful to Get Through

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Those who enjoy VERY light story lines and ... Nothing else nice to say.

Has Little Shop of Homicide turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not the genre. But I won't continue the series or listen to anything else from the narrator.

What didn’t you like about Maia Guest’s performance?

It was awful. All voices other than the main character (which I'm sure is her voice) were terrible. They just sounded like sick/and or long term smoking versions of the main character.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Unfortunately, no.

Any additional comments?

Skip it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Overall enjoyable

What's not to love about a murder mystery, perfect yet imperfect main character and her potential hot new love. Looking forward to the next book.

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2 people found this helpful