Devereaux’s Dime Store Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Devereaux's Dime Store Mysteries Books

Devereaux’s Dime Store Mysteries is the story of Devereaux Sinclair, and Book number one in this series is called “Little Shop of Homicide”. In this story, Devereaux quits her well paying job in the city and returns to her hometown to open an old-fashioned dime store. Apart from offering merchandise, the store has a lunch counter and soda fountain. To supplement her income, she offers gift baskets, which provide her with a steady income.

Unfortunately, one of the gift baskets gets her entangled in a mysterious murder because her fingerprints were all over the scene of the crime. A high heel and champagne bottle were found with her fingerprints at the scene of crime, and these two items came from a gift basket that she had prepared a few days before. So this discovery makes her the prime suspect in the murder and she has to prove her innocence.

We also find a Kansas City police officer who lost his savings in a pyramid scheme that involved Devereaux’s former boss. He is gunning for her and is constantly harassing her because she is the only suspect on his radar. To clear her name, Devereaux seeks the help of her neighbor’s grandnephew and her best friends Poppy and Boone. She also enlists the help of her neighbor Jake Del Vecchio, who is a US Marshall, and he has just arrived in town to recover from some injuries. His striking good looks also don’t go unnoticed with Devereaux, and this will prove to be the start of a love triangle involving her, Jake and Noah.

It seems like Del Vecchio’s uncle and Devereaux’s grandmother are longtime friends, and so he is encouraged to assist her in clearing her name. However, there’s a problem because Jake is a stud and Devereaux finds it hard to concentrate on her quest to find the killer. She needs to be careful and concentrate on the task at hand otherwise if she keeps on daydreaming about Jake, she’ll find herself in jail instead of sitting behind the counter of her five-and-dime store. If you would like to find out what happens next, you’d better grab your copy of Little Shop of Homicide, which is the first book in the Devereaux’s Dime Store Mysteries.

The second book in this series is called Nickeled-and-Dimed to Death. This is a continuation of Devereaux’s story and here we find her store continuing to do well but her love life is now in turmoil. She finds herself torn between her ex-boyfriend Noah Underwood who’s a local doctor born in a wealthy family, and the Deputy US Marshal Jake Del Vecchio, who’s now gone undercover for his next assignment. So she’s happy when she gets a wonderful deal from Elsie Witmore, who offers her some ancient chocolate molds to put in the gift baskets she’s offering for the Easter holiday.

The deal may actually turn out to be a bad one because these chocolate molds might actually be belonging to Elsie’s husband, whom she’s about to divorce. Therefore Devereaux may commit a felony by going through with the deal. The mystery deepens after Elsie has been found dead, and Devereaux’s good pal Boone, who found the body, gets arrested. With assistance from her other friends, Devereaux must clear Boone of the murder charge and find out who actually did the killing. The good thing is that Devereaux has proven herself to be one of the best armature sleuths.

Another murder mystery confronts Devereaux and she also has to deal with her feelings for Noah. A few steamy kisses are exchanged between the two but it seems like Noah never gets to third base. The murder mystery is also turning out to be a dicey one and solving it will not be easy. The story is fast paced and you can’t wait to turn the next page to keep up with the drama. Twists and turns are just around the corner and this is easily one of the best mystery novels in the Devereaux’s Dime Store Mysteries.

When you consider Devereaux and Noah, it appears like they are destined to remain just good friends and nothing more. Their relationship just doesn’t have that sizzle that is required for them to take it to the next level. The mystery is thrilling because there are many suspects being bandied about. There’s also a surprise twist in the tale that will keep the reader guessing. When you read Nickeled-and-Dimed to Death, you find that it is 90 percent romance and 10 percent murder mystery. The best thing about this second novel is the fact that the characters now start to have more depth, and you can actually see real people in these characters.

Devereaux’s grandma and her friends are not that thrilled to see Noah back in her life. That’s because he was mean towards her and so everyone has a grudge towards him. He is trying to rekindle their romance and Devereaux appears ready to pardon him. However, her friends would rather see her with Jake, but unfortunately, he is spending too much time away on duty with his employer, who is also his ex-wife. How about that for a bit of romantic tension?

The author has done a good job with this second book by giving it a good twist and connecting all the novels in the series. The dialogues in the story are fantastic, and the Devereaux’s character is likeable, just like her grandma. We discover that Devereaux’s father has been imprisoned for a crime he maintains he didn’t commit. So she has to deal with some people in the town who have wrong attitudes.

The book also packs humor and following Devereaux and her friends as they try to solve the murder mystery will prove to be great fun reading. If you want to find out if the actual killer will be found, you should grab your copy of Nickeled-and Dimed to Death, which is book number two in the Devereaux’s Dime Store Mysteries. If you read this book and find out whether the actual killer is found out, you can also look forward to more novels in this outstanding series.