MURDER OF A BEAUTY SHOP QUEEN finds Dan Rhodes, sheriff of Blacklin County at The Beauty Shack in Clearview, Texas to investigate the death of Lynn Ashton. She was a hairdresser at the Shack and it seems her late evening appointment didn't go so well. Complicating the investigation is the fact that Miss Lynn Ashton was known to "date" a number of men and not necessarily those who were available. This leaves Sheriff Dan with some well-known suspects and their wives to wade through.

Adding to the duties that fall in the sheriff's lap are a a spate of car batteries and catalytic converters stolen from the local community college branch and copper pipes and tubing thefts. A couple of squatters are found in the abandoned hotel across from the Shack and it's wondered if they might have killed poor Lynn and stolen her missing purse. There are also problems with the Blacklin County Environmental Reclamation Center, where he chases the two squatters and finds there is more to the place than it having a fancy name for a junkyard.

Using his deputies, Ruth Grady, the youngest deputy in the county but the best qualified and Buddy known for his over eagerness, the sheriff works to solve the murder of Lynn Ashton. A short time after the first there's a second murder. Jeff Tyler, who owned an antique store close to the Shack, is found by the sheriff when he goes to question him about Lynn. Sheriff Dan believes the two deaths, though the methods were different, may be connected. It takes everything and everyone, and a fair amount of Dr. Pepper to solve the murders but in the end justice prevails.

MURDER OF A BEAUTY SHOP QUEEN is a well written mystery with lots of good humor and eccentric characters. The badly declining town has a fair amount of old timers who have lived there all their lives and know everyone and everything; politicians who don't wear suits but Hawaiian shirts and math teacher, Seepy Benton, who also considers himself a member of the sheriff's department, a singer at the local barbecue place and dating Deputy Ruth. The most solid support comes from wife Ivy who understands the sheriff and still loves him. This book is one of a series but stands alone and gets you interested in what else the good sheriff, the department and the people of Blacklin County has to offer.

Book Summary

Dan Rhodes, sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas, is called to the Beauty Shack, where the young and pretty Lynn Ashton has been found dead, bashed over the head with a hairdryer. The owner said Lynn had gone to the salon late to meet an unknown client. There was a lot of gossip going on about Lynn before her death, but no one seems to really know much about her, or they’re not telling Rhodes.

Lynn was known to flirt, and it’s possible an angry wife or jilted lover had something to do with her death. The salon owner suspects two outsiders who have been staying in an abandoned building across the street. While he investigates the murder, Rhodes must also deal with the theft of copper and car batteries, not to mention a pregnant nanny goat that is terrorizing the town.

Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen is a wonderful entry in this always delightful series by award-winning author Bill Crider.