Who knew? Liz McCall is not thrilled when her boyfriend Police Chief Ken Young introduces her to his estranged wife Marya. The model-quality Russian immigrant, back in East Aurora to rekindle their romance, will be working as a hairstylist at the barber shop next door to Well Played, the toyshop Liz manages for her dad. When Marya offers to help with the shop’s doll rehab project, Liz can’t help but offer up only a weak smile, but her secret hesitations are for naught when Marya’s body is discovered in the barber shop with a hair dryer cord wrapped around her neck.
Liz’s dad, retired from the police force, is asked to investigate since Ken is the prime suspect.The whole town is abuzz with the scandal and Liz has a few questions of her own, wanting nothing more than to forget the loud argument she overheard between Marya and Ken the night before. There could have been other motives… Was Marya going to cut into a competing hairstylist business? Who is the bumbling private investigator hanging around and why won’t he explain himself?
All eyes are on Liz, including those of an odd matryoshka doll in the shop which seems to move of its own accord, to unravel this entertaining riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma that is Death of a Russian Doll, the third jolly Vintage Toy Shop mystery from Barbara Early.
Liz is not happy, just as things seemed to be going well with the Police Chief Ken Young (and by well that means romantically) his unknown, estranged wife arrives and it seems she wants to get back together with Ken, so romance is off again between them, so Liz tries to avoid the both of them, but it is tricky to avoid Marya as she not only works next door at the barber/hairdressers but she also has joined the team of ladies fixing up broken dolls, which will then be gifts for under privileged children.
Liz then overhears part of a humdinger of an argument between Ken and Marya, the problem that then arises is that Marya is found murdered and Ken is the prime suspect. Liz doesn't believe he could have done it, but with Ken suspended pending the investigation and Hank (Liz's father) drafted back as Police Chief, Liz has a lot on her plate – oh and she hopes to pitch the doll rehab charity to a local firm for backing, and ends up going out with the son (and current person in charge of the charity decisions), she also has been invited out by Mark (the FBI investigative accountant), could life get any more complicated … well YES but you need to read it to find out how and why grin.
NB I was lucky enough to get an advance copy from NetGalley.
Crafts and Life 
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