Maid for Murder

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Whether it's dusting, vacuuming, or sweeping secrets under the rug, Charlotte La Rue is making a tidy success of her New Orleans Garden District cleaning service by catering to the whims of the District's elite -- even if it means cleaning up a murder!

Publishers Weekly

Amateur sleuth Charlotte La Rue will dust her way into readers' hearts in this auspicious debut of a new cozy series. Fifty-nine-year-old Charlotte runs a successful maid-for-a-day business, and many of her clients reside in the exclusive, historic Garden District of New Orleans. Single mother to a successful, handsome young doctor, and with a parakeet named Sweety Boy to keep her company, Charlotte has a straightforward, simple life. That is, until she hears that the dead body of one of her employers, Jackson Dubuisson, has been found in his study. Charlotte has worked for the family for many years. Though she has done her best to keep a professional distance, she can't help feeling sympathy for the widow, Jeanne, left to deal with an invalid mother and a stricken daughter. With Jeanne behaving in an increasingly guilty manner, and finding herself privy to numerous family secrets she'd rather not know, Charlotte realizes that for once she may not be able to mind her own business. Her own niece, Judith Monroe, is one of the homicide cops on the case, and Charlotte is believably torn by the conflicts of duty to the police and the best interests of her long-time client. Cleaning up messes, whether personal or professional, is what Charlotte has done most of her life; with Charlotte La Rue, Colley has created a sensible, likable sleuth whom readers will want to put on a long-term contract. Agent, Evan Marshall. (Feb. 5) Forecast: With supportive blurbs from such cozy queens as Laurien Berenson, Joanne Fluke and Shelley Freydont, plus an eye-catching jacket that dares to put a mop at its center, this first novel should get off to a strong start. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Charlotte La Rue cleans houses in New Orleans, often in the wealthy Garden District. Having become friendly with Jeanne Dubuisson, who cares for an elderly mother, Charlotte tries to help out after someone kills Jeanne's well-known (but philandering) attorney husband. Unfortunately, his death echoes the unsolved murder of Jeanne's father some 15 years previously. Charlotte does a little sleuthing on her own, taking a few tips from a detective niece. A nice, homey first effort, though the hired-help-as-friend situation stretches thin at times. For larger collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The living's not so easy for 60-ish Charlotte LaRue, owner of Maid-for-a-Day cleaning service. Not only does she have to ride herd on reliable employees like Nadia Wilson, who can be counted on to take off every time her no-account boyfriend Ricco Martinez gets thrown into jail, but she herself cleans the stately mansions of two of the richest and most finicky families in New Orleans' posh Garden District. Of course, Bitsy Duhe isn't a problem; except for her shameless love of gossip and her affinity for kitchen gadgets, she's basically a tidy housekeeper. But it's another story at the Dubuissons' place. This Greek Revival mansion is not only huge, it seems plagued by misfortune. Twenty years ago Andrew St. Martin was killed there shortly after his daughter Jeanne's marriage to powerful attorney Jackson Dubuisson, and now Jackson spends every minute at work, except for the minutes he steals to flirt with his partner Tony Marriott's wife Sydney, leaving Jeanne alone to care for her bedridden mother Clarice. But when Jackson too is killed by an intruder, Jeanne trusts no one more than Charlotte to comfort her in her time of need. And Charlotte-to the double dismay of her niece, police detective Judith Monroe, and Judith's surly partner, Louis Thibodeaux-must scour the landscape to bring a killer to justice.