Taken to the Cleaners

by Dolores Johnson

Book Overview

When Betty the Bag Lady brings in a Dyer's Cleaners bag stuffed with a bloody suit, it doesn't take long for Mandy Dyer, the owner, to start wondering which of her clients may have been murdered, or worse, which of them may be a murderer. She soon learns it could be both when a high-priced lawyer is found bludgeoned to death in his office at a local law firm that Mandy handles for cleaning. Even though she turns the suit over to the police and finds...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568654278
• ISBN13: 9781568654270
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Unique setting for a "cozy"

The Mandy Dyer Mystery series is set in a dry cleaning establishment, a unique place for a "cozy". Mandy has inherited the cleaners from her uncle, which is fortunate since she has had to make her own way in the world since her divorce. She has befriended Betty, the local bag lady, who often stops by for a doughnut which Mandy gladly supplies. One day, however, Betty brings Mandy a suit in a bag which she has found in the garbage down the street. What neither Betty nor Mandy realize is that it is a blood-covered suit with knife tears in it. By the time Mandy discovers this, Betty has left and Mandy fears that the person connected to the crime might try to harm the bag lady. Mandy then tries to find Betty while solving the mystery of the bloody suit. This is an enjoyable and well-written book, with likeable characters and it inspires me to want to read the rest of the series.

Enjoyable

This was a fun book, even though there is a point at which the killer becomes obvious - usually that annoys me, but the story was flowing along so well, I didn't mind this time. It created some anticipation for that big moment when Mandy would figure it all out at the worst possible time. Good, likeable characters right down to the cat and look forward to reading more of the series.

A fun read!

A likeable cast of characters and a swiftly-moving plot make for an entertaining read. My only complaint is that I figured out the solution a little too early on... I would rather have had to work a bit more. Still, it was great fun and I'm online right now to see what else is available in the series - I'm going to get them all! Looking forward to reading more Mandy Dyer mysteries.

Refreshing voice and setting

I read a lot of 'cozy' mysteries. TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS was an excellent debut in this genre. The setting is unusual and Mandy Dyer (the lead character) had an interesting voice. I'll definitely order HUNG UP TO DRY.

Interesting mysterywith a woman who has real life problems

Mandy Dryer is a complicated character, she has real life problems and situations. The mystery is solvable (before Mandy solves it) not one of those "done by someone who is only mentioned once in passing". The plot has some other characters that sound true to life including a cat that HATES everyone except the one person who hates cats, which sounds like a normal cat to me.