Hide and Snoop

“It’s nice to read a book in which the heroine is not obsessed over body image. Odelia . . . is happy, healthy, in love—and utterly charming.”

Series protagonist Odelia Grey is a funny, loyal, smart, plus-size paralegal.

The recession has hit her law firm hard, and a recent merger has not fixed the problems. Her workload has fallen, and it looks like soon there will be two employees for one paralegal job.

Odelia’s boss Erica Mayfield clearly prefers the other paralegal. And to add insult to injury, she saddles Odelia with babysitting Lily, her three-year-old niece. Attorneys aren’t known for being warm and fuzzy, but when Erica takes off and leaves Odelia with the kid, she’s hit a new low.

How does your job look now?

Sue Ann Jaffarian knows how to write, and Hide and Snoop is a fine addition to the series. Tension, humor, and plot movement are three hard balls to juggle, but there are some really great scenes in the book. Flashbacks can be tiresome, but not in this book. On the first page Odelia is in the police station being questioned about being found over a dead body.

Unfortunately, the body is Lily’s mother’s.

It does help to read the series in order when it comes to some of the great, well-rounded secondary characters who are further fleshed out here: Odelia’s husband Greg, her best friend Zee, and let’s not forget a couple of felons who always prove ever-so-helpful.

One of the felons invites her to a spa to share information. The spa scene is also very nicely written, the juxtaposition of relaxing in the steam room while being told very bad news is a scene well thought out, funny, and scary.

It’s nice to read a book in which the heroine is not obsessed over body image. Odelia eats well and is happy, healthy, in love—and utterly charming.

Not a bad place to be after all.