Retro Reading: The Diva Digs Up the Dirt by Krista Davis
Three Storylines Will Keep You Guessing
In The Diva Digs up the Dirt, Krista Davis has set the tone for a hot late summer mystery when Sophie Winston gets not one but three surprises in the sixth installment of this great series.
First up is the arrival of a mystery woman named Mona. Mona comes by hoping to hire Sophie in an effort to find her long lost daughter. Sophie politely tells her that she's not a qualified private investigator but an event planner.
Sophie's second surprise is the arrival of the reality show, Tear It up with Troy, which Sophie's rival/friend/neighbor Natasha has gotten to build her a garage. Natasha thinks she's doing Sophie a favor but all Sophie wants to do is take a much needed two week vacation.
The last surprise for her is when she goes over to her boyfriend Wolf's house to plant a new rosebush and while digging unearths a purse belonging to Wolf's missing wife. It doesn't look good for him since he's a detective and Mona's son-in-law.
With these three elements Davis winds a great story which also includes a murder and three attempted murders following an event which Sophie has just completed.
What sets this installment apart is the missing woman storyline. It's set up perfectly by introducing Mona as the distraught mother looking for her daughter and not knowing she's Wolf's wife. When Wolf and Sophie started dating it was shortly after his wife disappeared and he told her that she had just disappeared. Little did we know at that time Davis would be plotting a book revolving around the disappearance.
As always, Davis brings comic relief with Natasha since the world revolves around her. She thinks that having the show focus on Sophie will help her get her own television show. In usual Natasha fashion, she basically writes and directs the episode. Of course the show's host, Troy Garner has to come up with tasks to keep her out of his hair.
The attempted murders come in with the Greene family. Patriarch Roscoe Greene has just thrown his annual picnic and introduces his new wife, Mindy, to the crowd. On the day of the picnic a load of manure is delivered compliments of Roscoe's ex wife Olive. There are quite a few suspects here and Davis does an excellent job of tying Wolf's missing wife to the Greene family.
With all of the storylines going on at the same time it would have been easy to get confused but Davis makes smooth transitions. You're always aware of what's going on (except in Natasha's world where there's always drama) and the ending will leave you wanting more.
If there were one thing that I could wish for it would be to be one of Sophie's neighbors. Davis' sense of community makes you wish all neighborhoods were like this.
