Polished Off

Charlotte LaRue Mystery #3

by Barbara Colley

There's a case of spring-cleaning fever going around New Orleans's historic Garden District, and it's keeping Charlotte LaRue--proprietor of Maid-for-a-Day--plenty busy. Especially when what's supposed to be a simple housecleaning job ends in a grim discovery--and things start to get real dirty real fast...
Charlotte has just about had it with her sister Madeline. She's put up with her simpering sibling's selfish demands and snide comments for years, but when Maddie turns on her own son and his new bride, Charlotte's really steamed. She thinks Daniel and Nadia make a beautiful couple--and Nadia's little boy is just as cute as can be. And now that Nadia's abusive ex-boyfriend seems to be out of the picture--no one's seen the cad in ages--the new family's future looks as bright as a freshly Windex-ed mirror.
But years of polishing, scrubbing, and dusting have taught Charlotte that it's only a matter of time before things get messy. Sure enough, when she pays a visit to a wealthy client's lavish mansion, an urn breaks open--and human bones spill out. A little snooping turns up a driver's license belonging to Nadia's no-good ex. Could the bones be his, too? Before she knows it, Charlotte's up to her elbows in the kind of dirty business that doesn't pay the bills...
"Full of warm southern charm, this one's a good way to fight the winter doldrums."
--"Publishers Weekly"
"Interesting characters and a suspenseful mystery combine for an enjoyable and surprising novel."
--"Romantic Times"

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 2004

About the author

Barbara Colley is an award-winning author whose books have been published in sixteen foreign languages. A native of Louisiana, she lives with her family in a suburb of New Orleans. Besides writing and sharing her stories, she loves strolling through the historical New Orleans French Quarter and Garden District, which inspired the setting for her Charlotte La Rue mystery series.

Reviews

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

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This woman sleuth is intelligent, resourceful, and uses her southern charm to ellicit desireable information. Her exploits in investigating the mysterious bones from the urn were very entertaining.

It is a clean read, stands on its own from the series, and cleans up with an HEA.

It wasn't outstanding, but I really liked it. This series is well worth reading. I highly recommend it.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Polished Off is the third in the Charlotte La Rue Mystery series. I've read the other two recently and so upon reading this book, I found there was so much repetition from the others that I was able to skip over lots in this book. I could say that these books could easily be stand alone novels since repetition seems to be a key factor.

Charlotte has her own cleaning business called Maid-for-a-Day. She cleans homes for wealthy clients in New Orleans's historic Garden District. She is taking her lunch break and talking to Bitsy, her client, when the two workmen who are having problems with the weight of Bitsy's new large urn accidentally drop it and the corner cracks. There's a dead body inside! I have to say, it was pretty easy to figure out who that person was without the police knowing who it was at the time.

There's three characters that make changes in their lives in Polished Off. No give away from me. It's good to see the character's growing.

I've given the other 2 books 3's, but because of the continuous repetition that drove me batty, this book went down to a 2.

There's 8 novels in this series. I'll carry on and read books 4 and 5 that are sitting in my bookcase, but I won't be going out of my way to read the last 3.

[Miriam Roush · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cozy mystery with a perky older heroine who cleans houses and solves murders. Although I did not start reading from the beginning of the series, I did enjoy this third offering, “Polished Off.” There were a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing. However, one detail was missing in the end that made the story seem unfinished to me as an animal lover. What happened to Patsy’s dog after what happened to Patsy? Since Patsy had no family and the dog was ill, I was hoping there would be some clue as to what happened. Maybe someone else read something that I missed, but this omission was a letdown for me.

[Melissa Howard]

Surely after a divorce you'd have child support and alimony. File for SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, all that good stuff. Shame on you for slamming your sister after she worked herself to the bone to provide for you and your children. I guess that was the point of the character though.

[Kenla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was probably the best book so far in the series. Charlotte is beginning to figure out she can't always trust everyone. So, a good read with lots of excitement and twists!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars the characters had weak motivations and the mystery was far leads interesting than the characters

[Lain · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first in the "Charlotte LaRue" mystery series for me. While I typically reach for books with younger sleuths, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Charlotte has a lot of moxie for a gal of her age! :) However, she can fall into the "I'm set in my ways, so deal with it" trap -- coming across as a crotchety old busybody at times, even though it's clear from her work schedule that she's anything but old and decrepit.

I really enjoyed Barbara Colley's take on New Orleans, one of my favorite cities in the world. I would have liked the setting to play an even larger part in the story, seeing as it's such an amazing, unique place. It could almost serve as another character if done right (a la Anne Rice).

I have to admit that the plot turns left me a bit in the dust as the story made hairpin turn after hairpin turn in the last few chapters. Too much happening. Mystery writers need to learn that most readers pick up series mysteries for the characters, not for the plot! You don't have to wow me with your ability to spin an intricate web -- just make me fall in love with your characters and I'm yours for life.

While I'm not dedicated enough to go back and read all the Charlotte LaRue books from the beginning, I definitely wouldn't pass up a chance to read another.

[Lynne Tull · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, just when I thought I was through with cleaning houses, the ending grabbed me. I guess I'll try another one. I admit that I skipped a lot of the book to get to the point. Some of the actions of the heroine were "stupid". I have a hard time with "stupid". I started reading this series because I like mysteries, especially soft ones, and I am from Louisiana and was interested in the New Orleans setting. So far, there has not been much "setting". It all takes place in the St. Charles area and doesn't venture much past that area. I am hoping the author ventures out of that area. I can't say that I am liking this series, but I am definitely hooked.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third of the Charlotte LaRue Mysteries and probably the last one that I'll read. It's an okay story, with okay characters, but there is just too much repetition from book to book for me to be interested long term in the series. From someone who will read an author's ENTIRE bibliography, that's saying a lot.

[Michael crage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book of the Charlotte Larue series. Interesting premise, very will written, a surprise ending, but not supported by the rest of the book. I very much enjoyed it.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another mystery. Nothing special.

[Suzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Charlotte LaRue.

[Marianthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was hard to get into

[Trudy Nye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing southern cozy set in New Orleans, featuring amateur sleuth/maid Charlotte LaRue.