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Murder Of A Sleeping Beauty
Denise Swanson Book Review

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Plot Summary of Murder Of A Sleeping Beauty
"

Signet, April 2002, 5.99, 272 pp.
ISBN 0451205480

    When Skye Denison was the valedictorian of her graduating high school class, she made an inflammatory speech. She implied that she was too good for her backwater town and couldn't wait to start the good life in a big city. Two years ago, Skye returned home, broke, out of work and without a place to hang her hat. Eating crow, she accepted a position as the district school psychologist thanks to the influence of her Uncle Charles.

    Since she moved back, she solved two murder cases and lost two boyfriends (the sheriff and the coroner) because she refused to heed their advice and quit sleuthing. Murder is the last thing on her mind when she enters the high school gym and finds the body of a dead girl. The victim is the most beautiful and popular girl in school, one who was going to play Sleeping Beauty in the school play. When it becomes obvious the girl was murdered, Skye starts snooping once again determined that she, as an insider of the school system, could find out things the police can't obtain.

    Denise Swanson has written another charming amateur sleuth tale that takes the readers into the complete and often vicious world of beauty pageants. There are so many suspects who would have liked to see the victim dead that the protagonist is working double time checking out all the suspects. MURDER OF A SLEEPING BEAUTY is a winner by anyone's standards.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Murder Of A Sleeping Beauty
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - very humorous
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Murder of certain profession? - students/teachers
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in small town
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - psychiatrist
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - deluded - mentally ill - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Murder Of A Sleeping Beauty
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Deadly Diamonds by Pamela Troutman
Unauthorized Departure by Maureen O'Brien
Till The End of Tom by Gillian Roberts


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