ETERNALLY 21

Murder at a local mall disrupts the already harried routine of the wife of a local TV star and author of a savings blog.

Maddie Michaels, known to the world as the Mrs. to Mr. Frank Finance, feels buried under her husband’s secret. Frank, who plays a financial guru on TV, has lost all the family’s savings in a Ponzi scheme. So now Maddie is moonlighting as Mrs. Frugalicious, the author of a bargaining blog. Although Mrs. Frugalicious is loud and proud about her extreme couponing, Maddie has to keep her identity secret, even from her family. Things get all the more awkward when Maddie is mistakenly picked up for shoplifting by malcontent manager Laila DeSimone while bargain-hunting at the trendy teenage store Eternally 21. When Maddie returns for her sale items, Laila shockingly dies right on the sales floor. When she hears that she’s on the suspect list for what the police assume is murder—so much for keeping a low profile—Maddie is highly motivated to team up with Griff, the mall cop, to find out who could be behind Laila’s death. Since she knows she’s not the culprit, Maddie figures it must be one of the mall regulars, all of whom seem to have their reasons for wanting Laila dead and gone, even though they do tend to blend together in her mind.

Sprinkling her tale with true, if variably useful tips concerning deals and steals, Hull offers a mystery for the 40-something set with all the drama of the 20-something crowd.