Review: Wave Goodbye by Lila Dare

St. Elizabeth, Georgia, offers charm, Southern hospitality—and the occasional murder. This time, when a new hair salon tries to steal business, it’s someone’s life that gets cut short…

Violetta’s salon is up in arms. Business is dead. Snippets, a big box haircutting chain, has opened in St. Elizabeth, undercutting prices and luring away loyal customers. Violetta’s daughter, hairdresser Grace Terhune, is shocked to discover that it’s her old high school rival Lisa Butterworth who’s behind the big sweep—and Grace isn’t going to take this sitting down. Snippets’ cold-blooded prized employee is doing wonders with Violetta’s client list. According to Lisa, it’s just business—until a bitter confrontation leaves Grace more than frustrated, and Lisa less than alive. Now Grace is the prime suspect in her rival’s murder. And only her friends at Violetta’s can save her—before the charge proves permanent.

I've never read a series where the authors changed midstream, and while I found Wave Good-bye enjoyable, I didn't enjoy it as much as the three previous books.  I'm not certain if I will continue with the series or not because Grace lost some of her spunky-ness in this novel.  She was content to sit back and let events happen, and I don't believe the Grace Terhune I thought I knew would do that.  (As an aside, this kind of breaks my heart, especially if the original author conceived these characters.)  

Snippets is a chain salon offering steep discounts to St. Elizabeth's residents.  Grace isn't certain whether her mother's salon will be able to compete.  When her old rival, Lisa Butterworth, is killed, Grace decides to investigate, and Marshall John Dillon of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation returns to the scene of the crime.  

I was glad to have Grace and "Marsh" finally confess their love for each other.  They'd been dancing around it for three books.  Again, I didn't find it as rewarding as I had hoped, and I'll give the reasoning to the writing style.  

I was content to bid St. Elizabeth and Violetta's farewell after book 3, but Wave Good-bye was a good way to tie up loose ends leftover from Die Job.