cover image RX for Murder

RX for Murder

Renee B. Horowitz. Avon Books, $5.5 (209pp) ISBN 978-0-380-78619-0

The sweet earnestness of middle-aged narrator Ruthie Kantor Morris makes this an appealing if unexciting cozy. Ruthie manages the pharmacy at a supermarket in Scottsdale, Ariz. After two years as a widow, she is beginning to think about men again. Starring in her fantasies is a customer who dies suddenly after mixing his over-the-counter decongestant with either his prescription for hair restoration or his formula for potency enhancement (he recently married a much younger woman). As Ruthie investigates what turns out to be murder, mystery-genre coincidence joins romance cliche as an old flame shows up, just in time to be another suspect. Bland but believable characters and workplace atmosphere join with slow-paced predictability to make this a good choice for bedtime reading. (Jan.)