Hush Money

In T.E. Woods's Hush Money, the first installment in the Hush Money mystery series, this debut would take you into the nitty-gritty world of cutthroat politics. Sydney Richardson is the proud owner of two restauants, Hush Money and Ten-Ten. At the night of the grand opening, it became a hit became the Madison crowd, except for the Mayor's wife who made a scene. And someone had killed Mayor Millerman on the same night. When Sydney's server and friend Wanda "Windy" Fields is found concussed with blood on her hands, she became the prime suspect of the Mayor's murder. As Sydney took care of business with a world-renowned chef, it was up to Sydney to help her friend out and hire Andrew Conyer to represent her.  While the evidence looked grim in Windy's favor of guilt, she did her best to put together the pieces of who wanted to kill the mayor, she learned more secrets of dirty politics on what he may be loved in Madison, some people had an ax to grind with him. She had growing feelings for Clay Hawthorne, a  pub that houses jazz music, and became curious on the identity of her birth parents. When they had gotten closer to the truth of the mayor's dirty secrets, things got dicey when someone shot at her and at her best friend Veronica. As Sydney put things together, she couldn't believe who was it all along and right under her nose with a twisted ending.

This was a great debut from T.E. Woods. I instally cared for Sydney and how she managed to handle two restaurants and to take care of a crisis on her doorstep. I did think her mother and Veronica were a hoot, while I did think Roland was a bit hot-headed like Gordon Ramsey. I did like her with laid-back Clay, though I can see a possible love triangle between them and Rick, the K-9 cop. I did love the vivid locations of the Madison scene with gripping scenes from the restaurants to Sydney's home. This fast-paced paced turner will make you shake your head, grimace and groan, gasp and sigh at every twisted turn. This has non-stop action, suspense, intrigue, and a dollop of romance.

Will you stop by Hush Money today?