★★★☆☆
Shampoo and Condition is book two in M.L. Ortega’s cozy mystery series, Conditions.
When her estranged sister-in-law drops dead while getting her hair shampooed at the salon, Maggie Chessman gets involved in the investigation when her brother becomes a suspect.
The characters, especially Maggie and her best friend Jane, are fun, and the premise grabbed my attention from the beginning. However, the plot got a bit convoluted for my taste. There was a lot of verbiage dedicated to how a certain type of real estate worked that bogged the story down.
I was also thrown off a little by the fact that one of the main characters was named Jack McCoy. As a serious Law and Order fan, having a character share a name with one of the lead characters in that show was distracting.
I didn’t read the first book in the series but I thought this worked well as a stand-alone. I was able to get a sense of the characters and didn’t feel lost even though I missed the first book.
I liked Maggie enough that I would consider reading another book in the series. I was also surprised by the ending, which is always nice when reading a cozy mystery story.
Thank you to the author for providing a free e-review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily, and it reflects my honest opinion.