My Initial Reaction...
My first thought after finishing Hairspray and Homicide wast that it was way too simple. The characters were simple, the mystery was PAINFULLY obvious, and it didn't have really any of the cute or wacky I've come to expect from my cozies.
The Good...
There was potential there for something really good. Like if the person who did it wasn't obvious - and there was a way to do that. Or if the little bit we did see about the characters were more developed. I know it was a novella, but I still expect some level completeness. Ok, I guess I kind of drifted off to the bad already.... what else? It was very well written grammatically, for the most part.
The Bad...
Hairspray and Homicide needed a lot more development. And to call it a cozy mystery is kind of a joke. When I think of a cozy mystery I think of wacky fun and some level of mystery. And I like to believe that the detective work makes sense. No one - not the cop and not the MC - was asking the right questions. This was detective work at its worst.
And it had elements it really could have exploited to it's fullest potential. A small town setting full of busy bodies. A girl returning home to the small town from the big city. Bad breakup. Cop ex-boyfriend. Scandal and affairs. Yep - all the building blocks were there, they just weren't executed well :/
Concluding Sentiments...
I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I'm glad this was a freebie and I only spent a couple hours on Hairspray and Homicide - it was a real let down.