Editorial Content for The Man on the Washing Machine

Theophania Bogart is a woman with a Past. After the scandal that destroyed her family and left her unable to continue her wealthy-party-girl-about-town ways, Theo eventually fled London for the other side of the world. San Francisco, with its sometimes eccentric population and its tendency toward earthquakes, feels very foreign to Theo, but that’s fine by her. At least nobody here knows about her torrid past, and she’s free to make a fresh start.

Which is exactly what she’s done, buying a multi-unit building in an up-and-coming neighborhood called Fabian Gardens and opening Aromas, a boutique specializing in natural bath and body products. Theo’s occasional frustrations with her business partner, Nicole, might drive her crazy, but she’s thriving in her new life, surrounded by good friends and neighbors who all share the charming private garden that gives the little neighborhood its name.

"...a more-than-worthwhile read. Theo is an appealingly flawed heroine, and the cast of characters that populate Fabian Gardens is entertaining as well."

But all that charm is about to be tarnished when an acquaintance of Theo’s falls out a window and into the garden to his death. Did he fall --- or was he pushed? And if it’s the latter, who might have reason to kill him? As she begins to ask her own questions about the incident, Theo learns that a lot of people wanted him dead, particularly after she discovers a startling intruder in her own laundry room shortly after the original death.

As the clues (and the bodies) start piling up, Theo contemplates who in her new neighborhood she can really trust, especially as she begins to have feelings for her newest neighbor, whose arrival seems curiously (and perhaps suspiciously) timed with these troubling incidents. And, of course, Theo knows (even if her new friends don’t) that she herself has a hidden past --- and if she has secrets, could lies be lurking in everyone else’s closets as well?

Susan Cox’s debut novel has already won a couple of prestigious first mystery awards, and it hits just the right balance of suspense, humor and romance that will appeal to many readers. Ultimately, the story is a little more complicated than it absolutely needs to be, and Theo’s hidden history is, in the end, not as relevant either to the plot or to her character as the exposition would lead the reader to believe. Perhaps any sequels will continue to probe that aspect of Theo’s psyche --- and THE MAN ON THE WASHING MACHINE is still a more-than-worthwhile read. Theo is an appealingly flawed heroine, and the cast of characters that populate Fabian Gardens is entertaining as well.

Cox essentially transplants the English country-house mystery to modern-day San Francisco, with all of its quirks. Readers will not soon forget this little corner of the city --- or the secrets that lurk in its attics and compost heaps.