While Salome is away, a new neighbor moves into her Washington DC enclave. Duncan Mah is not exactly a welcome addition to the neighborhood, especially when he tears up a prized rose bed for more parking and raises the monthly rate on a common garage. Salome is willing to give Mah a chance to be neighborly, however, especially when she learns that he runs a Chinese import business, a business that might carry many tools of Salome's trade.

Salome's attentions are taken from her work when prominent decorator Simon Snow is found murdered, possibly with a Ghanaian linguist staff that has been stolen from her friend. While Simon wasn't the most pleasant of people to work for or with, Salome still can't imagine why anyone would want him dead. Rather than taking the advice of her house sitter, ex-cop Judah, Salome can't help but poke her nose in some places it doesn't belong, into someone's business that would rather not be noticed.

Positioned to Die is an entertaining mystery, but at times a little unfocused. Salome is very spiritual, but sometimes comes across as being vague as she doesn't share what she is thinking, making her hard to understand. She is very spirited and likable, though sometimes she can be a bit of an elitist about her feng shui business. Her friend and house sitter Judah tries his best to watch out for Salome, but he has some of his own demons with his ex-wife to work out.

Duncan Mah appears to be the prime suspect, though not enough credence is given to him as a suspect. His suspicious ways end with an interesting twist that helps tie up some loose ends, though it may answer more questions than there were. The subplot of Salome's interest in murder houses is mostly forgotten during the main plot of the story, picked up again after Simon Snow's murder is solved. She does connect the two houses and manages to solve two more murders, but it somehow seems a bit out of place.

Positioned to Die is a fast, if not entirely absorbing, read with an unusual occupation for the heroine. Feng shui tips sprinkled liberally through out the book are interesting and may have readers looking around their favorite reading spot to see how it might be more conducive to solving mysteries.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry