Theo Bogart is hiding under an assumed name in San Francisco, trying to distance herself from the headline-grabbing tragedy involving her family in England. She runs a bath and lotion shop with flighty Nicole and works with a group of diverse characters in their close-knit neighborhood. Then a series of bizarre and ever-more-threatening events, culminating in murder, bring the police into play, and Theo's false identity and new life seem about to be exposed. There's a whole lot going on here a smuggling operation, a handyman who falls out a window, a body in a compost heap, and, of course, the titular man on the washing machine, who is not at all what he seems. But, then, neither is much of anything in this madcap romp. First-novelist Cox controls the seeming chaos of her plot with finesse, keeping readers in the dark until the very end as to who is involved in what. An impressive debut that makes a natural read-alike for Lisa Lutz's equally zany Spellman series, also set in San Francisco.--Alessio, Amy Copyright 2015 Booklist

Theophania Bogart (not her real name) ran away from a family scandal in London and washed up in the Fabian Gardens neighborhood of San Francisco. Managing Aromas, a charming B&B emporium that she started with her partner Nicole, Theo is getting to know her neighbors. One morning, Theo is horrified to see Tim Callahan, the local handyman and ne'er-do-well loser, fall out of a third-story window to his death. Then Theo is attacked in her building. What is going on? Why has Nicole become so elusive? VERDICT Winner of the Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award, this delightful debut cozy introduces the feisty and intrepid Theo along with a cast of colorful, idiosyncratic San Francisco denizens. Readers of Jacqueline Girdner, Elaine Flinn, or Rebecca M. Hale will be pleased to discover an up-and-coming author to follow. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

English transplant Theophania "Theo" Bogart, the narrator of Cox's delightful debut, runs a small business called Aromas in San Francisco with her new friend, Nicole. Theo has created a family of sorts with nearby residents and business owners, who share a community garden. Among them are a women-chasing doctor, Theo's stiff-upper-lip grandfather, an abused teen, a garden designer, a blundering bookkeeper, an elderly man on a snail-killing rampage, and a mysterious, good-looking man who runs a women's shelter-all well-developed characters, many with secrets and intriguing backstories. It's clear from the get-go that Nicole is up to no good. When painter and petty thief Tim Callahan falls off a roof to his death, it appears to be a case of foul play. Another death follows and is likely related to Tim's. A hearty dash of humor enlivens this complex, multilayered tale, which won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.