This story was so much fun! Summer Butler is a young lady who at one time was a popular teenage star. She has since hit rock bottom and is trying so hard not to lose it all. Her next big chance is reality TV.

She returns home to Sweet Briar, Alabama where she is set up to solve cases with her family member for the cameras. Not all the locals are glad she is back. Some like police chief Luke Montgomery and other family members are still on the outs with Summer.

All this drama adds to the story and when Summer finds a real dead body things go to a whole new level.
As always the author mixes all the right elements for the perfect book!

Summer Butler is an immediately likable and relatable main character. Although, she hasn't been dealt the best hand in her past, she isn't jaded (at least not as much as I would be) and she trudges forward with her life. The plot is fast moving, but still manages to keep you guessing until the end. There is also an underlying mystery with her cousin that peeked my interest and has the possibility to surface later. I look forward to seeing more in this series.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Deadly Summer by Denise Grover Swank a five-star read that will have you wanting to keep looking for more. This is the first book in the Darling Investigations series and I’m a huge fan of the author already having read several of her books already, but this one brings a freshness to it, it’s got hints of the Rose Gardner Mystery series. But it takes it to the next level Summer Butler is a woman who may just be my favourite character ever written, she is funny and despite having some of the worst luck imaginable she manages to come out on top and I think that’s because she a fighter and despite being nearly bankrupt and betrayed and hurt by those who are supposed to love her the most she hasn’t given up.
Summer wouldn’t fight for herself but family is something that she would fight for even if they wouldn’t fight for her. When faced with a hard choice Summer has to choose - give up the last crumbs of dignity she has, or go back to her home town Sweet Briar. Summer left it behind years ago to become a famous teenage TV sleuth and now she must reprise that old role that led to her downfall as America’s Darling. So, with the help of reality TV Darling Investigations is born and with the help of her cousin Dixie Belle Baumgartner they set about making a show and showing Summer that life isn’t what she thinks and sometimes the people left behind don’t feel the way you think they do.
There is also some steamy and sweet moments with the one that Summer had to leave behind, the teenage boy she had a summer romance with Luke Montgomery he is no longer the boy she left behind with a broken heart he is now the Police Chief of Sweet Briar and struggling between the headache he faces when the reality TV show hits his town and the sweet joy he feels when he sees his first love once again, but that first love brings the bitter as well as the sweet.
Denise Grover Swank has written a great story, the story line is well plotted and flows so well, the characters are all great and even the background characters have a great depth to them and you want to see more of them. Bring on the next set of investigations please I can’t wait.

I have received this early ARC for a honest review. Denise has again wrote another great Mystery. Poor Summer she can't catch a brake. Coming home to a place with more questions then answers. She really needs to prove herself. When the town drunk comes up dead she is the one that wants to find out what is going on in town. There where so many people that could have done it. I was surprised with how many people you could pin the murder to. Being from a small town I can so relate to the social media being the way to get all the information and everyone talks to and about everyone. The funny twist are always welcome. I am glad with how this book turned out. I am sure the next one will be even better. I will recommend this book to friends as a new book they need to pick up. I found it took a few chapters to get into the book. But with a new series that happens. I also liked Dixie sometimes more then Summer. That is why I went down a star.