Kate Holmes, author of a number of nonfiction books related to the consignment shop industry, such as Secrets of Successful Retailers and 109 Promotion Ideas Especially for Resale Shops, and a longtime owner of her own consignment shop, has expanded her writing horizon to include mystery fiction, beginning with THE PICKER WHO PERISHED.

Wendy Sam Miller lives in Sarasota, Florida, where she had moved from Up North for early retirement. Despite this, Wendy Sam had un-retired herself and was owner of Too Good To Be Threw, a consignment shop in Sarasota. She had developed close friendships with a group of other women who met each Monday for a Girls Night Out. It was just one such evening that revealed the beginnings of unease between two of Wendy Sam's friends, and before long, one of  them, Ilene the Picker, ends up dead in what seem to be mysterious circumstances..

In the course of the brief police investigation into what was officially labeled an accidental death, Wendy Sam meets Detective Tom Litwin and the two form a friendship of good-natured adversity. Wendy Sam is out to prove her friend was murdered and Litwin ostensibly remains in the picture to help the amateur sleuth. As it turns out, there is a chemistry brewing between these two, and as the story progresses, the sparks fly!

There is lots going on in THE PICKER WHO PERISHED. The reader is introduced not only to Wendy Sam and her friends, but also the resale shop community, herbal medicine, and other unique and interesting vocations. There is also a fair amount of citizens with whom Wendy Sam and friends interact, and of course, the various suspects. The author gives a realistic glimpse into life in Sarasota in both description and action. The foray into consignment shop background proved interesting as well.