|
|
JANUARY - FEBRUARY REVIEWS OSCAR
SEASON
My tenure in tinsel town was with the new kid, TV, but I can still remember the buzz and madness that affected us all. And McNamara’s insider observations paint a humorous, as well as serious, look at the weeks she describes. Protagonist Juliette Greyson is officially listed as PR at the Pinnacle Hotel, residence of the movers and shakers during the hectic weeks before the actual awards night. In fact, she is closer to Number 2 in the organization and in power. Every facet of what is the equivalent of World War II is run by her. The story opens with Juliette
introducing her staff to the glamourous Fanny Pack known as the Oscar Night
Survival Kid: Contents censored
here. We quickly see how she
maintains her great rapport with most of her staff, but concierge Louis is not
her biggest fan. Before
long the bodies start piling up, though in no way do they seem connected.
But when Juliette’s ex-husband, Josh, is murdered, Juliette becomes a
suspect. Even if one isn’t enthralled with filmdom, the machinations required to pamper the rich and famous are a kick to read about. And even if the Oscars don’t make your heart race, this fast-paced book is a fun read.
LACED
Regan and her husband, Jack Reilly,
head of New York’s Major Case Squad, have gone to their ancestral home, While hustling outside, Regan strikes
up a conversation with another American, Sheila O’Shea, who owns an
Irish-themed artifact store in Sheila and her husband, also Jack, have
discovered the superstitious housekeeper, Margaret Rafferty, is a fabulous
artist who incorporates the castle design in each painting.
The only problem is that the design comes from the famous Last, but far from least, are “Jack and Jane Doe,” jewel thieves who have a history with Jack Reilly. They delight in leaving notes for him after each robbery so, of course, they are high on his “must do” list. That is the overview of the story. I often enjoy plots with parallel running stories, especially when situations arise that make you want to yell, “Don’t open that door,” etc. But, for me, that didn’t happen this time. Even when the O’Sheas are trying desperately to gather Margaret’s painting for a heavy handed client, it felt more like Keystone Cops than Sherlock Holmes. However, if you’re in the mood for a light comedy mystery, LACED will do nicely. LEADING
LADY
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER REVIEWS TRASHED Well
this time our Hollywood-based story has a new twist.
Simone
arrives in LA to find her promised job with a prestigious small newspaper has
dissolved with the company. After a
month of disappointments, she answers an ad for a reporter at the tabloid Asteroid
, which is considered by some to be the lowest rung on the ladder. Her first
assignment is dumpster diving with the resident trash picker.
They are to find whatever dirt they can on the current “hottie,”
Emerald. What they find is a single
blood-stained high heel shoe that looks like the mate to the one worn by a
murder victim discovered several weeks previously.
The plot
thickens quickly with the large cast of characters but they mingle nicely.
And a reporter from a competitor becomes her worst best friend along the
way, though they have a hard time trusting each other. The
brutal serial killer has fun stringing her along and suspects come and go. In all,
it is a lively tale, and an insight into a different business than we usually
find in Hollywood-driven tales. TWISTED
JUSTICE TWISTED
JUSTICE is a
well-paced story and has its share of plot twists and turns, but is overwhelmed
with medical jargon and procedures. Our
protagonist is Dr Laura Nelson, a successful surgeon with five children, a
live-in housekeeper and a husband who is a high profile night time news anchor. Coming
home from a hectic emergency, she finds Steve and his co-anchor Kim having sex
in the family room. Despite his
claim this is the first time, and he had only started out trying to offer Kim a
shoulder to cry on as she had been roughed up by her Mafia boyfriend, Laura is
adamant that he leave and she will get a divorce. The
ensuing angst is highlighted by Laura’s refusal to even consider any attempt
at understanding or reconciliation. She throws Steve out, but reluctantly agrees
to let the kids spend some time with him while they are figuring out their
future. One
morning Laura awakens to find Steve has picked the kids up early for an outing
and it goes down hill from there. Unsuccessfully
trying to reach him after too long an interval has gone by, she goes to his
apartment where she finds Kim’s bloodied body lying on the floor with a gun
beside it. Kim is obviously dead,
but Laura still decides to try CPR after touching the gun -- like you didn’t
know that’s what she’d do. Three
guesses who comes on the scene and hauls
her down to jail. The rest
of the plot is Laura trying to prove her innocence, see her kids, find out if
Kim’s boyfriend, Frank Santiago, could be the killer, etc. etc. It is a
good mystery, but there’s too much exposition.
And I often felt like I had walked into intern lecture #101, especially
in the opening six pages. FIFTY-SEVEN
HEAVEN If
you’re a fan of the cozies, this is your cup of tea.
First of all our heroine, Kitty Bloodworth, is middle-aged plus, her
husband Jack has thinning hair and, in general, they are just down home folks
who resent that their car, which has been entered in a big race, has been used
as a repository for a dead body. Said
body in particular being Kitty’s cousin, Will Ann Lloyd.
Kitty didn’t like her when she was alive and resents that her dead body
is screwing up the race. When the
police start looking for the killer, it turns out it’s easy to find people who
wanted Mrs. Obnoxious dead -- friends and family alike. There’s a fair amount
of folks covering up for other folks; toss in a private investigator and a near
fatal car crash and you find the sleepy south is not so sleepy. Speaking
of which, I guess I didn’t realize Southern Illinois, Metropolis in
particular, was pseudo South, but everyone is cousin this and cousin that to the
point that you find yourself yearning for just a simple name without the title.
And if you’ve never been involved in small town Nicely
paced with short chapters and I didn’t figure out who the killer was so
that’s always a plus. |
