In the first novel of her wickedly witty new mystery series, Laura Levine introduces Jaine Austen, a hip, jack-of-all-trades writer who spends her days penning smarmy personal ads and daring declarations of passion — and her nights looking for Mr. Right in Hollywood’s swinging singles scene.
When geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch hires her to write a love letter to Stacy Lawrence, a drop-dead gorgeous aerobics instructor he’s never actually met, Jaine is reluctant at first. But she overcomes her misgivings, warms up her computer, and starts pitching woo on Howard’s behalf.
Then Howard finds Stacy on Valentine’s Day, bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master; and is quickly fingered as the prime suspect. Jaine is determined to clear Howard’s name. After all, if she weren’t so good at her job, the only cops on Howard’s case would be the fashion police.
Before Jaine knows it, she’s become a nosier — and bolder — version of her usual self, flashing her Bloomies charge card in lieu of a press pass and lying her pants off in her quest for the truth. But Jaine had better act quickly, before a crafty killer catches on — and puts a whole new spin on the term “ghost writer.”
Read in April, 2012
Read for Fun!
Overall Rating: 3.75
Story Rating: 3.50
Character Rating: 4.00
First Thought When Finished: What a fun read!
What I Loved: Note to self: don’t write love letters for others unless you want to be in the middle of a very fun mystery. Jaine Austen was such a cute character. She was sassy, fun, and kind of a mess. Her dating life sucks. Her career is a little unusual. Her neighbor is nosy. Her best friend was a total riot. All in all she was just fun to watch stumble through things. She was a hot mess as she tried to figure out how to get a nerdy client that she wrote a love letter for out of jail. It was just downright fun!
What I Liked: The mystery was quirky and fun. Though it wasn’t hard to figure out who was guilty. I find that is pretty much standard in cozy mysteries. It was fun to unravel the case through Jaine’s eyes. There were a few twists and turns with the characters that I thought were really well done.
What made me go huh?: I wanted a little more of the detective in the story though I think we will see more of him in the future. I also wanted more of her best friend–she was a riot!
Final Thought: This is a perfect summer afternoon cozy mystery read!
During her non-reading time you can find her hanging with her rescue furr children named after book characters: Lizzie a beautiful cattle dog mix (Pound Pup), Cinder a beautiful Shep/Pitt mix (Pound Pup), and Minerva a beautiful Shep/Pitt mix (Foster Fail). Gathering with friends and family, attending conventions, watching movies/tv shows, rooting for the 49rs, and crocheting.
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The Jaine Austen title drew me in! I am a big Jane Austen fan…is there a connection? And I love a mystery. I used to be addicted to them. Must look into this one!
This sounds like fun…accidental love letter, nerdy guy. is he hot? Cozy mysteries are fun. I especially like the ones that feature food…then I spend the whole book drooling but somehow reading about good food stops me from eating it weird huh? Sounds like this is a perfect light read.
I am glad you liked the book 🙂 It is not one of my favourites, although I have only read a short story.
It was fun! It was perfect for the mood that I was in 🙂
This looks like a fun read… plus, I totally love the series title, A Jaine Austen Mystery 🙂
I don't think I've ever really tried a cozy mystery… they sound like great reads, though, and it kind of makes me think of Murder She Wrote and I totally loved that show, lol.
Okay, I just downloaded for my kindle 🙂
It was a really fun (and not expensive) cozy mystery. She kind of reminded me of Stephanie Plum. She was that big of a mess.
Always good to have a few pop corn type books. You know they are quick and go down easy. That kind of sound dirtier than pop corn.
I really think that describes this one perfectly 🙂 It was a great escape!
I really have to try a cozy mystery one day 😀
I think you would like them! FUN!
This sounds like a cozy for me! I so need to get this one. Plus you know it also sounded like it could be a part of the snort club too.
It was a great cozy. Plus she was a fun, real woman 🙂
I think I will be adding this to my tbr list! I love the whole cozy mystery genre and this one sounds fun!
It was a fun one! I am going to pick up up more in the series 🙂