โ Scribed by Levine, Laura
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
SUMMARY:
With no job or date in sight, freelance writer Jaine Austen jumps at the chance to have brunch at the Four Seasons with her friend Lance. They've barely made it through the menu when Lance spots his friend Bunny, dressed like a million bucks and probably worth a lot more, since she's Marv Cooper's new trophy wife. When Bunny offers Jaine a job writing Marv's new advertising campaign, she accepts both the job and an invitation to an upcoming party. At the soiree, Jaine observes the society girl abusing everyone from the terrified staff to her browbeaten husband. And before the night is over, someone has poisoned the dreadful diva. When the police arrest Lance, Jaine knows without a doubt that they've got the wrong guy, so she sets off to clear his name on her own. But the list of suspects is a mile long and Jaine is running out of time.
At the start of Levine's zany eighth Jaine Austen mystery (after 2009's Killer Cruise), the L.A. freelance writer and snoop extraordinaire accompanies her Neiman Marcus shoe salesman friend, Lance, to a party at the lavish Beverly Hills estate of Marvelous Marv, the Mattress King. Marv's obnoxious trophy wife, Bunny, is one of Lance's best customers. When Bunny dies after drinking a cyanide-laced martini, the LAPD's discovery that Bunny left a $175,000 Maserati to Lance in her will makes him a primo suspect in her murder. Jaine's search for the real killer turns up a host of suspects, including Ellen, Marv's disgruntled first wife; Sarah, Marv's brainy professor daughter, who totally hated her stepmother; and Sarah's unfaithful husband, Owen (aka the Nerdy Son-in-Law). A silly subplot involving Vladimir Ivan Trotsky from Uzbekistan, who's obsessed with marrying Jaine, distracts from the main action, but series fans will find Jaine as funny as ever. (May)
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Freelance writer Jaine Austen is moving on up! A cushy new advertising gig promises champagne wishes and caviar dreams, but Jaine soon discovers she's not the only one in town who's making a killing...Without a job or a date in sight, Jaine is equally out of luck in finance and romance. So when her friend Lance offers to treat her to brunch at the Four Seasons, Jaine leaps at the chance like a fashionista at a pair of half-price Louboutins. They've barely made it through the menu when Lance spots his friend Bunny. Dressed like a million bucks - and probably worth twice that - Bunny is the new trophy wife of mattress maven Marvin Cooper. When Bunny generously offers Jaine a gig writing Marv's new advertising campaign, Jaine accepts the job, and an invitation to her upcoming soiree. But at the party Bunny cruelly rules the Cooper mansion with a fist full of martinis, abusing terrified staff and her browbeaten husband alike. It seems like this society girl could use a good kick in the assets. Indeed, before the evening is over, someone poisons the D-cup diva. Dead must be the new black. The police arrest Lance, but Jaine knows his murderous urges end at her closet door. She sets out to clear his name and discovers a list of suspects longer than Bunny's credit card bill. Did Mattress Marv get tired of his little bunny hopping into another man's bed, or did a jealous boy-toy fix her a fatal cocktail? Marv's ex-wife Ellen has plenty of motives for murder, as does Bunny's harassed maid Lupe. Or was it Bunny's seething stepdaughter who sent her to that Great Shopping Mall in the Sky? Jaine is running out of time. Jobless, Lance is losing his mind and taking it out on Jaine's apartment, wardrobe, and indignant cat Prozac. And before Jaine can say 9021Oh-no someone else is murdered. Between a house guest that won't leave, a suitor-turned-stalker, and killer on the loose, Jaine's jackpot may turn out to be fool's gold.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
Freelance writer Jaine Austen is moving on up! A cushy new advertising gig promises champagne wishes and caviar dreams, but Jaine soon discovers she's not the only one in town who's making a killing. . . Without a job or a date in sight, Jaine is equally out of luck in finance and romance. So when