Laura Levine
Killer Blonde (2004)
Author: Laura Levine
Genre (and subgenre): Mystery (Amateur Detective)
Plot Summary:
Freelance writer Jaine Austen is hired by SueEllen Kingsley, a society dame, to ghostwrite a memoir. Austen ensconces herself with the Kingsley clan, bonding with SueEllen’s stepdaughter, Heidi. Less than a week later, SueEllen is found floating facedown in her bathtub, electrocuted with a hairdryer. Heidi is accused of murder and Austen decides to start investigating. Heidi claims she saw a blonde in the house the day of the murder, which begins a hunt that turns of a number of blondes and blonde wigs. Austen bumbles around. There is humor in her inept attempts to interrogate the suspects. Austen’s manners anger a number of characters, which makes it difficult for the reader to sort out whether the character is inherently bad or just acting out from the insults. After Austen convinces the police that a cross-dressing man in a wig threw the hairdryer in SueEllen’s tub, the real killer comes to gun down Austen in her apartment. A zany showdown occurs where Austen grapples with killer naked and ends up sitting on her. At which point Austen’s blind date arrives and expresses his desire to join in their kinky game.
Geographical Setting: Los Anglos, California
Time Period: Current.
Series: Yes. This is the third in a series starring Jaine Austen. 1st = This Pen for Hire, 2nd = Last Writes
Appeal Characteristics:
Narrator directs asides to reader. Breaks in story to communicate with parents via email, creating a second story among the three characters. Narrator eats a lot of takeout and sweets while complaining about her size, but she never specifies her exact size (which could alienate readers). There are lots of unpleasant characters that could be the murderer. One point that might work as an appeal or detraction is that the narrator does not give the reader enough information to solve the murder, as the she does not have enough clues herself. The reader may dislike the surprise ending if the point for reading mysteries is to solve the case first. This mystery is the farthest thing from a Jane Austen book, though the author attempts to attract readers with the association. There are obvious jokes and puns about Austen’s name, titles, and some characters, but it is a shallow connection and not a direct read-a-like.
Read-alikes: Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries. Diane Mott Davidson for the food lovers. Joan Hess’s Arly Hanks Mysteries, Carl Hiassen, Kinky Friedman, Jill Churchill, M.C. Beaton, and Sparkle Hayter's Revenge of the Cootie Girls.
Red Flags: graphic descriptions of nudity and sexual references.
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