Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A Crazy Little Thing Called Death




The Blackbird sisters—Nora, Libby and Emma—tackle their sixth arch mystery (after 2006's Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too) set among Philadelphia's contemporary blue-blooded (and red-handed) set. When former child star Sweet Penny Devine goes missing and is presumed dead, her brother, Porter "Potty" Devine, opts for a memorial party and polo match instead of a funeral, which Nora, a society reporter, covers for a Philadelphia paper. The festivities falter after Nora discovers a severed hand that could be Penny's. Nora, Libby and Emma aid detective Ben Bloom in an investigation whose suspects include Potty; Vivian, Penny's cat-crazy sister; the Devines' former housekeeper's daughter, Julie Huckabee; Julie's missing father, Kell Huckabee; and Crewe Dearborne, a food critic. Sleuthing provides a welcome distraction for Nora, still grieving over a miscarriage and a little nervous about her engagement to Michael Abruzzo, son of a notorious New Jersey mobster.

Once again Nora and her sisters find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation. This time former child star Penny Devine has gone missing (again). Usually Penny reappears after a few months, but now her family is very quick to want her declared dead. Why are they in such a rush this time? And does the hand they find during the celebration have anything to do with it? Trying to find out what happened to Penny is a great distraction for Nora as she continues to grieve for her lost baby while at the same time is nervous about her engagement to Mick. Will they stay together this time?? Nora and her sisters are a hilarious trio who despite everything work well together to find out what happens. While there is a nice twist at the end, this wasn't my favorite of the series (and I do love this series). I would love to see a little more focus on Libby & Emma ~ who seems to have a mysterious side to her. And I think there should be a resolution to the Nora/Mick thing once and for all.

2 comments:

Kaye said...

I just adore the Blackbird clan. Sheer escapism! Laugh out loud funny.

Have a Happy New Year.

Lori's Reading Corner said...

It's one of my top 5 favorite cozy series :)

Happy New Year to you as well!