Hostile
Makeover
A Crime of Fashion Mystery, No. 3
by Ellen Byerrum
I enjoyed this as a fun, light cozy read that also offered a nostalgic visit to a city and
neighborhood where I once lived, but wanted to like it better than I did. It's a tough
balancing act to keep the right level of the connection between books that is part of what
people look for in a series. I expect some teetering, but this book went way overboard
with continual harping on events and interactions from prior books. The result left me
as a reader with some of the same increasingly annoyed, uncomfortable feeling you get
as the only stranger at a party where conversations are full of references to shared
experiences old and new. I'm also tired of a too common cozy mystery motif that pops up
here: the sophisticated, capable woman who can handle anything except her own family's
insistence on interfering in her life. Sometimes you want to scream "Just say NO!"
Lacey Smithsonian is a former crime reporter transferred against her
will to the fashion column on a Washington DC paper. One of the
best parts of the book is reading her columns, full of humor and
good advice. The switchover doesn't keep her away from crime though,
so when reality TV makeover success turned supermodel Amanda Manville
is looking for help against a stalker, she turns to Lacey. Amanda's
prima donna act is so over the top that Lacey doesn't really
believe she's in danger and besides, she has enough problems with
her am-I-really-related-to-these-people family arriving in response
to her car being stolen, just in time to interfere with a romantic
getaway with the man of her dreams. Whose buxom ex has also just
hit town. But when Lacey is there to see Amanda get killed, she
just has to investigate despite the best efforts of her boss, the
DC police, and of course her family. The result is a fun read with
a lot of quirky characters and non-stop action that I just think
could have been a lot more fun to read.
Reviews of other titles in this series
Hostile
Makeover, No 3
Raiders
of the Lost Corset, No 4
Armed
and Glamorous, No 6
Death
on Heels, No 8
|
The Reviewer |
Kim
Malo |
Reviewed
2005 |
|