![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Book 14, 2015
Feb. 14th, 2015 12:01 pmI brought the book I was reading at work home with me last night and finished it. The book was Death of a Neighborhood Witch by Laura Levine. It's part of her "Jaine Austen" mystery series, although it's the first one I've read. However, I didn't feel like I was floundering to pick up the plot; the author did a wonderful job of writing this so it could be read as a stand-alone.
In the story, Jaine runs afoul of the neighborhood curmudgeon, Cryptessa Muldoon. Okay, the woman's name is actually Eleanor Jenkins, but she once played Cryptessa in a short-lived TV show. Jaine's cat Prozac gets loose and frightens Cryptessa's parakeet to death. Cryptessa threatens to sue.
In the meantime, Jaine has a hunky new neighbor named Peter, whom her best friend Lance is also interested in. Lance swears his gaydar is spot-on, but Jaine thinks Peter has been flirting with her. They make a bet to see who can get a date with Peter. Lance sabotages Jaine at every turn. Not being familiar with the characters from previous books, all I can say is, if my "best" friend did that to me, we'd be former best friends. Luckily for Lance, Jaine is more forgiving than I am.
When Cryptessa is murdered on Halloween by someone in an ape suit, Jaine becomes a prime suspect. Not only did she have a public quarrel with the victim, but she was wearing an ape suit at Peter's party, thanks to Lance's underhanded machinations. While trying to clear her name, Jaine subtly questions other neighbors and learns things about them she wished she never knew.
I adored Jaine. She was clever and witty, and she liked to eat. A gal after my own heart! Lance provided a lot of laughs, even though I wanted to punch him in the face. The plot was engaging and kept me guessing who the killer was. Throughout the book, we get to read the emails that Jaine's parents send her, and those were worth the price of admission, right there.
I will definitely be reading more books in this series.
Five hearts!
♥♥♥♥♥
In the story, Jaine runs afoul of the neighborhood curmudgeon, Cryptessa Muldoon. Okay, the woman's name is actually Eleanor Jenkins, but she once played Cryptessa in a short-lived TV show. Jaine's cat Prozac gets loose and frightens Cryptessa's parakeet to death. Cryptessa threatens to sue.
In the meantime, Jaine has a hunky new neighbor named Peter, whom her best friend Lance is also interested in. Lance swears his gaydar is spot-on, but Jaine thinks Peter has been flirting with her. They make a bet to see who can get a date with Peter. Lance sabotages Jaine at every turn. Not being familiar with the characters from previous books, all I can say is, if my "best" friend did that to me, we'd be former best friends. Luckily for Lance, Jaine is more forgiving than I am.
When Cryptessa is murdered on Halloween by someone in an ape suit, Jaine becomes a prime suspect. Not only did she have a public quarrel with the victim, but she was wearing an ape suit at Peter's party, thanks to Lance's underhanded machinations. While trying to clear her name, Jaine subtly questions other neighbors and learns things about them she wished she never knew.
I adored Jaine. She was clever and witty, and she liked to eat. A gal after my own heart! Lance provided a lot of laughs, even though I wanted to punch him in the face. The plot was engaging and kept me guessing who the killer was. Throughout the book, we get to read the emails that Jaine's parents send her, and those were worth the price of admission, right there.
I will definitely be reading more books in this series.
Five hearts!
♥♥♥♥♥
