Customer Reviews

Black Rubber Dress

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Sam Jones series of suspense novels by Lauren Henderson was recommended to me by an editor at Amazon.com, and I decided to take a chance and purchase the earliest one available (the actual first in the series "Dead White Female", appears to be out of print) as a gift to my 21 year old daughter, who enjoys books with a female protagonist. She liked the book very much, so I read it, and I also enjoyed it. Sam Jones is not the typical female character, but rather an independent, single person who lets nothing stand in her way when she has the scent of a good mystery. The tale is well-told, with a number of interesting characters and minor plots. The mystery is rather straight-forward, but that's all right with me: I'm not engaged in a guessing game with the author, I just like to read the book. Some references to things only known by British readers tends to be puzzling, but I'm sure overseas readers of American books have the same problem. This is well done, and a good diversion for a few hours at any time of year.

I loved Lauren Henderson's book "Black Rubber Dress" but the reader should be aware that the Samantha (Sam) Jones character does induldge in casual sex and casual cocaine use. If you think Janet Evanovich's series with Stephanie Plum is wild, you won't believe Sam Jones!! But Henderson is a very good writer and the action is funny and fast paced. I wanted to read more but her other books are not in print (at least in the US).

Our heroine's name here is *Samantha* Jones, not Bridget...but if Bridget Jones lost her paranoia and self-obsession she might turn into Sam Jones! There's much of the same characterization, concern and compulsion with boyfriends, dating, sex, losing weight, career, etc., transplanted into a hip North London sculptor, and thankfully, it's a lot more entertaining to read. (Brief memo to Helen Fielding: give poor Bridget a *plot* next time!) If you like British mysteries but are turned off by their usual two extremes: the elderly biddy detective solving the murder of the vicar in the tea garden, or the world-weary Birmingham cop battling corruption in his own force...then this is the book, and the character, for you. Sam Jones is a breath of fresh air...a young, confident (mostly), sexy sculptor from Camden Town (no, she's *not* Cockney, as another review here has said!) Definitely an non-traditional mystery series heroine--she sniffs coke, juggles lovers, and takes action to solve a mystery not necessarily out of justice, but rather because it's her sculpture that's crushed a murder victim. The mystery takes a while to get going in the book (the murder doesn't occur until about a third of the way through, and Sam doesn't even really start taking action until two-thirds in)...but I didn't mind because the personalities, scenery, and subplots were so compelling and fun to read about--scandal, blackmail, drugs and murder inside an ultra-exclusive society family and London banking firm rope in Sam, giving her a lover from the privileged side of the tracks. For the Anglophiles there's plenty of London atmosphere from trendy Kensington to hip Camden Town, and this is definitely a character worth watching and checking in on in future Sam Jones mysteries. She reminded me a bit of Stephanie Plum in Janet Evanovich's mysteries...sexy, spunky, sometimes a little out of her depth but always entertaining to watch. Perhaps I'd like to see Lauren Henderson work on having a stronger mystery plot itself in her next book, but if the characters and scene-setting are as entertaining as this one, I'll gladly forgive her that!

I was so baffled by the last two reviews I just had to respond. You'd have to be really ignorant to call Sam, the heroine, a cockney, and she certainly isn't wooly or dishevelled - this is a girl who wears black rubber dresses and hot-pink miniskirts! it seemed to me that the last two people had hardly bothered to read the book at all - maybe they just don't like strong heroines. Well, that's sad for them. I thought Sam was absolutely fabulous and immediately ordered all the other books from the UK. Witty, hilarious, and very tightly-plotted. couldn't recommend it more highly!

I simply couldn't put this down. The plot is very clever and Lauren Henderson really knows London well. Her characters are vivid and really well-observed, they stayed in my mind long after I put the book down. The dialogue is brilliant, very witty and streetwise, and Sam Jones is an amazing creation, like Philip Marlowe's sexy, naughty younger sister. Jet-propelled and firing on all cylinders. I'm just about to order Henderson's other Sam Jones books and I can't wait to read them. She is a major talent - girl power to the max. Do yourself a favour, buy this book now and you can say you read her before she became world-famous. Which she will.

I've known plenty of women with the 'tude and steet smarts of Sam and it was fun seeing them dressing up, talking back and sussing it out. Takes me back to my wild twenties. My only complaint was that the mystery part of the book was pretty predictable. Still, I just finished this book and immediately started looking for the others.

Over drinks at the most recent Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, a fellow mystery writer with whom I had made several Los Angeles appearances, elbowed me and inquired about the identity of the stunning brunette holding court down the bar. I explained that the exuberant woman was Lauren Henderson, the creator of Sam Jones. My friend was not familiar with Ms. Henderson's work so I went on to give him a brief explanation of Lauren Henderson, Sam Jones, and Tart Noir.

BLACK RUBBER DRESS marks the literary debut of Sam Jones--Ms. Henderson's sassy and sexy artist/sleuth. It also marks quite an updating of your traditional British cozy. Actually, it invents a new sub-genre that has become known as Tart Noir. Sam Jones is Miss Marple for our time. She engages in casual sexual and drug use while she winnows a large field of suspects down to the actual killer. This book is a magnificently fun read.

As with all Sam Jones novels, style matters as much as substance. Sam is a true original in mystery fiction. She is a strong, hip, and witty protagonist. Tart Noir is one of the freshest breezes to hit crime fiction in decades, and BLACK RUBBER DRESS is one of the best examples of this sub-genre.

Ignore the reviews from those dullards in Illinois and Connecticut! Lauren Henderson's mysteries are clever, witty and a whole lot of fun. There are not many books that have me chuckling aloud as I read, but Black Rubber Dress and Freeze My Margarita certainly did. I loved those books so much, I went to Bibliofind and hunted down the rest of the Sam Jones series. If you're looking for a fun read and aren't too strait-laced, you'll really enjoy Sam Jones.

I am a fan of the Sam Jones series. All I have to say in response to the reader from Harvard, Illinois who found the book "pointless and boring" is that the same could be said of the reader's town. Lauren Henderson's writing is fresh, energetic and full of witty insights about contemporary metropolitan life. Give it a try.

Sam Jones is a sassy, smart, sexy sculptor who has a penchant for finding herself in the middle of trouble. While wearing the eponymous black rubber dress, she witnesses all kinds of death and mayhem -- and stubbornly vows to get to the bottom of it. Lauren Henderson has created a fresh and original heroine that combines the urban sensibilities of the Bridget Jones ilk (without the looking for love in all the wrong places plot line) with a taut whodunit. A quick, fun read, a good solid mystery, plenty of laughs -- Kinsey Millhone and V.I. Warshawski watch out!