7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Dangerous Blind Date, April 22, 2006
This review is from: Blind Dates Can Be Murder (Smart Chick Mysteries, Book 2) (Paperback)
It's been six months since household hints expert Jo Tulip was left at the altar on her wedding day. Finally ready to move on, she and some friends sign up for Dates & Mates, a local dating service. On her first date, she is surprised to find her best match isn't tall, dark, and handsome but short, fat, and bald. Not only is he completely unattractive but he's also very creepy. He has a horrid asthma problem and drops dead just after the main course is served.
Jo's best friend Danny Watkins has been waiting for the perfect time to tell Jo about his true feelings. He's only recently figured out that he loves Jo as more then just a friend. But Jo being involved in yet another murder investigation just complicates things.
What neither of them realize is they are truly in danger. Jo's dead date had some pretty unscrupulous business partners who think he gave something to Jo before they died. They are going to be pulled into a case far more dangerous then they ever dreamed they would face.
This book is a great example of romantic suspense. There are few clues to follow and Jo and Danny spend little time attempting to do so, usually turning over anything they figure out to the police. However, the book shifts viewpoints quite regularly, allowing us to know what the bad guys are doing and how it affects our heroes.
Equally important in this book is the romantic storyline. While I'm not a fan of romance books as a rule, I found myself pulled into this plot just as much as the murder. While this plot is certainly more predictable, it's handled well with a nice twist or two to throw things off a little.
Mindy Starns Clark is a master of building suspense, and this book is no exception. While things start with a bang, the suspense just keeps growing until the book becomes impossible to put down. And she leaves us with a cliffhanger on the last page that is sure to make the reader buy the next book as soon as it comes out.
Of course, part of this is because the characters are so good. Jo and Danny are well developed and truly likable; it's easy to root for them. The best character in the book is Lettie, the villain's henchwoman. She is really developed well and I felt myself very conflicted over what I wanted to have happen to her before the story was over.
As mentioned earlier, the story is told from multiple viewpoints, shifting quite regularly. Most of the time, the scenes are a couple of pages or less, which makes the book a little hard to get into. After a few chapters, that's no longer an issue and the story pulls the reader along until the end.
I've now read all of Mrs. Clark's books and loved each one. My only disappointment is that I have to wait until the next one is published to read another one.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Series That Gets Stronger, April 8, 2006
This review is from: Blind Dates Can Be Murder (Smart Chick Mysteries, Book 2) (Paperback)
Although I enjoyed Mindy Starns Clark's debut into the chicklit mystery genre, THE TROUBLE WITH TULIP wasn't as stellar as her previous mysteries. However, I'm happy to say that her second in the Smart Chick series, BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER, definitely surpasses the previous with its witty and very funny take on online dating, identity theft, and murder.
Jo Tulip is a household tip diva who signs up for an online dating service on the advice of her agent as a way of shoring up publicity for her website. However, she doesn't expect her first date to result in murder, kidnapping, stalking, and the break-in of her home. She also doesn't hope to find true love, especially when it comes from a place she least expects. When the owner of a strip club suspects that Jo knows more than she lets on about the murder of her date, he sets woman who is a master of identity theft on Jo's trail and sets in motion a series of events that will result in more murders and endanger Jo and her loved ones.
Told from multiple viewpoints, BLIND DATES delivers a very humorous mystery that explores characters who are never one dimension. The bad guys are never completely bad, and their reasons for doing wrong are often justified in their own heads. Clark also provides a fascinating look into the life of a prison inmate, including the mentality of an ex-con once freed. My one complaint is that Clark ends the novel with a doozy of a twist that ensures that readers will definitely be anxious for the conclusion of the Smart Chick series.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Entertaining Second in the Series, May 20, 2006
This review is from: Blind Dates Can Be Murder (Smart Chick Mysteries, Book 2) (Paperback)
Jo Tulip is at it again, involved in another cozy/whodunit murder mystery. Throw in a complicated love life, the mafia, a make-over crazy friend, a bomb-making ex-con and it's an entertaining read. The characters are just as strong as the first time around and the story keeps you turning pages.
The only thing that I did not like, was that the mystery itself was not easy to solve, unless you knew things that the author didn't reveal to you. The means by which the victim was murdered didn't seem to be large in the investegation; how the murderer obtained and planted the "weapon."
All in all, it was an entertaining read. I look forward to the next book, and more Tips from Tulip. I may even try a few more like the baking soda on the carpet.
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