Customer Reviews

Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die (Blackbird Sisters Mysteries, No. 4)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The outrageous pink coat that Nora Blackbird is wearing on the front cover of this book really sets the tone perfectly for this hilarious romp. "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die" is all about an innovative new bra design, Nora Blackbird's continuing struggle to make ends meet and make her relationship work with her boyfriend Mick Abbruzzo, and, oh yes, the murder of Nora's boss, the newspaper's high society editor Kitty Keough. Kitty's body is found on Nora's front porch, shot execution style and trussed up with a pair of panty hose, which just happens to be a signature of an Abruzzo family hit. Nora's boyfriend Mick Abruzzo is immediately taken to the police station for questioning, so Nora goes to work to find out who really killed Kitty Keough, and just as importantly, why Kitty was killed. The plot is an excellent one, with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Author Martin's descriptions of the moneyed society families of Philadelphia are great. The resolution of the mystery was well-done and tied the many sub-plots together nicely.

My only reservation about this book is the silly job that Nora's sister Libby has taken, which is selling adult sex toys. There were a few good laughs in the book from this new job, but I though I should mention this sub-plot in case anyone might be offended by this subject.

I'm looking forward to the next story in this series, as the reader is left with several cliffhangers about Nora's future.

I've read other Blackbird Sister mysteries, and this one is the best yet -- full of Nancy Martin's trademark humor. She creates another delightful collection of characters and packs the book with witty observations about the high-society people Nora Blackbird encounters on her way to solving a mystery that's full of surprise twists. This book is pure pleasure.

I thought this was a great little mystery. It had it all - romance, laughs, and a great who done it. It you haven't read this series, get out to your local bookstore or library NOW and start reading!

In "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die," Nancy Martin has taken the "Blackbird Sisters Series" to another level! Her latest installment, which features the often chaotic lives of the three Blackbird Sisters, is filled with Martin's trademark wit and banter dialogues; mystery; innovative plots; and something....new. When you reach the final page in "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die" - you CARE about these characters and what is going to happen in their lives next. Nora, Libby, Emma, Michael, Lexie, and "Killer Dog Spike" - you find that you can't wait to read about the next chapter in their lives.

Martin doesn't disappoint with her play on words when "Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die" centers around "the Brinker Bra" - an invention which turns every woman's physique into the "Jane Russells" of yesteryear. The fashion industry becomes fierce however, when Nora's boss, Kitty Keough - Chief Society Columnist, is "pantyhosed" to death!

Nora has more on her mind, however, than writing a memorial to Kitty, when Michael Abruzzo and his mobster family are implicated in the murder. Between rescuing her two sisters: Libby, who has become the "tupperware porn saleswoman of adult toy products" and Emma who has escaped from rehab to ride bareback as the Brinker Bra's "Lady Godiva" - Nora has her hands full!

This is a series that just keeps getting better with Martin's immaginative plots and multi-dimensional characters. The highest compliment that I can give to her is that when the box arrived from Amazon.com, it contained six new works by six of my favorite authors. Nancy Martin's book was the one I chose FIRST. It was better than every expectation....a great read.

Used to wealth and privilege the Blackbird sisters have to find gainful employment after their parents wasted their trust funds and fled the country to a place that doesn't have an extradition treaty. Nora Blackbird works as an assistant to society editor Kitty Keogh, a relationship filled with antipathy, anger, and jealously on the employer's part because her worker has entry into the high society that closes its doors to her.

Kitty wakes Nora up to have her cover a fashion show featuring the broken bra designed by Brinker Hill, a high society sadist who almost raped Nora's younger sister Emma when they were in school together. Later that night the murdered body of Kitty is delivered to Nora's front door and the police want to pin the crime on Nora's lover Michael, whose family is mafia connected. To clear his name, Nora takes many chances including breaking and entering into Brinker's office where she thinks evidence exists that could clear Michael.

Michael and Nora come from two different worlds but together they make their own filled with love respect and tenderness. When the outside world intrudes, Nora is like a tiger protecting her mate and she is particularly suspicious of Brinker who couldn't invent a paper plane and is suspected of the arson of his comedy club. There are many people who hated the victim but Nora focuses on Brinker and socialite Hemmings Lamb, a submissive with a criminal bent. Both men had their names on Kitty's calendar on the date she was murdered. Nancy Martin has written a sublime who-done-it filled with laughter, heroes and plenty of action.

Harriet Klausner

I have loved the Blackbird sisters' mysteries from book one, and they have only gotten better with time. However, `CROSS YOUR HEART AND HOPE TO DIE' seemed to be lacking something in the mystery department. It seemed as though the plot was pretty clear cut from the beginning and there wasn't much secret as to "who dun it". I must admit that I found my mind wandering a bit at parts which has never happened with any other of the Blackbird mysteries. HOWEVER...what this book was lacking in the mystery department it sure made up for the it the romance department. The romantic tension between Nora Blackbird and Michael "Mick" Abruzzo was hotter than ever. Now that their relationship has moved to the next plateau they now clearly see all of the many obstacles in their path and while Nora is determined to make their relationship work Michael isn't so sure Nora understands exactaly what she's gotten herself into.

The ending of this fourth installment in the Blackbird series actually brought a tear to my eyes and I am anxiously awaiting `HAVE YOUR CAKE AND KILL HIM TOO' to find answers to all of the questions Martin left hanging in the air. Although the mystery fell a little flat this time around, love the series all the same!

If you have been reading the series as I have, you can stop after this book. It is as good as the first three: How to Murder a Millionaire, Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds and Some Like it Leathal. This book runs in the same vein. HOWEVER, from here on out the books are repetitious, the plots are plodding, the sisters lack depth and the romance betweeen Nora and Mick is on in one book, then off in the next and then on again in the next and so on. The characters never develop from now on beyond what they are here. Its like the formula for cozy mystery stagnates in the authors' writing and she doesn't know how to give more substance to either the characters or the mysteries. So enjoy this book, but forget about the rest; Have Your Cake and Kill him Too, A Crazy Little Thing Called Death or Murder Melts in You Mouth.

Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die is the 4th full-length book and the 5th story (including the novella in the Drop Dead Blonde anthology) in the Blackbird Sisters Mystery series.

This episode marks a change in the series, as the murder socialite-turned-society reporter Nora Blackbird has to solve this time is the murder of her boss.

From a fashion show featuring the revolutionary Brinker Bra, which Nora's sister Libby can't remove, to sister Emma hooking up with a washed-up country music star in rehab, to Emma's boyfriend being the prime suspect in the murder, the laughs propel the mystery to its surprising conclusion.

The Good:
The witty banter. It brings to mind the screwball comedy movies and is just pure fun to read.
The characters. Despite the humor, the characters feel real, and are people you can care about.
The change in the series. Very often, mystery series, especially ones with amateur sleuths become stagnant. The murder of Nora's boss makes that less likely--or at least puts it off for a while.

The Bad:
The silliness. You do have to have a tolerance for occasionally over-the-top adult humor. Selling sex toys, a bra you can't remove... if you don't find those things funny, you'll enjoy the book less.

The Verdict:
I'm looking forward to the next book in this fun series.

The Blackbird Sisters only get better with time. Nora Blackbird, an up and coming society page columnist, and friend to every "old name" family in Philly, keeps the Blackbird sisters together. Since this is the 4th book in her series, the characters are pretty fully developed and only makes for a better plot. How Nancy Martin weaves the "old school" of Philly into modern day is mesmermizing. I originally bought the first book, then returned to buy the next one, then the next two. I am waiting for the next one to come out in March of 2006 to see where these characters go. You'll laugh out loud at some point and not realize you do it. The book has charm, a lot of wit, and the characters are believeable, albet a little nutty! And having a murder to solve only makes for a great read. I really like this (new to me) author. I can't wait for more!

This was my first read in the Blackbird Sisters series, and I'm hooked on the premise. Nora Blackbird finds herself in the spotlight when her boss, society columnist Kitty Keough, is found dead on Nora's back porch. When suspicion begins to turn toward Nora's boyfriend, Michael Abruzzo, son of a crime mobster, Nora's in a panic and trying to find the real killer. Meanwhile, sister Emma's escaped from rehab and taken up with a cowpoke. Other sister Libby has a new job selling marital aids.

This was a fun read, although I'm getting a little tired of all these protagonists who wear fashion-designer clothing, along with chick-lit books that drop names throughout. It all seems so cliche-ish. But the sexual tension between Nora and Michael works, Nora's two quirky sisters make this mix that much more interesting, and the mystery fairly good.

I'm going to backtrack now and read the first books in the series and look forward to what's next.