Customer Reviews

Death of a Trophy Wife (Jaine Austen Mysteries)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

When Jaine accepts an invitation to brunch from her neighbor Lance, she meets Bunny Cooper, the young, beautiful, and spoiled wife of the Mattress King, a local mattress chain. When Bunny finds out that Jaine is a writer, she offers to recommend her to her husband, who just happens to be looking for a new advertising campaign. Desperate for cash, Jaine agrees, but her pitch meeting keeps getting postponed until Bunny dies at her own party.

Meanwhile, Jaine is fighting off the advances of Vladimir, her e-mail order groom from Uzbekistan, who shows up to win her hand in marriage. And her dad has decided to start cooking everything. Oh yeah, and the police zero in on Lance as their prime suspect. With her neighbor sure he's going to be carted off any day, Jaine begins questioning suspects, hoping to find the killer. Can she clear Lance?

These books are always a blend of the comic and the mystery. I must admit here I found the comedic sub-plots more engaging than the main mystery. While it did have some nice twists, it was a bit on the formulaic side.

But oh the comic sub-plots and scenes. Lance really plays a large part here, and I loved him. I laughed so hard at some of Vladimir's scenes. And Jaine gets a classic of her own as well. Of course, there are the fake conversations Jaine has with her cat as well.

All this humor makes for another fun, fast read. Jaine has yet to disappoint, and her fans will find this book is no exception.

Most of my reading involves historical mysteries and unsolved crimes. Much of history (as well as current events,) is grim and disturbing. That's why every reunion with the funny, intriguing, and intelligent Jaine Austen is an event to celebrate.

For anyone who is lonely, unhappy, or whose brain requires some exercise through complex puzzle solving, or anyone who simply enjoys pleasant, lively company, the whole Jaine Austen mystery series is the perfect solution. Not only does the author create hilarious, interesting situations, she has an uncanny ability to depict the relationship between people and the cats who own them. (This Prozac is an addiction that doesn't even require a prescription.) In any case, the book is worth buying just for the lessons Jaine teaches us all in How Not to Steal a Mattress Sample. (With an extra-credit tutorial: Destroying Bathrooms For Dummies.)

Levine often refers to the late, great P.G. Wodehouse. I can only add that since Plum writes no more, I'm glad we still have this author on the job.

Another very funny Jaine Austen caper



I liked both the comedy parts and the mystery. Especially loved Vladimir Ivan Trotsky, the guy from Uzbekistan who tries to make Jaine fall in love with him with his bad love poems. Thought it was another very funny entry in the series. (And the killer came as a surprise, which is always a plus for me.)

I must confess that I am a certified mystery novel snob. I had tried several lighter novels written by other authors and had come away very dissatisfied. When I was investigating this book the name Jaine Austen was the first thing that jumped right up and grabbed me. Granted, the spelling of the first name is different, but it certainly made me curious. Plus the information on her biography page stating that Levine had worked on so many of the sitcoms I really enjoyed made my decision easy. I am so very glad that I took a chance on reading this book by Laura Levine. It was humorous, delightful, well written and a real hoot!

Jaine is suffering from that old debilitating malady of not enough bucks in the checking account. She needs an infusion of cash real quick to stop the flow of outgo with no income. The Toiletmaster account has rather dried up. When her duplex neighbor Lance offers to take her to Sunday Brunch at the Four Seasons she accepts eagerly. Make that very eagerly because the most interesting thing in her refrigerator is a jar of martini olives. While they are lunching Lance meets his most extravagant customer from the designer shoe department at Neiman Marcus and Lance and Jaine find themselves invited to a pool party. From there can a shot at the advertising account for Marvin Cooper, the Marvelous Mattress King be far behind? Things are moving along pretty well until murder happens right in the middle of Bunny Cooper's Dirty Martini party.

I liked the lead character here. Jaine is one of those heroines most of us can relate to. She's got to work for a living, she isn't totally tuned in to the latest fashion issues and she loves to eat all the wrong foods. What's not to love? Vladimir Ivan Trotsky shows up all the way from Uzbekistan to propose (this time in person) and convince Jaine to marry him and go back to Uzbekistan to live forever with his family and his goat Svetlana. The author must have had great fun writing the love poems from Vlad. The e-mails from Jaine's parents in Tampa Vistas are absolutely wonderful. Mom is addicted to the shopping channel and Dad finds a real bargain on an infomercial - with disastrous results. And on top of all this, the mystery is actually quite well plotted and Jaine's investigation proceeds at a really nice pace. I enjoyed this book very much and can't wait to look for more in this series. I see that there are quite a few available so I'm ready to jump back into the Jaine Austen world of California girl does private investigations. Hilarious results guaranteed.

Normally, I don't read books like this (I'm more of a Stephen King kind of gal) but this one was unexpectedly entertaining and the price tag certainly didn't hurt. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author.

Los Angeles freelance writer Jaine Austen accompanies her friend Neiman Marcus shoe guru Lance to the Beverly Hills estate of "Marvelous Marv, the Mattress King" as the man's wife is his best customer. However, Bunny is nasty to everyone including Jaine, but soon after sipping her martini she falls to the ground dead.

Someone put cyanide in Bunny's martini. Since the queen of mean was universally loathed, there are plenty of suspects. However, the Beverly Hills police hone in on Lance who has an additional motive. He inherits the victim's $175,000 Maserati. Jaine knows Lance would not kill a major customer so having success in solving homicides before (see Killer Cruise); she investigates and finds several viable suspects amidst the extended family members.

This is a wild over the top of the Sierras amateur sleuth who-dome-it as the eccentric cast brings to life Los Angeles with an amusing spin. Jaine dodges the marital demands of Uzbekistani Vladimir Ivan Trotsky, which is amusing but takes the reader away from her investigation. Still fans will enjoy Jaine's latest whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

This is my first attempt at reading this author and reading a humorous suspense novel. I usually don't go out of my way to read humorous suspense novels, but got this for my Kindle. This was a fun, light read. The suspense and homor were incorporated quite well. I even found myself laughing out loud at some of the antics of the protagonist. Now, I will be more open minded for this genre.

This book was funny and I found myself laughing out loud. The characters are likeable and the story moves quickly.
In my opinion, this writer reminds me of Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum character.
I definitely would recommend this book and look forward to reading more in this series.

This book is so funny I found myself laughing out loud like a crazy person. The main character is a single woman living in a duplex with her cat. Her next door neighbor is a gay fashion buyer for a swanky department store who constantly nags her on her wardrobe choices. He invites her to a party thrown by a rich customer. When the hostessw is murdered at her own party and her neighbor is accused of murder, she begins snooping to find the killer. The author throws in amusing feline observations, and the character's relationship with her parents and her pesky gay neighbor add to the comedy. I could have done with less of the emails from her parents, but if you skip them, you aren't missing any of the main plot. Great summer laughing material.

I liked this book, it was good at keeping you interested, her humor is always a plus. It was light and not bogged down with too many characters.