Customer Reviews

Edited to Death

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Edited to Death is a wonderful mystery. I was almost going to say "wonderful first mystery" but that would make it seem less than it is. It's just plain good whether it's a first or tenth book.

The mystery itself is intriguing, complex, and satisfying. And it's got a good contemporary angle. But for my money, it's everything else that makes this book worth reading. The sleuth is sort of like Miss Marple if she had grown up in California in the 60s, went to UC Berkeley or Stanford, married a lawyer, and balanced a part-time career as a writer with being a wife and mother. Maggie Fiori is smart and witty-often too smart and witty for her own good. And she's got flaws, so she's not just out there solving other people's mysteries. I liked her most of the time, but there were times when I wanted to slap her and tell her to just calm down and be nice, instead of being so self-satisfied and pig-headed.

The other characters are all fascinating, especially three women, who don't all have major roles. Peterson has a real eye for detail and idiosyncrasy-as well as over-the-top-ness. An aging opera singer who worries about her "instrument" (her voice), a red-head who seems like she's caught between a Playboy shoot and a film noir, and a really nasty ex-wife (actually, I can't remember whether she's ex- or not). I wouldn't mind seeing more of these three in further mysteries about Maggie Fiori (I assume there will be more).

Finally, if you pay attention to this novel, you learn a hell of a lot of trivia, of all kinds, that's completely fascinating, like what "tete-a-beche" is and why anyone cares.

Edited to Death is a wonderful read and an intriguing mystery. Linda Peterson has created a smart, sassy, and extremely appealing character with Maggie Fiore--someone I wanted to hang out with and who I missed when I wasn't reading the book. The other characters are well delevoped too, and while they're not all necessarily likable, I felt I really got to know them. I was kept in suspense right up until the end...all the complex pieces of the mystery came together with a twist I never expected. I can't wait for Maggie's return in the next installment!

If you can relate to an intelligent, spunky professional woman turned sleuth with a smart mouth, lapses of good judgement and the complications of life with an ice hockey playing lawyer husband, two little boys, dead lover and his male and female playmates and new job as the editor of a San Francisco magazine -- this book is for you. Richly described with lots of estoric references to music, art, literature and medicine, this book is fun for trivia fans and mystery buffs alike. I found myself looking for the next installment of the adverntures of Maggie Fiori the moment I turned the last page.