Customer Reviews

Freeze My Margarita: A Sam Jones Novel

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

 

 

The characters are all clever and amusing artistic and creative people. None of them ever has parents or children or siblings or money troubles. If you don't mind those limitations it's an entertaining read. Where was Violet the week she was late? They find out she wasn't in Goa and then the issue disappears. Maybe I should reread. But it's not the sort of book you go back to reread. Light and sexy and enjoyable. Another mystery is what happened to the other Amazon reader reviews. Reading them made me buy the book but now they're not there. Some raved and some panned.

Lauren has produced another entertaining read. Sam Jones has yet again found herself in the mitts of a mystery. She meets up with an old friend who asks her to think about making some piece of art for a performance of Midnight Summer's Dream. She agrees and everything from love, death and odd diet control techniques follow. This book would have been a 5 if it hadn't covered the production aspects of a play so much. I really didn't enjoy that bit. Otherwise, another fun read from Lauren Henderson! And if you finish the book you will understand the title.

Sam Jones is back! The busty, vibrant, outrageous and unapologetic heroine of "Black Rubber Dress" (think Kelly Brook with a talent for art, and for witty repartee, for that matter) tackles a series of murders threatening to shut down a off-West End production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Sculptor Sam's producing elaborate sculpture mobiles for the play, but you know her involvement in the production will include sleuth as well. The London setting, slang, and wild characters all contribute to the contemporary, modern mood of the mystery, and this is definitely a heroine-detective for the 21st century. The casual sex and casual drug use we saw Sam indulge in during "Black Rubber Dress" is present but *much* understated in "Freeze"-enough to make her an unorthodox and wild character, not so much that we wonder how she manages to get through ordinary day-to-day life. And *no*, she's *not* a dominatrix, as another reviewer suggests. Although the book opens with Sam in a d/s bar, it's clear she's a bit out of her element (although always willing to try anything!).

As always, the personalities shine more than the mystery, which takes a definite back seat to such characters as stage diva Violet, and Sam's newest lust interest, the flamboyant `is-he-or-isn't-he' Hugo. (Answer: he isn't, as Sam finds out, much to her pleasure). As I did with "Black Rubber Dress," I wished the mystery itself was more developed and less of a casual background to develop characters. Perhaps taking Sam out of her familiar London and into the art scene of New York will add a few twists in her third mystery, "The Strawberry Tattoo," coming this fall.

For those who think British mysteries must be either hardboiled police procedurals set in Manchester or `Oh dear, the vicar's been murdered in the drawing room during tea time,' try this series: definitely unorthodox, reflecting the young urban London of today, with a great heroine, sharply drawn supporting cast, and sprightly realistic dialogue. Like Sam itself, this mystery is vibrant, flirtatious, witty, and above all, fun.

Lauren Henderson improves as a writer with each new book. This one is better written than the last, with wittier dialogue and crisper characterizations. Also, there is a lot of insider-type information about how a theater production is put together. The mystery is well done, with the required red herrings and obvious suspects who turn out not to be so obvious in the end. It held my interest throughout, which is what I require of a mystery story. I'm looking forward to "The Strawberry Tattoo", which should be out shortly.

I was a big fan of Black Rubber Dress and I'm an even bigger fan of Freeze My Margarita. Lauren Henderson focuses a sharp eye on the theatrical world and from my experience, gets it just right. If you like strong heroines who don't take guff from anyone, you'll like Sam Jones.

The second Sam Jones novel is wonderful and even better than the first. Sam wants men who are good in bed, don't ask questions, are sardonic and have a great bodies. She likes a nice ass, 6 pack abs and a big "organ". She is delightful.

Almost a half of the novel is not dealing with murder at all but detailing Sam's luscious view of the world of theatre. In a fetish bar, Sam meets an old friend from design school who is now working on designing the set for a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. Sally (a very gay Italian with a theek accent) convinces her that her mobiles would be great as the forest and look like chandeliers for the indoor scenes.

Sam goes to work making her mobiles at the theatre and is introduced to the cast and crew. Melanie Marsh (MM) is the director and she is talented, focused and never raises her voice. She will direct a smashing play that gets rave reviews and makes the career of many of the actors. Hugo is Oberon and when we first meet him we are sure he is a hunk, but gay. It turns out he is not, but playing the part to annoy another member of the cast who he dislikes and who dislikes him. He has been chatting up Sam and she is attracted to his wry humor, quick wit and 6 pack abs. When he drops his towel in front of her and stands there naked, she understands he is not gay and their relationship begins. Hugo is so much the type Sam loves, she is starting to get mushy about him and feels jealousy! Sam jealous?!

The wit is wonderful as this brief excerpt will attest: there is a heavy conversation and then a pause after something weighty is said. "'God,' Hugo drawled at last, I've always avoided doing Pinter and now I know why.'" You have to know about the Pinter pauses to get this, and if you do, it is great fun.

I suspect that like me, once you start this series it will be hard to stop.

Silly fun for the beach. Suspend your disbelief and you'll enjoy it. the characters are very Lite and Henderson keeps to the silly side of life, so we never see any deeper humanity or darker hues to the characters, but it's fun and the English slang is delightful.

This book wasn't nearly as good as the previous one in the series, Black Rubber Dress. I had high expectations after reading that and was looking forward to this next novel but I was somewhat disappointed. The action was somewhat confusing also. The problem was with the characters, I think. There are far too many of them, every single actor in the play and all the surrounding people, and they all (the minor actors especially) blended into one another. I had a hard time keeping the characters (and by that I mean the characters in the book as well as the characters in the play in the book and the actors playing the roles) separate and trying to remember who was who.

The best! Makes you want to buy a blender and start making your own margaritas and party til the morning time!

Clothes...clothes and more clothes, haute couture name-dropping, ensembles, accessories, jodhpurs, faille and chenille...endless descriptions of character's clothes!...Argh! The off-white, off-the-shoulder, and off-the rack nattering just drove me off-my-rocker in this book!

OK, I didn't hate this book. It was OK. But it was very, very lightweight, and didn't click for me. With a little more silliness, it could have been a 'daahling!' parody of a mystery novel, or going the other way, it could have been genuinely scary.
But the characters are mostly airheads, and there's too much focus on theater production and hardly any attention to the actual murder--everybody's too busy vocal training, having meetings, emoting, gossipping or--grr!--changing their darling clothes to make room for any serious plot. There was a lot of entertaining talk, but no suspense whatsoever, and the murder weapon was so boring it was downright nerdy. Sam Jones dissappointed me...she's likeable enough, gets off some sarcastic lines, but she doesn't do any thinking or detecting. She's just kind of...there. In her ever-changing clothes. And the last line of the book, which was apparently supposed to be a witty zinger, just left me thinking: "...Huh?" Maybe it's some obscure double-entendre, but it feels like Henderson just didn't know how to end the book.

Overall, I would have liked more parody or more horror, or both, for Sam Jones to get her hands dirty with more than steel filings, and for most of the silly actors in theis book to rent a brain.

And I dare Ms. Henderson to write a book set in a nudist colony.