Let's Face the Music and Die [Hardcover]

Sandra Scoppettone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

Lesbian private investigator Lauren Laurano embarks on her fourth case in this popular series, taking her from the city streets to cyberspace in defense of a friend who stands accused of murdering her elderly aunt.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hangin' with Lauren would make an apt subtitle for Scoppettone's (My Sweet Untraceable You) latest engaging entry in her series starring Manhattan PI Lauren Laurano. The central tension in this tale occurs mainly in Lauren's personal life, and many of the story's pleasures lie in what we learn about this heroine's life as hunter (tracking a murderer), as hunted (tracked by a horror from her past) and as lover (uneasily straying from monogamy's narrow straits). Lauren's friend Elissa is the prime suspect in the stabbing death of her widowed aunt, Ruth Cohen. Police like the fact that Elissa inherits Ruthie's millions. If she's the murderer or she herself dies in the very near future, the money goes to a mysterious cousin whom neither Elissa nor Ruthie had ever met. Lauren is distracted in her investigation by her faltering long-term relationship with her lesbian lover, Kip Adams, and by the lures of another woman. She must also cope with the immediate dangers posed by Charlie West, who raped and left her for dead years ago. Now out of prison, Charlie lets Lauren know-by phoning, e-mailing her and trashing her office-that he's back to repeat, and this time finish, the job. Madman Charlie raises the suspense marginally (does anyone imagine he'll succeed?), but Scoppettone fans will most appreciate the chance to know game and complex Lauren better; a deft touch is the closing cliffhanger as Kip surprises Lauren in an awkward moment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Scoppettone scores big time with the latest Lauren Laurano mystery, which is that rarity, a serious, multilayered novel of crime that recalls Graham Greene's Third Man and Brighton Rock, with their questioned allegiances, notions of personal honor, and possibilities for redemption. In it, Scoppettone ponders the slippery slopes of fidelity, honesty, and integrity at every juncture as, with dazzling wit and humor, she leads Lauren and readers through a labyrinth of deduction, loss, sorrow, and pity. Coming to the aid of an old friend accused of murdering her aunt, lesbian heroine Lauren untangles the gnarled threads of the case just as she is compelled to come to grips with the unraveling of her own longtime relationship and with her growing fascination with Alex Thomas, a gorgeous, sexy woman wooing her through the Internet. When rapist Charlie West starts stalking Lauren, all forces converge to make this a must-read for crime-novel fanatics. Whitney Scott

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 249 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co (T); 1st edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316776645
• ISBN-13: 978-0316776646
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,177,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars After a Drought, Finally a Worthy Book, February 12, 2001

By 

P. Bigelow (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let's Face the Music and Die (Lauren Laurano Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This series features Greenwich Village private investigator Lauren Laurano. Her friend, Elissa, asks Lauren to absolve her of the murder charges pending against her for the murder of her wealthy aunt. Unbeknownst to Lauren, she's beeing stalked by a psychopath. To add to her misery, her relationship seems to be falling apart, and there's seemingly nothing she can do to stop it. This began as excellent series, deteriorated into the doldrums of a so-so series, and with this entry, has come full circle. The writer evokes the Village so we know how the wet streets feel, her characters are well drawn and likable to the point that the reader finds herself hoping Lauren's relationship with Kip can be saved. Normally, I recommend a reader read a series in order if new to it, but I wouldn't subject any reader to the mediocre middle entries in this series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sandra Scoppetone has topped herself with this one., July 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Let's Face the Music and Die (Lauren Laurano Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Save yourself some agony and order "Gonna Take a Homicidal Journey" in hardback while you're ordering this book. LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE is Scoppettone topping herself. The best of characterization and the best of suspense all combined together with a hang-on-by-your-fingernails ending put together seamlessly. Don't start it at bedtime if you've just got to go to work in the morning.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, cruel cliffhanger ending!, February 27, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Let's Face the Music and Die (Hardcover)

This is easily the best Lauren Laurano story so far,
and it's also the best book I've read in a long time.
Once again, Scoppettone delivers a deft mix of:

1. taut, fast-paced detective drama; and

2. realistic depiction of three-dimensional lesbian
characters.

It's particularly enjoyable when these two
subplots overlap in interesting and unexpected ways.

All that being said, I *almost* wish I hadn't read the
book, since it was positively cruel to leave things
hanging at the end like that. I honestly don't know how
I'm going to survive until the next chapter in the
Lauren Laurano saga is available. AAAAaarrrgh! :)