Maggie By The Book [Paperback]

Kasey Michaels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

According to Maggie Kelly's Law 1, just when things seem to be settling down, the other shoe drops...with a vengeance. And in this case, it's more like a Regency-era riding boot belonging to Alexandre Blake, Viscount Saint just, hero of the bestsellers Maggie writes. When he defied all laws of time and space by walking out of Maggie's dreams and into her living room, she figured there was a way to get him back home to the corner of her fevered imagination from which he'd escaped. She was wrong. Then, although the members of WAR - We Are Romance, the country's largest romance writers' group - kicked Maggie out of their club, she still got an invitation to their Manhattan conference. How Alex convinced her to go - and take him along - is another story. But Maggie just knew it would be a bad thing. Bad for her blood pressure...and very bad for her budding flirtation with NYPD Lieutenant Steve Wendell.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Romance and cozy fans will welcome this cross-genre sequel to Michaels's Maggie Needs an Alibi (2002), with its original premise, sympathetic if reluctant heroine and lively supporting cast. New Yorker Maggie Kelly, a former author of Regency romances who now writes historical mysteries, has an unusual house guest, her fictional Regency-era hero, Alexandre Blake, Viscount Saint Just (aka Alex Blakely). What's more, he has registered her for the annual conference in Manhattan of We Are Romance (WAR), a romance writers' group with whom she's had past differences. Maggie grudgingly attends and fronts Alex and his friend, Mary Louise, in the cover-model contest. Tensions run high, and participants head for home as a series of increasingly dangerous pranks culminates in the death of one of WAR's most notorious members. Alex, a sleuth in his own fictional world, is determined to unmask the killer at the fancy dress ball, with or without the help of his creator, who's distracted by the reappearance of her NYPD detective heartthrob, Steve Wendell. Michaels, a romance writer herself and a pro at juxtaposing unlikely characters, keeps the sparks flying between Maggie and Alex, who serves as an admirable foil for her irritation. A surfeit of amusing secondary characters slows the action in the middle, but the plot picks up at the end with the unmasking of the surprise culprit.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Maggie Kelley, a former romance author turned mystery writer, has her hands full with her romantic Regency detective, the viscount of Saint Just, and his sleuthing sidekick, Sterling, who have somehow come to life and invaded her current neurotic New York existence. She passes them off as a distant cousin and his friend upon whom she has patterned her fictitious detectives; then Saint Just convinces her to attend a romance conference where sabotage eventually leads to murder. Saint Just sets out to investigate, dragging Sterling, Maggie, and friends along with him and leaving a clueless Manhattan sergeant with aspirations of being a cover model in the dust. The list of suspects is large, given all the conference attendees who are vying for a chance to publish the next great American romance or to become the next Fabio. Colorful characters and humorous dialogue populate this wonderful sequel to Maggie Needs an Alibi (2002) and leave the reader waiting for more. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; First Edition edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575668823
• ISBN-13: 978-1575668826
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful, funny, and upbeat satirical mystery, August 4, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maggie By The Book (Maggie Kelly Mysteries) (Hardcover)

She was doing well writing historical romances but when her sales plummeted she switched genres and is happily writing one historical Regency mystery a year for seven figures. Maggie Kelley, writing as Cleo Dooley, has a New York Times best selling series starring the handsome, suave and devil may care amateur sleuth Alexandre Drake, Viscount Saint Just and his Watson, Sterling Bader. Maggie's imagination made these two characters so realistic that they appeared in her living room one day and never left.

Saint Just decides that all three of them are going to attend the annual WAR (We Are Romance, Inc.) because he wants to win the prize more for the costume and sexiest cover model. From the start, the conference proves to be unsafe, as conventioneers are electrocuted, inundated with prank phone calls, and overwhelmed by an infestation of mice. When a romance reviewer is murdered, it is up to Saint Just and company to figure out whom is the prankster and who is the killer.

If the heroine was more secure and if she believed that Saint Just wouldn't disappear, she might allow herself to care for him. Since she is afraid she tries, sometimes successfully, to ignore the attraction she feels for her creation (shades of Dr. Frankenstein). Kasey Michaels has written a wonderful, funny, and upbeat mystery that satirizes the romance and mystery publishing industries and the conventions they spawn.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why you love Bernie, Mare & Sterling even more., March 25, 2005

By 

C. Reaves "Klawzie" (South-Eastern USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maggie By The Book (Paperback)

While I hold "Maggie Needs an Alibi" a little higher than "By the Book", I adore this one as well.

Having read the first book (as one should before reading the second), it was only slightly more difficult to figure out Whodunnit in the second. So, that is why it is only slightly less satisfying than the first. HOWEVER, in this book you get to see more of Bernie, Mare and Sterling, and that is cause for rejoicing. (Not that there's anything wrong with Maggie or Alex, but I always hold a special place for fun background characters.)

The other day I had one of my overwhelming urges to re-read this gem. I even went as far as to clean my room. No dice - so I'll have to buy the book again. It's worth the second buy!

Looking forward to the third book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Killers to the left of me, hacks to the right, here I am..., July 26, 2010

By 

Dawn & Ron "FurryReaders" (Central Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maggie By The Book (Maggie Kelly Mysteries) (Hardcover)

"Killers to the left of me, hacks to the right, here I am...stuck in the middle without a clue." This is a taste of the wonderful sense of humor Kasey Michaels infuses into her protagonist Maggie Kelly in this second entry of the series after Maggie Needs An Alibi. If Maggie's frustration is peeking out a bit, it's no wonder. She has finally started to adjust to having the characters from her popular Regency era mystery series; Alexandre Drake, Viscount Saint Just, now calling himself Alex Blakely, and his sidekick Sterling Balder, brought to all too real, living breathing life, when she finds herself roped into attending a writer's conference, topped off with finding out Alex has entered himself in the cover model contest! Shenanigans, accidents and murder - Oh, My!

This book, for me, is primarily about the characters, followed by the mystery. Michaels' characters, including the secondary ones, are fresh and vibrant, no bland, lifeless personalities here. The emotions felt by the main characters are so understandable and relatable; Maggie's frustrations at herself for her creating the exasperating strutting, self-assured, perfect man Saint Just and Alex's confusion at what Maggie could possibly see in "Left-tenant" Steve Wendell. My favorite is the bumbling, bewildered, but lovable Sterling as he continues to adjust to modern colloquialism. And his stint at becoming a rapper you must read for yourself, I don't want to spoil one moment of the transplanted Regency gentleman's attempts at modern song. While Sterling offers a great deal of humour, it is his understated insights about his companions that gives the book its heart and soul. I also liked the touch of Sterling's first person accounts in the prologue and epilogue.

I was in need of a good, light, fun read and this book filled the niche perfectly. I wasn't sure if Michael's would be able to keep the same unique freshness and novelty as she had in the first book but, no need to worry on that front, she easily succeeds. The author is known mostly for her romance novels, which I have not read, but if you are looking for a cozy mystery with quirky, lovable characters, a completely unique twist and just a touch of romance than give this series a try. Do your self a favor and start at the beginning so you don't miss one delightful moment!