Customer Reviews

Dial Me for Murder (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries)

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

 

 

Amanda Matetsky brings us the 5th Paige Turner mystery--I love the play on movie titles she uses for each novel. This particular story finally shows our heroine, Paige, developing her backbone when dealing with her chauvinistic co-workers at Daring Detective magazine, while in the midst of solving a very dicey murder that may or may not involve the owner of the magazine she works on. I would love to see her come into her own by the sixth novel, and hopefully that is where Matetsky is headed. You won't be disappointed by the latest in this series!!!

Well, I have become addicted to the Paige Turner mysteries. Paige is such a character, and I love going back in time to the 50's and being reminded, if nothing else, of just how far women have come in the business world... though we obviously still have a ways to go.

I think this book is one of the best of the five... still funny, engaging, sexy, and a nail-biter, though more so. The thing I like about Matetsky's books is that you really can't figure out who the culprit is until the very end, unlike so many other mysteries I have read. You stay engaged because of this all the way through the read. And as a result, you're sad when it's over.

I highly recommend this book if you love to be entertained!

I've read each of these Paige Turner mysteries as they appear, and my eyes light up when I see another one has been published. This one is an enjoyable contribution to the series, but not so great that I'd award it five stars.

The series, set in Manhattan in the fifties, features Paige Turner as the detective. Paige wants to be a true crime writer, and sometimes is (with great success), but this is the fifties, and she is more often the underpaid, mistreated office drudge. Her boyfriend is a homicide cop, who wishes his girlfriend would not get involved in such dangerous activities. There's kind of a Lucy-Ricky thing going on, where Paige is constantly trying to conceal what she's doing from her boyfriend. Much is made in this series about what life was like in the early fifties, particularly for women, and particularly in Greenwich Village, where Paige lives in the same building as her beatnik best friend.

The plot involves a young woman -- a secretary -- who is found murdered in Central Park, with mink coat and jewels nearby. Very strange, thinks Paige, so she wants to investigate the crime, with an eye to writing a great true-crime story and also catching the murderer. She takes on an assignment to do this by a society madam, since as it turns out, this young secretary has a part-time job that explains the mink and jewels. Meanwhile, Paige's boyfriend is involved in an official investigation having to do with the Mob.

The plot is pretty well done, the characterization good if kind of two-dimensional (this is a mystery, right?), and all-in-all, it's great airplane, beach, or rainy night reading. Most of all, it's fun.

If you haven't read any in the series, you might want to start with the first, but you really don't have to.

This is another charming addition to Matetsky's cozy series about a woman, Paige Turner, who works for a NYC magazine and is learning how to work and live in the male dominated 1950s. I have read all of the series and like this one every bit as much as the others. It has been interesting to watch Paige grow from an insecure "debutante" to being able to hold her own with anyone. Even her sleuthing skills (as they say in Nancy Drew) are becoming admirably honed.

This one is about the murder of a young woman whose body is found in Central Park. Paige notices the newspaper story immediately and is captured by it. It is not long until she is contacted by the dead woman's employer to investigate the murder but Paige is sworn to secrecy, i.e., she can't write about it in the magazine for which she works, DARING DETECTIVE. As it ends up, the body belongs to Virginia Pratt, who is a high class prostitute being escorted by some of the biggest names in NYC (I'm not overstepping my bounds here, this much is alluded to on the jacket).

Anyhow, I found this tasty little morsel to be utterly to my liking. I always look forward to Ms. Matetsky's books because not only are they well written mysteries, the protagonist and her next door neighbor, Abby, are just a lot of fun. Any of the books can stand alone. The only thing that reading them in order will do is offer background on relationships. Enjoy!

The blurb on the back of the book sounded good. Another feisty, independent woman investigating a tantalizing murder in 1950's New York City. However, nothing in the book lived up to my expectations. Paige Turner, the heroine, did not come to life & neither did her police detective boyfriend. Paige gasped! and screamed! and paced! and ran! and exclaimed! but never really did anything but ask the suspects a few questions & then overreact. The murder was almost an afterthought (& was solved by someone else) while the author was trying to convince you that Paige was a 1950s woman in 1950s New York. Paige, however, "freaked-out" quite a lot & "respected [other peoples'] boundaries". In addition, the author over-described the 1950s references she inserted, hitting the reader in the face details that someone during the 1950s would know w/o explanation. (Rather than simply saying that Anne Sothern was present at the nightclub, the author wrote that Anne Sothern, television actress, hostess of X television show, was at the nightclub.) I felt I had to finish this book because I paid good money for it, but if I'd gotten it from the library, I'd have quit halfway through.

I enjoyed the recreation of what New York City was like for a woman in that era, but the actual solving of the mystery was very disappointing, as it has very little to do with any of the investigation described. (spoiler alert) You're reading along, you turn a page (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) and you find that, oops, someone else has solved the murder.

These are awesome, over-the-top, and so much fun to read. Mrs. Matetsky has created a gorgeous homage to NYC in the 50's full of nostalgia and info. I've been with Paige since the beginning and I'm deeply saddened that this is the final installment. I hate when authors do this. Get me all involved in their characters lives then move on.

How rude!

I've read all the Paige Turner books. They are really a hoot and this one ranks with the best. The writing is quite witty and I love the Fifties beat poetry.

Though it's been a while since we've visited Paige Turner, the wait has been worthwhile. Dial Me for Murder is her fifth and final adventure. When the naked body of a beautiful prostitute is found murdered in Central Park, Paige wants to write about the story for Daring Detective magazine but is stymied when her boss assigns the task to a less-talented male staffer. However, when the murdered woman's madam telephones Paige and insists that only she can do the dead girl justice by investigating her murder, our favorite gal Friday is one the case. At the suggestion of Paige's gorgeous, over-sexed bohemian neighbor, Abby Moscowitz, the two friends go undercover as high-priced call girls in order to interview a suspect at the Copacabana.

Paige is in over her head and knows it. But she's determined to find out the story behind the murdered call girl come what may. And, believe me, plenty comes her way! New depths to old characters are revealed as Paige hops from one jam into another.

For me the fun of this series has always been Amanda Matetsky's delightful writing; she's given Paige a sparkling, self-effacing sass which is both amusing and endearing. I will miss Paige Turner and her friends. (With any luck, we might see them again someday.)

this is the pefect mystery to share with your mom. It is a cute, easy read. Lots of fun filled nostalgia and great characters. It has love, mystery, and a strong lead woman in it too.
I love abby and her Boyfriend the Bard.
Otto is great in this book too.
I am glad the "boys" are finally treating Paige better at work too. Paige gets into trouble at work (again) by sending a sick Lenny home.
Her despicable IE: useless boss, Pomeroy fires her and Paige is left free and clear to investigate a murder of a call girl.
Paige is sworn to secrecy (boy is that a set up) and she tries her best to keep that pledge.
It works until she gets home and has a high ball with Abby....
the trouble ensues and away they go.
Call girls, a compassionate madam and mafia types all abound.
In the end, dog saves the day.. and the Bard has another poem.
Great read.... cute cozy.