Murder by Design: A Rick Domino Mystery [Hardcover]

Jon P. Bloch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Rick Domino is at the very top in his world - which is Hollywood - and his stock in trade is celebrity gossip. His finances, however, are the pits and can't begin to pay for his copious good taste. So when his producer 'suggests' he be a guest on a popular cable decorating/reality program - "My House, Your House" - Rick agrees to appear not only because he's not really given a choice in the matter but it's a chance at a free makeover for his sagging, outdated living room. As plans go, this isn't Rick's best.

And it all quickly goes horribly wrong. The consulting designer assigned to his house is well known for the particularly dreadful remodeling horrors she's perpetrated on other guest's spaces. To make matters more unpleasant, Rick is teamed up with his bitterest professional enemy - his grasping, bitch co-host Mitzi McGuire-while the other 'couple' in the program is his friend Terry Zane - a sweet but savagely unstylish police detective - and Terry's recent ex-wife, the charmless Darla Sue. As if this mess wasn't big enough, one of the designers is savagely-if perhaps understandably-murdered and the prime suspect is Terry Zane's cousin. With Terry's help, Rick Domino is on a quest to rescue his reputation, salvage his living room, and - if at all possible - find the person responsible for this particularly tasteless act of murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gay gossip columnist Rick Domino made a smashing debut in Bloch's spoof of the Oscars, Best Murder of the Year (2002). If this wickedly funny sequel doesn't quite match the same high standard, the author keeps the satire mostly on target as Rick lets the design experts of the do-it-yourself cable TV show My House, Your House make over his outdated living room. Rick soon finds not just his house but his life turned upside down. Playing the comic innocent is Terry Zane, an LAPD "junior detective" whom Rick befriended (and helped bring out of the closet) in Best Murder of the Year. At Rick's suggestion, Terry allows MHYH to make over his bedroom on the same episode. The program's quirky cast includes Aunt Fern (country-style, heavy on the crochet); Bill McCoy (aka Shirtless Bill), who used to design theme parks; and Helena Godiva, "a kind of Donna Reed with a whip." The carpenters who assist the designers are no less extreme. The show's volatile and promiscuous relationships turn deadly with the murder of Helena, whose body is discovered swaddled in fabric swinging from a ceiling fan in her motel room the morning after the crew decorates Terry's bedroom walls with police badges. Bloch may rely too much on his characters' odd sexual proclivities for laughs, but anyone who has watched a DIY program like MHYH should enjoy the book's warped take on such shows.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Jon P. Bloch is a professor at Southern Connecticut State University and is the author of Finding Your Leading Man as well as the first Rick Domino mystery, Best Murder of the Year. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312313128
• ISBN-13: 978-0312313128
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,623,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No one to root for!, May 29, 2004

By 

Jennifer Terry (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder by Design: A Rick Domino Mystery (Hardcover)

This was an occasionally funny book. Sadly, there was no one in the book I particularly liked, including the lead character, Rick Domino, himself. He was snobbish and intolerant, if periodically amusing. His sidekick, the cop, was so dense as to strain credulity. None of the suspects were pleasant; I wanted them all to be guilty. A weird book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wickedly Funny Send-Up of Popular Cable Decorating Show, February 18, 2004

By 

Robin D. Blakeman "Tristan Robin" (New Haven, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder by Design: A Rick Domino Mystery (Hardcover)

I loved Bloch's "Best Murder of the Year"- and what he does for a switching-homes-make-over show is every bit as funny and on target as his take on the Hollywood Oscars. Though the book isn't specifically about "Trading Spaces," it's impossible not to make comparisons between the 'real' show and Bloch's hysterical version of it...and it's impossible not to see Bloch's affection and skepticism of the cable decorating show's concept.

The mystery is more defined than the first Rick Domino book - and it's fun trying to catch the clues between the laughs - which are plentiful. Several times I actually put the book down and laughed out loud.

For a light-hearted, easy read, I recommend it wholeheartedly. It works as both mystery and comic satire.

You'll never want to go on a tv decorating show again!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Design, April 22, 2005

By 

Frank Berkeley (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder by Design: A Rick Domino Mystery (Hardcover)

This book is a real stinker. I finally abandoned it on page 108 (of 289) because I couldn't stand it any longer. The characters, all of them, are so over the top (Aunt Fern?) as to be annoying. The best satire has a note of realism; there is nothing, absolutely nothing, realistic in this story. The author, Jon P. Bloch, evidently teaches at the world-renowned Southern Connecticut State University. It should be back to school for you, prof.