Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A chatty gossipy little mystery, September 5, 2003
It's 1954 in New York City. Paige Turner (yes, that is really her name), secretary at Darling Detective magazine, is determined to write an investigative story that will propel her into the ranks of magazine writer. Then young model Babs Comstock is found murdered. Paige finds Babs' photo in the Darling Detective files. Using the photographer's mark on the back of the photo as her first clue, Paige starts investigating. But as she follows up clue after clue she keeps running into Detective Sergeant Dan Street, who is also Darling Detective police advisor. He threatens to tell her boss of her extracurricular sleuthing if she does not quit the case. Does this stop our spunky young lady? Of course not! Her investigation leads her to Union Square, Times Square, Hell's Kitchen, Schrafft's, & the Copacabana among other places. But she has serious doubts about her abilities to continue her investigation after gang members attack her, the Mob ransacks her apartment, and a very angry old friend of Babs stalks her. Bolstered by her beatnik neighbor, Abby, Paige perseveres, shares her information with handsome Dan Street, and walks right into a situation that threatens her very life. Murderers Prefer Blondes is a gossipy and chatty little mystery. You can't help but cheer on this charming sleuth especially when she has her own self-doubts. And the name-dropping throughout the story will keep you smiling. Also recommended: Nancy Martin's Blackbird Sisters series, Jill Churchill's Lily & Robert Brewster series
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Page Turner That Will Leave You Hungry for More..., January 11, 2006
The year is 1954, and twenty-eight-year-old Paige Turner is trying to make her mark on the male-dominated literary world at "Daring Detective" magazine. Unfortunately, she can't get her gruff boss to allow her to do much more than clip the newspaper, make coffee, and edit her co-workers stories. So, when Paige comes across the murder of twenty-four-year-old Babs Comstock, a beauty who was strangled with a Hopalong Cassidy jump rope, she decides that now is her chance to break one of the biggest stories of the year. Now, armed with nothing more than a pen, a good pair of high heels, and a blonde wig, Paige has hit the New York City pavement, and is uncovering more secrets about the lives of the rich and famous than she ever thought existed. Now she just has to figure out which one of her suspects did the dirty deed, before the murderer decides that it's time to kill a brunette. A brunette with perfect grammar, and a funny name.
Amanda Matetsky is one of the best new authors to hit the mystery scene in years. I determined this when I read MURDER IS A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND - the second book in the series, which I read first - and have only come to realize it more, upon completing MUDERERS PREFER BLONDES. Paige Turner is an exciting female protagonist, whose nose for news, and amateur sleuthing skills make her an appealing character; while the set-up of 1950's New York makes for a charming backdrop to the tale, complete with nostalgia speckled in every corner. An on-the-edge-of-your-seat page turner that will leave you hungry for more.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love Paige Turner. I love this series so far., September 16, 2004
I read the second in the series before this one, and I think the second was a bit better, but I was not disappointed at all with this one.
Korean War widow Paige Turner (and yes, people comment on her name, particularly since she works for a real crime stories magazine) lives in 1954 or so in Greenwich Village (NYC). Although she wants to be a writer for the magazine, she is stuck being underpaid and undervalued because she's a woman. She decides to write a story for the magazine and then they'll be able to see how talented she is. So when a woman she has met briefly is murdered, Paige goes to work trying to find out enough about the crime to write a story about it.
Needless to say, she's busy investigating the case in no time at all, which puts her at some peril from a variety of people, including but not limited to the murderer.
WHat I liked best was the sense of time and place, but the endearing characters are a close second. You really feel like you're right there and that these are people you know (Paige has a beatnik neighbor Abby who is her sounding board and able helper, not to mention offering her refuge when it gets too dangerous for Paige to be alone in her apartment).
This is probably a woman's mystery (is that a fault?) because it really does describe a world where women's choices (but only if she was single) were limited to nurse, secretary, or teacher. I look forward to reading more in the series.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
