Customer Reviews

The PMS Murder (Jaine Austen Mysteries)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the first book in the Jaine Austen series I have read. I did read the Candy Cane Murder short story collection and her short story.

Laura Levine's writing is very funny and her characters are quite believable. I enjoyed reading about the seniors at the senior center. That was very believable. Anyone who has had a friend or a loved one living in a senior home has probably heard similar tales.

I imagined Andrew Ferguson as looking like the sensible bank employee in the Bank of Scotland commercials. Prozac the cat is the typical spoiled feline.

I liked how she planted little clues to let you believe one character had done it. The actual killer was a total surprise.

I think I will read more in this series. It was fairly entertaining and occasionally extremely funny.

If you're up for a very entertaining and rather amusing mystery novel, a little "light" in the mystery department, but that's still loads of fun to read and full of tongue-in-cheek asides, then you're bound to enjoy Laura Levine's latest Jaine Austen mystery novel, "The PMS Murders."

When a chance encounter at Bargain Barn (a discount clothing store) yields a new friend, Pam, Jaine is thrilled -- especially since her best friend, Khandi, is about to get married and is no longer available for dinners and long chats, leaving Jaine feeling rather lonely and at loose ends. So that when Pam invites Jaine to join her for her once a week meeting of the PMS club (a support group for women to meet and vent about their lives), Jaine is game. How was she to know that she would soon be up to her next in another murder investigation when the club's least liked member, Marybeth, drops dead after sampling some guacamole? (Apparently, Marybeth was allergic to peanuts and it appears as if someone had liberally laced the guacamole with peanut oil). Knowing full well that the police will concentrate on the members of the club as suspects for Marybeth's murder, and afraid that the suspicion will take its toll on her chances of landing a really good writing gig with a bank, Jaine decides to try and discover who murdered Marybeth before it's too late...

I really like Laura Levine's Jaine Austen series, and read them not so much for the mysteries as for her wonderfully entertaining writing style. This series, and this book for that matter, is to be enjoyed for it's quips, asides and hilarious yet (sometimes) embarrassing situations that Jaine generally finds herself in. The mystery subplot is sometimes on the ultra-light side, as it was with this particular installment, "The PMS Murders;" and how Jaine finally figures out who the murderer is (and how the novel is tied up) does almost beggar belief. But all those wonderful bits involving Jaine's cat, her parents and her job interviews for the bank job had me laughing out loud. And this is what made "The PMS Murders" a wonderfully enjoyable and fun read for me, and what (in spite of its light mystery plot) earned it a 4 star recommendation.

It all starts with a chance meeting. Freelance writer Jaine Austen is shopping when she meets Pam. They hit it off right from the start, and Pam invites Jaine to join her women's support group. Calling themselves the PMS Club, they get together once a week to drink margaritas, eat guacamole, and complain about their lives.

Jaine goes, and has a great time meeting everyone. Well, almost everyone. Marybeth is overly perky to the point of annoying. She also had a known allergy to peanuts; so when she drops over dead after having some guacamole laced with peanut oil, the obvious conclusion is murder.

Since several of the members of the club are rich, the story makes local headlines. Jaine is less then thrilled to become such a public suspect in a murder, especially since it hampers her ability to land a decent paying job. So what else can she do but investigate the other members of the PMS Club herself to find the killer. The more she digs, the more motives she turns up. Seems everyone in the club had a reason to kill Marybeth. But are there any clues out there?

Of course, Jaine can never deal with just one problem at a time. She's also been forced to put her cat on a diet. Somehow, the cat seems to be getting fatter as a result. Then there's the new member of the memoir writing class she teaches at the local retirement home. The very sexy (for a senior citizen) woman has caught the attention of the lone man of the group and made the other women bitter. Plus her dad is convinced her parent's new neighbor is a wanted professional assassin.

If you're looking for a light mystery perfect for a vacation that is guaranteed to make you laugh, you've come to the right place. This series is fun bordering on the silly at times. There's nothing too deep here, but that's perfectly all right because what is here is entertaining.

The murder storyline starts off a little slow while the other storylines and the new characters are introduced. Once Marybeth dies, the murder does begin to take center stage, with the other storylines taking their rightful place in the background. The murder comes together nicely at the end. I didn't have a clue who done it until Jaine figured it out. The sub-plots have nice resolutions as well.

Then there are the characters. Jaine is a loveable heroine with a great sense of humor. Her asides and quips are often hilarious although the "He didn't say it but I know he was thinking it" can get old at times. The cast of new characters is well developed. Marybeth was getting on my nerves before she died, and I felt sorry for Rochelle, the police's prime suspect.

And then there's the writing style. The story is narrated first person with a very casual tone as if Jaine is telling the story to a friend. This makes her witty observations feel right at home. I especially love the lines she gives the cat. No, this isn't a talking cat, just the thoughts that Jaine is sure the cat has.

With a summer release, the book is perfectly timed. It's a relaxing read perfect for the season. Pick it up today and get ready to laugh.

As a previous reviewer indicated, this book came out at an ideal time of the year. For anyone who is traveling in an airport, lying on the beach, enjoying a summer picnic or barbecue--or simply anyone who wishes they were doing any of those things--"The PMS Murder" is an ideal read. Levine obviously enjoys writing the Jaine Austen character, and the novel is well-written, fast-paced, and charmingly good-humored throughout.

"PMS," like all of Levine's previous books, is highly recommended for anyone who doesn't like to take their murder mysteries too seriously. Fun stuff.

I saw this book at the returned books cart in the library and just had to pick it up. It was a fast and fun read ~~ the mystery case was pretty predictable and didn't build up a great suspense ~~ but the book was just fun. Jaine Austen is a struggling writer who loves to eat and has a cat named Prozac that she put on a diet (so Jaine has to eat in the bathroom which is a hoot! So the cat wouldn't see her sneaking non-diet food herself!).

Jaine meets Pam at Bargain Barn trying on swimsuits and they became instant buddies over an ice cream cone. Pam belongs to a club called the PMS Club ~~ where they meet once a week at Rochelle's house and pig out on margaritas and guacamole. Within two weeks, one of the members, who confessed to an affair with Rochelle's husband, ends up dead. Jaine is then caught in the middle of a murder investigation, a job interview that sounds promising, a love affair among her writers' at the local senior center and her cat keeps getting fatter.

This book is great for laughs! If you're blue ~~ this book should cheer you up. It's tongue-in-the-cheek funny and just fast reading. Perfect reading for those lazy afternoons on the weekend! I am definitely keeping an eye out for this author!

9-12-06

I've enjoyed this series in the past, but I thought this installment was just dumb.

The story just didn't work for me. Had Jaine already befriended these people and been part of their club, perhaps it would have -- but she meets someone in a store, joins their "club," and during her second visit with them, one of the club members is murdered. Then Jaine suddenly tells them all she's a private eye investigating the murder and they spill their guts to her, rather than suspecting her. It gets even dumber when she does stupid things, like telling someone she wants to interview that she's a detective with the LAPD and breaking into a suspect's office (like any night security guard in a medical building is going to just hand over an office key to someone they've never seen before).

Also, despite the fact that I'm an animal lover who treats my animals like people, I didn't find Jaine eating in her bathroom because her cat was on a diet amusing. And I could've done without the constant references to the cat "licking her privates."

Finally, this gimmick of telling us what Jaine said or did and them immediately saying, "Okay, I didn't really say/do that..." was extremely annoying and made it a chore to actually read the whole thing.

I hope the next installment is better. However, Janet Evanovich this author is not.

I'm a really big mystery reader and a very picky reader. This book and series is great. It has its funny moments and then it has enough suspense to keep you hooked. It is a great read. I would suggest you start with the first book in the series but make sure you make it too this one. Another great book by Laura Levine.

I love Jaine Austen and her cat. She's a mellowed out version of Stephanie Plum but still has the same wit and charm. I've noticed that the author always thanks Joanne Fluke for all her help. I'm not sure why because Laura Levine is way funnier and a much better writer than Joanne. I'm waiting by my mailbox for her next book!

I liked this book. It kept jumping suspects, which I did figure out right before Jane said why the person should be a suspect. Of course it was just the gut feeling of suspicion. But it was fun.
The Kindle version is written pretty well. I didn't find too many errors in the typing, unlike some other books I've purchased. There is also a table of contents, so if you want to make a note for each chapter about the main idea, go for it.
This entire series is very good. I really like the way Ms. Levine writes the main character. You can't go wrong with a "Jaine Austen" gal, who happens to be a writer. But it's more than that. Yes, she does write the story the way a normal author does. But there's times when Jaine is 'talking' to the reader, kind of like Ferris Bueller did in the movie. They way she lies about her food problems is hilarious. And don't get me started on the cat issue!
Ms. Levine does a very good job bringing her main character to life, so that the reader can believe, get lost in, even interact with Jaine. I think this series is unique because of the main character actions that show up, and anyone who likes a cozy should give this a try.

I basically enjoy this easy-to-read, not-too-tortuous mystery series but enough is enough! Please, Ms. Levine, cats lick themselves in places other than their "privates" and have many other amusing traits that could be descriptively used in place of this particular obsession. I also do not care for the self-promotion of Ms. Levine's other titles in this series scattered throughout the writing. It is extremely distracting to the storyline. If one is interested in knowing what else the author has written they can look at the front pages of the book or come to Amazon.com for this information - they do not have to have it thrown in their faces.

Criticism aside, I actually liked the plot of this book better than the last couple of books in the series. There seemed to be more character development than usual and the assortment of suspects was neither too many nor too few. Also thought the incident regarding the open window could've been worked in more subtly than it was, and, as others have mentioned, it did end a bit abruptly although all loose ends were tidied up nicely.