Perish By Pedicure (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Nancy J. Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bad Hair Day Mysteries | Publication Date: December 1, 2006

Beauty shows are known for a lot of things: glitz, glamour, products, catfights, very big-bordering-on-scary hair "creations", and some equally oversized egos. What they're not usually known for is cold-blooded murder, but that's exactly the case when Luxor Products company director Christine Parks is found dead in her hotel room - facedown in a foot bath. And suspect number one is Marla's college roommate, Georgia Rogers. It was Georgia who got Marla the job working behind the scenes at the beauty show. The least Marla can do is try to clear her name. One thing is clear: Christine Parks didn't make many friends. Everyone who worked with the miserable woman had a reason to hate her. From serial cheating to indulging in blackmail, threats, lawsuits, bad investment advice and worse, she was a walking Bad Hair Day, and the list of possible suspects is longer than a pop diva's hair extensions. The questions swirling through Marla's expertly coiffed head are pure chaos: Who hated Christine strongly enough to kill her? Did someone slip her poison at their company cocktail party? And is it possible that Dalton's ex-in-laws could be more annoying and disapproving? Dealing with her own domestic crises is going to have to take a back seat to solving a crime that's getting more complicated - and deadlier - by the day. When a model with top-secret information for Marla turns up dead at the Russian baths, things go from bad to worse in a hurry. Behind the thumping house music and dazzling, high-platform hair tricks of Florida's hottest beauty show, something very ugly is going down, something that goes beyond polish and style to the dark heart of corruption, greed, and killer-takes-all ambition of the beauty biz. And if Marla isn't careful, she just may end up on the wrong end of a murderer's very skilled hands.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cohen's disjointed eighth cozy (after 2005's Dead Roots) featuring salon owner Marla Shore finds the amateur sleuth fixing more than just hair at a Fort Lauderdale beauty show. When Christine Parks, Luxor's beauty products director, is discovered dead in her hotel room, Marla's friend Georgia Rogers, a Luxor sales rep who was the last person to see Christine alive, becomes the chief suspect. With no shortage of people who might have wanted Christine dead, Marla investigates an artistic director, a stylist and another sales rep, putting her own life in peril in the process. Though Cohen rewards the reader with a surprising conclusion, her abrupt shifts between Marla's suspenseful investigative efforts and her personal difficulties with the former in-laws of her widowed fiancé Det. Dalton Vail make for a bumpy ride. (Dec.)
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Review

"Cohen fashions her Bad Hair Day series with plenty of humor, snappy repartee, and even a healthy helping of current events."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 243 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (December 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758212240
• ISBN-13: 978-0758212245
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,042,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beyond The Big Hair, February 22, 2007

By 

Liz at reviewedbyliz.com "Because life is too... (Cedar Springs, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perish By Pedicure (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I am a sucker for trade shows. When people involved in any industry or business gather to discuss their products and work you can learn the most interesting things. In Perish by Pedicure, a murder takes place during a beauty show in which salon owner Marla Shore is participating and Cohen gives us a glimpse behind the big hair of the professional beauty world that is both enlightening and entertaining.

Heroine Marla Shore has agreed to help out at a beauty industry trade show in nearby Fort Lauderdale in exchange for some publicity for her own salon. She is desperately trying to juggle her show responsibilities, her salon commitments, her renewed friendship with an old college roommate, and her widowed fiancé's former in-laws, who are now staying with her and whom she seems unable to please. And then there is a murder. Marla's college roommate (also a houseguest) appears to have been the last person to see the victim alive and is the number one suspect.

While your first inclination might be to dismiss a book with the word pedicure in the title, Cohen has created a good book and series. The setting is interesting, the plot is good and well thought out, and Marla Shore is a character with depth. We learn more about her in this book as her hostile houseguests question her ability to be a good step-mother to their granddaughter due to her involvement with criminals, her professional life, and her Jewish religion and its possible impact on the child's Christian upbringing. This book has some real meat mixed in amongst the lighter moments.

Favorite character? Goat, Marla's neighbor. Did I guess it? No. Will I read another? Yes.

[...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars entertaining murder mystery, December 9, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: Perish By Pedicure (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Hair salon owner and stylist Marla Shore is not having an easy week. Her fiancé's in-laws from his dead wife are coming to town to stay in her home to check her out and insure she is right for being the stepmother of their granddaughter Brianna. She is also working for Luxor Products as an assistant hair stylist t at the Supreme Shows Conference. Marla hopes to gain experience, a better job, and an avenue to visit places she dreams of seeing.

When Marla arrives at the convention center, she meets Luxor director Christine Parker, but notices that all of the employees seem openly to despise the head honcho. When an anonymous person sends Christine a drink, she takes some and soon feels ill. The next day she is dead, a victim of poison. Marla turns sleuth, but fails to uncover the culprit before another homicide occurs.

Nancy J. Cohen has written a cleverly constructed and entertaining murder mystery starring a likable heroine who knows better, but cannot stop herself from sleuthing. In this case, the victim is so vile that a horde seems to have wanted her dead making motivation difficult to use as a means of weeding out the killer. PERISH BY PEDICURE is filled with hair splitting humor, unexpected nail biting twists, and a bad hair week caused by future in-laws while Marla cuts to the roots of the case.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death at a salon conference, February 2, 2007

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perish By Pedicure (Bad Hair Day Mysteries) (Hardcover)

As if Marla Shore wasn't busy enough, now she's working for Luxor Products as a styling assistant at a local conference and her fiancé's parents of his dead wife are staying at her house to see whether she'll be a good step mom for Brianna. And her friend Georgia, who helped her get the job with Luxor, will be staying with her through the weekend conference.

She hopes her work with Luxor will bring her salon more business, especially after she moves to her new location. She's also hoping to gain more experience and possibly travel with them in the future to other conferences.

Luxor director Christine Parks isn't well-liked. This is quickly evident to Marla as she gets to know the staff while setting up for the conference. When Christine ends up dead from poison, Marla begins to suspect everyone and works at trying to uncover the truth. Unfortunately there is another death. Can Marla discover the identity of the killer without putting herself and others in danger? Can she get through this week with Dalton's ex-in-laws in her house?

I really enjoy this series. Marla is such a fun character. She just can't keep herself from sleuthing. Dalton isn't the investigator in this mystery, but he still provides some needed data for Marla to unravel the mystery. I also like the Florida setting.

The author has done a great job of creating the characters and plotting the story. And there are plenty of red herrings and twists so that you aren't sure until the killer is revealed who did it. I highly recommend this book and the whole series.