Someone has to investigate the mean streets of Latching, West Sussex -- and that someone is ex-policewoman Jordan Lacey, now advertising her services as a private investigator and working out of a junk shop in the quiet part of town. But will there really be enough crime to keep her in business? It looks like there is when Lacey discovers the body of a dead nun in an abandoned hotel.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Here is an absolute treat of a novel. Jordan Lacey, a former policewoman in Latching, West Sussex, decides to become a private investigator. But how, exactly, does a young woman with no private-eye experience find cases in a small British town with very little crime? As it turns out, it's easier than Jordan expected it to be, easier and weirder, as her first clients--a woman who suspects her husband of cheating on her and a nice lady looking for her lost turtle--soon take the back seat to Jordan's big discovery: a murdered nun. This is an immensely satisfying novel, charmingly written and deceptively plotted (things are more complicated than we think). Whitelaw, the author of more than 30 novels, pays close attention to detail, and it's a great deal of fun to watch Lacey find a place to hang her private-eye shingle, advertise for clients, and adjust to the realization that her former police contacts won't help her now that she's gone solo. The story itself is clever and well constructed, but it's Lacey herself who makes the novel so special; she is truly a delightful creation. This is the first installment of a projected series, and if its successors live up to the promise of this outstanding debut, it should be a long-lasting and hugely popular one indeed. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
Whitelaw began her writing career as a cub reporter on a newspaper and becme the youngest female chief reporter in London. She has had over thirty novels published, as well as approximately 230 short stories.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Different, quirky, and I want more!,
By
This review is from: Pray and Die (Jordan Lacey) (Hardcover)
Jordan Lacey couldn't make it as a policewoman, so now she's freelancing as a private eye in the small south England coastal town of Latching. She sets up shop in an area that's rapidly deteriorating and sells the odd thrift-shop item in-between cases. (She cases all the local charity shops to stock her wares, marking them all Six Pounds.) Jordan has a quirky personality, ongoing trouble with men, a bad case of pollution-caused asthma, and sometimes rubs folks the wrong way. Her initial foray into investigative work, with three cases (one's not hers, but the police can't lock her out) that fold into each other in a clever way, is a fast, funny, downright good read, in an overcrowded field, that of the cozy mystery. (Although there might be more violence here than in the usual cozy... ) Poison-pen letters, World War II intrigue, runaway teenagers, an unusual stepparent/stepchild relationships, a hospice that can't keep track of its nursing sisters...the characters will fascinate and keep one guessing what's going on. I hope reappearing characters will include sexy/morose Detective Inspector James; the pensioner with time on his hands who advises Jordan on rare books; the various worldly-wise ladies who run the cafs and grocery shops and keep an eye on her; and the male parasites Jordan unfortunately attracts, among them the married man she's much too good for. This is a feisty, likable, goodhearted heroine with a spirited, unique personality and odd eating habits who will get under the reader's skin. Stella Whitelaw, we want more! (Please :)
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jordan Lacey is delightfully quirky and endearing.,
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This review is from: Pray and Die (Jordan Lacey) (Hardcover)
First Line: "Look, is this really necessary? You know who I am."
Jordan Lacey was on the police force for a short while, but she's not the most politically correct person in England. After telling a superior officer what an idiot he was-- in ringing, bell-like tones in front of all sorts of witnesses-- Jordan finds herself without a job. She decides she's going to be a private investigator, but she doesn't know how much call there is for one in a low crime area like Latching, West Sussex, so she adorns her office windows with displays of secondhand books and bits of glassware and china she's able to pick up on the cheap. More often than not, she has to replenish her display windows. There's also more P.I. business than she thought there'd be. There's the woman who's lost her turtle, and the other woman who believes her husband is cheating on her... and then there's the body of the murdered nun Jordan discovers in an abandoned, boarded-up hotel. Pray and Die is really a character study of a true original more than it's a mystery. Jordan is unique. She's fiercely independent, knows how to live on scarcely any money, and her thought processes don't always run along the same lines as the rest of us. This can be a very good thing. She may secretly hope for a knight on a white charger, but she's more prone to collecting a series of misfits: "So don't come to me for advice about men. I'm a loser. Leave them alone if you can. If you can't, pick a good 'un. If there aren't any around, then get a cat and a library ticket." Although I'm a dog person myself, I think that's excellent advice. Even though I made friends with Jordan while I read about her and I did find this book to be a wonderful character study, the mystery was practically non-existent. If that doesn't matter to you, you should love this book about an endearing, quirky young woman. I do know that Jordan is such a charmer that I'm looking for the second book in this series.
5.0 out of 5 stars
This a great!,
By Emily Rogers (Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pray and Die (Jordan Lacey) (Hardcover)
I have never missed a Stella Whitelaw book! I love them all and this one certainly does not disappoint!
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