Pretty Boy: A Novel [Paperback]

Lauren Henderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2002

It’s New Year’s Eve in the quiet English village of Lesser Swinfold, and sculptress Sam Jones has arrived to celebrate the holiday with her old friend Tom, who teaches primary school and lives in a rustic bed-and-breakfast. Sam is not in for a relaxing vacation, though. Hugo, Sam’s city-loving boyfriend, is vexed to no end that they had to leave London for the countryside and won’t let her forget how unhappy he is. However, Hugo’s tantrums are quickly forgotten when Tom’s latest girlfriend is killed and Sam suddenly finds herself thrust again into a murder investigation where Tom is the lead suspect.

While defending her wrongly accused best pal, Sam ends up uncovering more than she bargained for, including her deep attraction to Alan, a young, impossibly gorgeous college student who may hold the key to the entire case. Will Sam’s longing for another adventure set her on course for true love or cause a deadly disaster?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sculptor/sleuth Sam Jones's new adventure, the fifth published in the U.S. (Chained; Black Rubber Dress; etc.) won't disappoint established fans. All the hallmarks are intact: the hipper-than-hip London art scene, the woes of love in the 21st century and enough sex, drugs and booze to merit a special Sam Jones 12-step program. Here Sam's fans get to see her in a new setting: a bucolic village in the English countryside. It starts as a simple New Year's visit with her longtime friend Tom, a schoolteacher besotted with the single mom of one of his students. For this holiday weekend, Sam is reluctantly accompanied by her actor boyfriend, who adroitly sneers at the country folk while lapping up their admiration. With just the right amount of buildup, Henderson thus nicely sets the scene and introduces the characters in a natural, believable way. Shortly after the quarreling lovebirds return to London, Tom is arrested for murdering the woman he has been pursuing. Sam rushes back to the village, and the real sleuthing begins. Henderson has dubbed her school of mysteries "tart noir," but this book falls a wee bit short on both counts. This Sam is more whiny than tarty, and the setting in a prototypically cute English village renders the atmosphere more green than noir. The identity of the murderer is a genuine surprise, but somewhat hard to swallow. For all the ultracool hipness of Sam's life, the story itself follows a very traditional-even, dare we say, ordinary-template.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

With boyfriend Hugo in tow, sexy sculptress Sam Jones (Black Rubber Dress) hopes to taste the bucolic pleasures of the quaint English town of Lesser Swinfold whilst they visit best friend Tom. Shortly, however, Tom's latest girlfriend is murdered, and Sam begins sleuthing. Vivid prose and great plotting.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (September 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609808664
• ISBN-13: 978-0609808665
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sam Jones on the village green, October 4, 2002

By 

Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pretty Boy: A Novel (Paperback)

Holiday time finds our intrepid heroine Sam Jones and her long-suffering boyfriend Hugo out in the English countryside visiting an old friend of hers. Needless to say, violence and death follow Sam like flies do a garbage truck, and sure enough, there's soon a murder mystery to be solved. It is important to Sam, for her best friend is accused of the murder, and Sam must help him. To complicate the entire situation, Sam becomes infatuated by the "pretty boy" of the title, and that certainly doesn't help her rather odd relationship with Hugo. I found the story line quite easy to follow, and even though the ending was a shocker, I did not find it incredible, given the clues scattered haphazardly along the way. Sam's amorous actions, and her reactions, were a bit more difficult to reconcile, but she is a woman with her own mind, and what she wants to have, she usually gets, even if, in the long run, it's not good for her. This is an engaging series, and I enjoy it very much.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, sexy, and good plot twists, May 23, 2003

By 

Rosemary Bailey Brown (United States, Serbia, Croatia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Boy: A Novel (Paperback)

This (so far) final book in the series really shows her growth as a sleuth, but also as an adult. Should she kiss the pretty boy (and he is) or should she move to the next level in a real relationship? Now, I'm panting for the next book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to her old stuff!!, February 20, 2003

By 

C. A Scovel "Christina Scovel" (Los Alamos, NM) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pretty Boy: A Novel (Paperback)

Laura has written a book that goes back to Black Rubber Dress with its style and mystery. It took me till the last 4 pages, where she tells you who did it, to figure it out. Once I knew who did it, the whole story feel into place. But, the story kept me on my toes the whole time.

Sam has yet again stumbled into a murder. This time her best friend Tom has been accused. She spends her time in a small town outside of London debating her relationship with Hugo and trying to figure out who done it. This story is a fast mind-tickling read. I would recommend it to any mystery reader.