Customer Reviews

Smile Now, Die Later

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This book is more romance than mystery. Its central character, Zoe Templeman, is a textile restorer who does freelance work for antique dealers in London. Her lover is a successful cosmetic surgeon with a flat in Belgravia and a large country place. His stitching is more lucrative than hers. The story begins with Zoe finding an important client hanged in his own studio. In trying to shield his housekeeper, a beautiful Pakistani prostitute, and her asthmatic son from police attention, she complicates her own life. In the process Zoe discovers that her lover has secrets of his own. After this promising start the story goes tepid. Armstrong telegraphs the solutions to her dual mysteries long before her heroine figures them out.

Armstrong writes crisp, sometimes witty dialogue, but her storytelling is eccentric. At times she switchs from Zoe's perspective to that of other characters for no apparent reason. Much of the plot's action takes place offstage while Zoe is introspecting about her love life and business problems. The reader learns nothing about textile restoration, the antique business, or cosmetic surgery because we see almost nothing of Zoe or her surgeon at work. The story ends with love triumphant, but with precious little resolution.