The Vampire of Venice Beach: A Novel (Two Pairs of Private Eyes Are Better Than One) [Paperback]

Jennifer Colt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Two Pairs of Private Eyes Are Better Than One | Publication Date: March 27, 2007

A fanged foe is threatening Venice Beach. Can the McAfee twins stop him before he drains the city dry?


Crime-fighting sisters Kerry and Terry McAfee are used to nabbing killers while wearing high heels. But when their pal Darby Applewhite—a.k.a. Ephemera, Queen of the Undead—hires them to work crowd control at the annual Venice Goth Parade, they find themselves sporting black jumpsuits and white makeup instead. Ephemera plans to promote the opening of the highly anticipated Dark Arts Galley by popping out of a coffin just as the guests are brought inside. But when the coffin lid rises, she pitches forward onto the street--and Kerry and Terry are shocked to discover that the Queen of the Undead is in fact dead after all!

Suddenly the parade of harmless misfits is transformed into a stream of potential suspects, and it’s up to the twins to find their friend’s killer. Soon they’re plunged into a nefarious world that includes dentists specializing in prosthetic fangs and a goth cult led by a thug with a forked tongue. Will threats scrawled on their Harley in blood and amorous advances from sexy Detective John Boatwright derail the twins from getting their ghoul? Not bloody likely.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Harley-riding, red-headed identical twins Terry and Kerry McAffee make their way down the Pacific Coast Highway to Venice Beach in this zany third installment (after 2006's The Mangler of Malibu Canyon) to Colt's paranormal series, as they track the killer of their friend Darby Applewhite. Posing as Ephemera, Queen of the Undead, for the Coming Out of the Coffin parade, Darby was to make a grand entrance, but her bloodless, lifeless body tumbles from the coffin instead, and later disappears from the morgue. Darby hired the twins for crowd control, and now Darby's parents press Terry and Kerry for help, drawing them deep into an unholy coverup. Colt enlivens the mystery with snarky social commentary on a subplot involving the twins' rich great-aunt Reba and her Venice Beach charity work. The far-out plot features entertaining characters like a really gross vamp named Shatán, but the standouts are the wisecracking sisters on their shocking pink motorcycle. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Colt's lovable detective duo, redheaded twins Kerry and Terry McAfee, last seen in The Mangler of Malibu Canyon (2006), find themselves on security duty for a group of vampire wannabes at the Venice Goth Parade. The last thing they expect is to end up with an actual dead body on their hands, but that's precisely what happens when the coffin they're carrying opens up to reveal a very dead Queen of the Undead. Ephemera--or Darby Applewhite as the twins knew her in high school--appears to be missing a fatal amount of blood, and tooth marks on her neck suggest the work of vampires. Unwilling to leave the investigation to the police, the McAfee twins question a bevy of suspects, including Darby's fellow goth roommates and a truly frightening rival. But when Darby's body disappears, the twins start to suspect she might not be dead after all. Colt's enjoyably fun series holds up well in its third installment and will have mystery lovers reading rapidly to reach the exciting conclusion. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (March 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767920139
• ISBN-13: 978-0767920131
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of the McAfee Twins novels, starring identical Private Investigators Terry and Kerry McAfee.

"Entertaining from start to finish...awesome, awesome, awesome."
--Empowerment4women.org

http://www.jennifercolt.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an easy, wise-cracking read with plenty or surprises, June 8, 2007

By 

M. R. Campbell (North Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Vampire of Venice Beach: A Novel (Two Pairs of Private Eyes Are Better Than One) (Paperback)

Jennifer Colt's writing is smoother than whipped butter on a hot California afternoon. It's a joy to read and aptly lures the reader into the noticeably odd world of the McAfee twins. Are they expert private detectives or are they simply blessed with more than their fair share of dumb luck spiced with occasional genius? (You be the judge.) What appears, at first bite, to be a simple job of providing protection for a hearse in a "Coming Out of the Coffin Parade," (work to die for, one might say) quickly becomes something else again. Colt is adept at keeping the reader, and the twins, from knowing just exactly what that something else again actually is. People die, or seem to die, or perhaps die and then become undead. In real life, none of this would be funny and anyone caught laughing at it would be rightfully chastised by polite society. But the twins don't live and work in polite society or, more correctly, normal society. So, it's impossible to read "The Vampire of Venice Beach" without laughing, without wondering just what can possibly go wrong next, and who--if anyone--will have any blood still flowing through their veins by the end of the novel. You don't need to be a "social vampire," a goth or a private detective to sink your teeth into this easy reading novel with a well-twisted plot

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twins and Vampires, a great cozy, September 26, 2007

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Vampire of Venice Beach: A Novel (Two Pairs of Private Eyes Are Better Than One) (Paperback)

Twins Kerry and Terry McAfee are at it again! This time they're working for their friend Darby Applewhie, aka Ephemera, Queen of the Undead, to work crowd control at the Venice Goth Parade. But when Ephemera falls out of the coffin dead instead of popping out very much alive, they set out to determine what happened and how she ended up dead.

They find themselves in a dark world with a goth cult led by a thug with a forked tongue and a dentist whose specialty is prosthetic fangs. Will threats scrawled in blood on their Harley stop them? Detective John Boatwright provides his own diversion with his amorous advances.

Can they untangle the myriad of suspects to discover the killer's identity without putting themselves in further danger?

I love these twins. The situations they find themselves in are so entertaining. Plus their many antics make me laugh out loud. I always have trouble putting down a book in this series. I was worried since this one dealt with vampires whether I would like it. The author has done a great job of bringing us into the dark world without making this cozy dark. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to read the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book and series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When will the next one come out?, August 2, 2007

By 

L. Bryan (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Vampire of Venice Beach: A Novel (Two Pairs of Private Eyes Are Better Than One) (Paperback)

Colt has me hooked on her crazy parade of characters and L.A. locales and her wacky, labyrynthine plots. I got a little lost inside this plot, but it was a fun ride and kept me guessing, as usual. I can't wait for the next installment!