Scoop
A Cauley MacKinnon
Mystery
Kit Frazier
Midnight Ink (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7387-0915-8 (0738709158)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-0915-4 (9780738709154)
Publication Date: September 2006
List Price: $13.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Banished to the "death page" at the Austin Sentinel
after sleeping with her boss, Cauley MacKinnon is eager to shed her
shameful title as the Obituary Babe and put her new journalism degree
to good use. When her childhood friend Scooter Barnes, exotic pet store
owner and former Dallas Cowboy, threatens suicide, she sneaks into the
crime scene and manages to talk him out of it. But Scooter is later
found dead and everyone -- a hot FBI agent, a menacing one-eared
maniac, the Argentinean mafia, and a flirtatious customs agent -- wants
the scoop on what he told Cauley in his last hours.
Up to her eyelashes in dead bodies, Cauley gets mixed up in a
Texas-sized hunt for Scooter's killer and also manages to fall for a
couple of cuties involved in the murder case.
Review:
Kit Frazier's debut mystery, Scoop,
introduces Cauley MacKinnon currently working as the obituary editor
for an Austin newspaper but looking for her big break as a news
reporter.
She may get her scoop sooner than she thinks when Scott "Scooter"
Barnes is found dead after two unsuccessful suicide attempts. Cauley
doesn't believe he actually killed himself, but there's no real
evidence to think he was murdered. Cauley's persistence, however, pays
off when she's able to connect the importation of exotic animals from
South America with events that took place decades ago and that someone
is willing to keep secret at all costs.
Frazier appears to be trying to appeal to readers of "chick lit" by
having Cauley state in the opening paragraph of the book, "Sometimes I
think the only things standing between me and certain doom are
instinct, pure dumb luck, and a kick-ass hairdresser." But the label
doesn't strictly apply to what follows. True, Cauley is pursued by two
eligible, handsome bachelors, one good for her and one not (both of
whom will no doubt play recurring roles in the future). And she spends
way too much time thinking about her underwear. And yes, there is the
requisite cat. All this and a cover prominently featuring stylish
high-heeled shoes just screams "chick lit". But Scoop is also a serious
mystery with dramatic and suspenseful elements that are well interwoven
to the plot. The only significant lapses in logic have to do with the
backstory behind the murder, though they don't stretch the imagination
so much that they detract from the appeal of the mystery.
Kit Frazier has created a smart, independent, strong-minded woman to be
the heroine of her series, and with Scoop has written a
solid mystery that should appeal to a wide range of readers.
Special thanks to Book Trends for providing an ARC
of Scoop
for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Scoop
Midnight Inc (Trade Paperback), 2006
ISBN-10: 0-7387-0915-8 (0738709158)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-0915-4 (9780738709154)
Dead
Copy
Midnight Inc (Trade Paperback), 2007
ISBN-10: 0-7387-0959-X (073870959X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-0959-8 (9780738709598)
Omnimystery keywords for Scoop ...
Location(s) referenced: Austin, Texas Hill Country.
