A
Job To Kill For
A
Lacy Fields Mystery
Janice
Kaplan
Touchstone
(Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-4165-3213-7 (1416532137)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-3213-2 (9781416532132)
Publication Date: August 2008
List Price: $24.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): As a tireless mom of three, the doting spouse of a
surgeon, and a talented interior designer to the stars, Lacy Fields can
always find the perfect piece to finish a puzzle, a living room -- or
an investigation.
When Lacy's beautiful young client Cassie Crawford drops dead after a
sip of tea in her newly decorated L.A. penthouse, Lacy once again finds
herself in the midst of murder. She's stunned when suspicion lands on
her own best friend, hot Hollywood casting agent Molly Archer -- whose
"friendship" with Cassie's billionaire mogul husband brings her to the
attention of the LAPD.
Lacy will have to set aside seeking antiques to hunt down a dangerous
killer. But this time, she's not alone. Sleuthing becomes a family
affair: her son, Grant, works underground (literally) at UCLA to help
her; fifteen-year-old Ashley is consoled by celebrities when her mom is
hauled off by cops; Lacy's husband, Dan, provides forensics; and even
little six-year-old Jimmy helps Mom find a murderer.
From a rough-and-tumble biker with a heart of gold to a relentless
university fund-raiser, Lacy will follow every one of Cassie Crawford's
precarious footsteps in order to clear her best friend's name. But by
doing so, will she put her own family in the path of a desperate killer?
Review:
Los Angeles interior designer Lacy Fields, decorator to the stars, gets
a chance to use her hobby as an amateur sleuth once again in A Job To Kill For,
the second mystery in this series by Janice Kaplan.
Lacy's latest job is to decorate the new penthouse of billionaire
tycoon, Roger Crawford, and his latest wife Cassie. When Cassie meets
with Lacy to view the final touches, Cassie checks everything,
including the refrigerator where she is delighted to find a few bottles
of her favorite tea. Offering Lacy a bottle that she politely declines,
Cassie proceeds to take a drink and moments later is dead. The tea had
been poisoned and Lacy was the last person to see Cassie alive. The
police put her name atop the suspect list. But there are others who had
access to the penthouse. Molly, Lacy’s best friend from
college, and billionaire Roger were seen going into the penthouse the
evening before the murder, though Roger claims he had not yet been
given a key. Questions definitely needed to be answered, but Lacy
thinks the police are asking all the wrong questions to all the wrong
people. She knows that if she can cross the threshold of a flea market
and zero in on an unrefined treasure, she can make use of her obvious
deduction and reasoning skills in locating a killer.
A
Job To Kill For is a fresh,
light-hearted, at times even droll, mystery that provides great
escapist entertainment. The narrative is fast-paced and the plot
pleasingly complex without being convoluted. As is typical of this
subgenre, special attention is paid to who is wearing which designer
and how smart it all looks. But Kaplan enriches her story with Lacy's
family life ("Work hard while you are working, but give 110 percent to
family when you are at home.") that admittedly suffers when she adds
detecting to her day job of decorating. Though her husband and children
don't have a lot of face time, as it were, they are an integral and
memorable asset to the story.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Job To Kill For and to Touchstone for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read A Job To Kill For? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Looks to
Die For
Touchstone (Hardcover), February 2007
ISBN-10: 1-4165-3211-0 (1416532110)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-3211-8 (9781416532118)
A Job To Kill For
Touchstone (Hardcover), August 2008
ISBN-10: 1-4165-3213-7 (1416532137)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-3213-2 (9781416532132)
Omnimystery
keywords for A Job To Kill For
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Location(s) referenced: Los Angeles, California.
