About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

LOOKS TO DIE FOR
by Janice Kaplan
Touchstone, February 2007
304 pages
$24.00
ISBN: 1416532110


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Lacy Fields is married to a successful Hollywood plastic surgeon, lives in a palatial home in posh Pacific Palisades with their three lovely children and even finds time to run her own fabulous interior decorating business. Her life, it seems, is perfect. That is until two homicide detectives invade their home one night and arrest her husband Dan, charging him with the murder of an aspiring actress he says he has never met.

Caught in the middle of a strenuous treadmill workout, Lacy rushes to the police station in her workout bra and shorts, determined to save Dan from what she is sure are erroneous charges. When she learns that there's nothing she can do for him there, she drives to their lawyer's home at 3am seeking help. The lawyer puts her in contact with an expensive top-notch criminal defense attorney named Chauncey who agrees to take Dan's case.

When Lacy and Dan meet Chauncey the following morning, however, it becomes clear that Chauncey has little interest in trying to prove an alternative theory of the crime by finding the real killer. He's too busy concentrating on legal technicalities and the possible plea bargains Dan might enter into. Chauncey believes that the LAPD must have some pretty good evidence against Dan, a prominent citizen known for his charitable work, in order to have brought such heinous charges.

This is where Lacy, with the help of her best friend, Molly, really swings into high gear, using her insider knowledge of Hollywood and her connections to hairdressers and people 'in the business' to ferret out the truth behind the aspiring starlet's murder.

Along the way she runs into casting directors, television producers, talk show stars and advertising executives, all of whom figure in the investigation. She also encounters ex-cons, gets herself into some dangerous situations and literally bleeds for the truth. Even her children get into the act, as anxious as she is to exonerate their father. Through it all, Lacy uses her maternal wit and protective instincts to unite her fractured family and mobilize them in her husband's aid.

This is a funny, fast-paced novel that keeps things light by dropping more brand names and possibly frivolous details than a whole issue of Vogue. Lacy is an engaging protagonist and it's easy to believe that each of the sharply-drawn characters she encounters in her investigation would open up to her.

But best of all, she's a mom who is willing to do whatever it takes to stand by the man she loves and the family they've built together. It's Kaplan's true-to-life portrayal of the trials of raising teenagers that provides the grounding to support the outrageously funny parts of the story.

No question about it, Kaplan's got a future writing this series of fun, frothy, fast, funny, solidly crafted mysteries. This book should be paired with a tall Reidel goblet of perfectly chilled Italian pinot grigio and a nice long soak in the jacuzzi. Warning: A follow-up visit to your favorite fashion-forward boutique might also be required.

Reviewed by Carroll Johnson, October 2006

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]