Sex, Murder and a Double Latte

Sophie Katz writes mystery novels. And she writes good mystery novels - complete with people being lynched, burned, drugged and decapitated, killed by use of a hatchet, and beaten with golf clubs. Unfortunately for Sophie, it seems that she is starring in her own mystery, quite literally, in fact. Over the course of a few weeks, she starts to notice that a bunch of things from her book Sex, Drugs and Murder seem to be occurring in her own life. Add this to the fact that JJ Money was murdered in a way quite similar to his song On Top and Alex Tolsky committed suicide in the same way as a character in one of his films Silent Killer (though the suicide was a cover for the murder that had actually occurred), and Sophie is worried - to say the least. Lucky for Sophie, she has her friends (Dena - owner of a sex shop, Mary Ann, and Marcus - her hairstylist) to help her to determine if the random coincidences that match her book are actually coincidences at all. If Sophie is going to solve this mystery, she has to start acting like Alicia Bright, the star of her novels, and do some investigating.

Kyra Davis's debut novel is published by Red Dress Ink, which is the reason that I bought it without reading anything about it except the title. I swear by RDI for all of my chick lit needs, so this book was easy choice (ok - I'm actually in a book club devoted to RDI and this was the pick this month, so I retrieved it off of my shelf to finally read). I've read a couple of mystery novels and my mother is an avid fan that likes to inform me of plots in mystery novels, so this book surprised me. Yes, I've read funny mysteries, but this one had me laughing for pages at a time until my stomach ached. I've also read mysteries where the criminal was obvious from the time he or she was mentioned, and some that kept me guessing. I am happy to say that this novel kept me guessing. There were too many suspects (in a good way) and I frequently switched primary suspects (as I'm sure it was intended). I look forward to reading Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights and Obsession, Deceit and Really Dark Chocolate, the two follow ups to this novel that also star Sophie Katz. I don't know if ODR is the last book in the series, but I hope it isn't because I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series so I can follow Sophie's missteps as well as find out where her new relationship (or is it?) will lead.

This book was published by Red Dress Ink which means that it is probably appropriate for 20+ but I would actually think that readers in their late teens might also enjoy it.

A-Z Challenge
completed - *Davis, Kyra - Sex, Murder and a Double Latte*
*Ensor, Barbara - Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride*
currently reading - *Eclipse - Meyer*
*Breaking Dawn - Meyer*