Genre: Mystery/Chick Lit
Approximate word count: 90-95,000 words
Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
A former award winning screenwriter with a master’s from USC film school who has worked in the fashion industry since 1990, Christine DeMaio-Rice says she likes to structure her novels like movies. She has one previous novel, Blue Valley, which is science fiction. To find out what is currently going on in DeMaio-Rice’s life, check out her blog.
Description:
Laura Carnegie (no relation to Carnegie Hall) is in love with her boss, fashion designer Jeremy St. James. If only he wasn’t gay. When St. James is arrested for murder, Laura finds out that nothing is what it seems as she scrambles to prepare for a fashion show on Friday and find the real murderer.
Dead is the New Black has been designated a “Red Adept Select” book.
Appraisal:
A murder mystery in the world of the New York fashion industry, Dead is the New Black has all the elements of a good mystery: unique characters, plentiful suspects, and several clues that seem to point in different directions until they are all fit together like puzzle pieces. The book also has all the elements of good chick lit: a good dose of humor and a protagonist who has some goals, in this case both romantic and professional, that are met in the end — not necessarily in the way they desired, but in a way that is satisfying.
Although I’m not a follower of the fashion industry (I might even be called an anti-fashionista), I’m always interested in finding out about new things. A bonus for me was a glimpse into how the fashion industry works. The author gives just enough of this to provide context and spice, but doesn’t overdo it.
FYI:
Limited adult language.
Format/Typo Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: **** Four stars
3 comments:
Thanks for getting to this. I appreciate the feedback. Ok I admit I'm somewhere way past "appreciate," but I'm trying not to squee all over your blog.
On the strength of your review of her new one in the same setting I've just finished a sample of this. As soon as I finished that I bought the rest, and look forward very much to reading it. It's well good. Indeed, I think it may be the best indie book that has entered my Kindle to date. Yay!
Thanks, Judi. I'm both glad and not surprised that you aren't disappointed.
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