07 August 2006

Book Banter -- How to Murder a Millionaire


Title: How to Murder a Millionaire
Author: Nancy Martin
Length: ~270 pages
Genre: mystery/chick lit
Plot Basics: Nora Blackbird's parents take off leaving her and her two sisters nothing but their family estate, some antique furniture and a stack of bills. To help make a dent in family debt Nora takes a job as a society columnist offered to her by a close family friend, Rory Pendergast, owner of the newspaper. At a swanky party Rory hosts, Nora finds him dead and decides that she needs to become an amateur sleuth and find out who the murderer is.
Banter Points: Charming. With so many female amateur sleuths out there, Martin does a good job of giving Nora some quirks to set her apart.
Bummer Points: Since it's a chick lit/mystery book, Nora of course has to meet a handsome but mysterious man. Word Nerd felt like honestly there were scenes between them that must have been cut in the final manuscript because their burgeoning relationship felt very choppy.
Word Nerd recommendation: It's cute enough and quirky enough that Word Nerd will check out the other books in the series.

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