Sunday, June 20, 2010

My Review: Shoulder Bags and Shootings

Shoulder Bags and Shootings (Haley Randolph Mysteries)

About the Book: Fashionista and amateur sleuth Haley Randolph is in hot pursuit of the season's newest must- have handbag. But soon she's also in hot pursuit of a killer -- when she discovers the corpse of none other than her designer purse party rival . . .

Life is beyond fabulous at the moment for Haley Randolph. She just spent two amazing weeks in Europe with her boyfriend Ty Cameron, owner of Holt's Department Store where Haley works. And now Ty's grandmother, Ada, is letting Haley drive her way-cool Mercedes. Things would be perfect if she could just get her hands on her latest fashion obsession: the new Sinful handbag.

Every store in town is out of stock, and Haley would rather die than buy a knockoff. But when she finds the body of her nemesis, Tiffany Markham, in the trunk of Ada's Mercedes, she's not so sure she wants to trade places after all . . .

Topping the list of suspects, Haley doesn't deny seeing red when Tiffany and her business partner not only stole her purse party idea, but also made more money. But Haley wasn't jealous enough to commit murder. Now she'll have to solve this mystery quickly -- and find that Sinful bag -- before she becomes a killer's next fashion fatality . . .

My Comments:  You know, sometimes I think you (or at least I) can just be too old to enjoy a book.  The heroine of this book is a 20 something young woman who tells the story in the first person.  Haley is basically marking time  until she decides what she wants to be when she grows up--but what it really seems is that she doesn't want to grow up.  She hates college and hates her job and yet her solution is to consider a college where you can basically buy a diploma. She treats life like a mediocre student treats high school--doing the minimum to get by and ignoring everyone who is telling her a little work will make a big difference.   The story itself is kind of funny, fast-paced--almost breathless and Haley does have a part in catching the bad guy.  Like I said, I'm just a little too old to enjoy the story--or maybe the problem is that Haley reminded me of a couple of young women hired by my firm and given to me to train, who'd act like I was the teacher who gave them an assignment that didn't interest them, so they did the minimum (and not very well).

If it is important to you, the book has no sex scenes but Haley talks about sleeping with her boyfriend--but no details are given except about his pillow talk.

I'd like to thank FSB Media for providing a complimentary review copy.

1 comment:

  1. Shoulder Bags and Shootings sounds good on paper, I guess. Sorry to hear it was a disappointment to you.

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