Anne Flett-Giordano, one of the writers and producers behind television favorites such as Frasier and Desperate Housewives, makes her first foray into novel-length fiction with Marry, Kiss, Kill, a spunky whodunit, and could become Southern California's answer to Carl Hiaasen.
The first victim is blues busker Charley Beaufort. Late-30-something Santa Barbara police detective Nola MacIntire and her partner, Tony Angellotti, take the case, and Nola doesn't buy the theory that a junkie found with Charley's guitar is the killer. Next, a wealthy man seemingly commits suicide, but Nola thinks his unbelievably beautiful and vapid "Viagra wife" pulled the trigger. As more victims turn up, Nola and Tony find themselves smack in the middle of a conspiracy involving film festivals, ecoterrorism and a real estate scheme--but hopefully not the gorgeous Air Force major Nola meets in the course of the investigation. With Nola's razor-sharp instincts and Tony's charm, the pair of sleuths might just manage to catch a killer, avert a major catastrophe and untangle their love lives before it's too late.
Flett-Giordano proves that the rapid-fire banter and tight plotting required for a television sitcom translate perfectly to the mystery genre. Nola and Tony's camaraderie refreshingly eschews romantic tension in favor of true friendship. A smart, occasionally snarky woman who values the wisdom of maturity but simultaneously searches for the perfect anti-aging cream, Nola is a character after many readers' hearts. We expect that after watching her take on bombshells both literal and figurative, Flett-Giordano's leading lady will win those hearts handily. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads