Death by tiara

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Title:

Death by tiara

Author:

Levine, Laura, 1943- author.

ISBN:

9780758285065

Edition:

First Kensington Hardcover edition.

Physical Description:

viii, 263 pages ; 22 cm.

Series:

Jaine Austen mystery.

Subject Term:

Austen, Jaine (Fictitious character) -- Fiction.

Women authors -- Fiction.

Women detectives -- California -- Los Angeles -- Fiction.

Beauty contests -- Fiction.

Teenage girls -- Fiction.

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Fiction.

Genre:

Mystery fiction.

Humorous fiction.

Summary:

When she is hired to write lyrics for a contestant in the talent competition for the Miss Teen Queen America pageant, freelance writer Jaine Austen is plunged into a glittering nightmare of vicious stage moms, exacting judges and trash-talking teens after a catfight turns deadly.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	MYSTERY LEV	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	MYSTERY LEV	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	MYSTERY LEV	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Freelance writer Jaine Austen is hired to write novelty lyrics for a contestant in the Miss Teen Queen America contest. Soon she is embroiled in the cutthroat world of beauty pageants, where pageant moms duke it out like barracudas in Spanx, and teenage daughters show off their dubious talents in costumes studded with enough sequins to choke a Rockette. Everyone cringes under the rule of the autocratic pageant director--a bribe-taking, blackmailing snake of a woman. It's no surprise when one of the

pageant director's many enemies sets out to kill her. But tragedy strikes when the killer winds up attacking the pageant director's mousy assistant by mistake, bludgeoning her to death with a rhinestone tiara. When Jaine's client is accused of the murder, Jaine sets out to find the real killer--all the while trying to impress the impossibly snobby parents of her hot new boyfriend.

Author Notes

Laura Levine is a comedy writer whose television credits include The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley, The Love Boat, The Jeffersons, Three's Company, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Her work has been published in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. She lives in Los Angeles, and is currently working on the next Jaine Austen mystery. Readers can visit her website at lauralevinemysteries.com.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

At the start of Levine's entertaining 13th Jaine Austen mystery (after 2013's Killing Cupid), L.A. freelancer Jaine, who's accustomed to writing ads for drycleaners, roofers, and plumbers, agrees to compose a song for Taylor Van Sant, a contestant in the Orange County division of the Miss Teen Queen America beauty pageant. Taylor's mother, a former garlic festival queen, is sure that original lyrics will make her daughter stand out from the crowd, and Jaine is happy to pocket the $500 fee. At the beauty pageant, held at a rundown hotel, Jaine discovers that the event's formidable director, Candace Burke, is engaged in a little blackmailing. When someone fatally bludgeons Candace's assistant with a rhinestone tiara, perhaps mistaking her for her boss, Jaine turns sleuth. Meanwhile, Jaine, "a woman whose spiciest romance in the last several years had been with Chef Boyardee," is thrilled to be dating homicide detective Scott Willis, whom she met in Killing Cupid. Humorous emails from Jaine's parents-dad is obsessed with his golf cart, mom with dieting-add to the cozy fun. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

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