At the start of Levine's zany eighth Jaine Austen mystery (after 2009's Killer Cruise
), the L.A. freelance writer and snoop extraordinaire accompanies her Neiman Marcus shoe salesman friend, Lance, to a party at the lavish Beverly Hills estate of “Marvelous Marv, the Mattress King.” Marv's obnoxious trophy wife, Bunny, is one of Lance's best customers. When Bunny dies after drinking a cyanide-laced martini, the LAPD's discovery that Bunny left a $175,000 Maserati to Lance in her will makes him a primo suspect in her murder. Jaine's search for the real killer turns up a host of suspects, including Ellen, Marv's disgruntled first wife; Sarah, Marv's brainy professor daughter, who totally hated her stepmother; and Sarah's unfaithful husband, Owen (aka the “Nerdy Son-in-Law”). A silly subplot involving Vladimir Ivan Trotsky from Uzbekistan, who's obsessed with marrying Jaine, distracts from the main action, but series fans will find Jaine as funny as ever. (May)
