At the start of Kaplan’s fun, breezy second mystery to feature ditzy L.A. interior designer Lacy Fields (after 2007’s Looks to Die For
), Lacy’s latest chic client, Cassie Crawford, drops dead while inspecting the decor of the posh penthouse Cassie and her new husband, billionaire Roger Crawford, were planning to buy. Cassie, it turns out, made a fatal mistake by drinking a bottle of arsenic-laced Japanese tea from the penthouse’s Sub-Zero refrigerator. To Lacy’s dismay, the fingerprints of her casting agent pal, Molly Archer, who’s been schmoozing with Roger, are found on the fridge, making Molly a top suspect. But when Billy Mann, Cassie’s biker friend, is murdered after confiding in Lacy that Cassie feared for her life, LAPD Det. Brian Wilson decides Lacy makes a better suspect. While Lacy’s Dolce & Gabbana shoes and her linen Calvin Klein shirt suffer damage near story’s end in a tight fix Edgar Allan Poe might have devised, Lacy’s blithe, la-di-dah spirit remains unscathed. (Aug.)
