Full Service Blonde: A Copper Black Mystery

Edwards’s entertaining prequel to Getting Off on Frank Sinatra finds East Coast transplant Copper Black working at a Las Vegas, Nev., newspaper as a recently hired assistant editor, doing jobs like getting coffee for the arts and entertainment editor. Eager to make her mark as a journalist, Copper seizes the chance to accompany a colleague to interview Victoria McKimber, who has just flown back from an appearance on TV’s Morning Show in New York. Victoria, the winner of a sales contest sponsored by a beauty products company, has become a hot news item since the company’s top brass rescinded her crown and other perks after learning she worked as a prostitute at a Nevada brothel. Victoria later dies in an unlikely accident, and a visit to her husband ends with Copper stealing Victoria’s tape recorder. Meanwhile, Copper’s Episcopal priest brother and his wife are having trouble putting together a big land deal for the Alliance for the Homeless. Readers will enjoy smart, sassy Copper as she handles family and professional crises with aplomb. (Nov.)