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A review by fictionfan
Design for Murder by Jessica Fletcher, Renee Paley-Bain, Donald Bain
4.0
Danger alert: Jessica Fletcher's in town...
During a catwalk show in New York's Fashion Week, a young model collapses and dies. Rowena Roth had been an unpleasant girl, arrogant and rude, so few people other than her mother could truthfully say they grieved for her loss. It seems like one of those tragic things that happen sometimes – perhaps a heart condition that she had never been aware of. But then a second model is found dead. The question is: are the deaths connected? Fortunately for the NYPD, Jessica Fletcher is in town, ready to offer them as much advice as they can take...
I love the TV series of Murder, She Wrote. It's my go-to cosy for winter afternoons, and I've been known to binge-watch several shows one after the other. This is largely because I think Angela Lansbury is fab in the role, plus the style of the show means that, despite the phenomenal murder rate, nothing distasteful ever really happens, and Cabot Cove still looks like a wonderful spot to spend some time. Would the books work as well without Lansbury's presence?
The story is told in the first-person (past-tense) from Jessica's perspective, so we get to see the thoughts inside her head. Jessica is all sweetness and charm on the outside, and full of some rather waspish thoughts on the inside. I kinda liked that – I always assumed on the TV show that, behind that ultra-friendly exterior, an astute and clear-sighted brain must be ticking away. Like Miss Marple (from whom she's clearly directly descended), Jessica must be an 'expert in wickedness' if she's to see through the façade the villain erects to cover his/her crimes. I found I could easily imagine Angela Lansbury speaking her lines, and the marvellous facial expressions she would have used to convey the unspoken thoughts.
I was rather disappointed that the book was set in New York rather than Cabot Cove. But Seth and Mort both appear during phone conversations, so I didn't have to do without my two favourite men completely. The description of Fashion Week felt thoroughly researched – though given, of course, that Murder, She Wrote spin of cosiness that means it doesn't feel quite authentic to real life. The plot covers the lengths to which young girls will go to succeed in the cut-throat world of modelling, touching on subjects like extreme dieting and cosmetic surgery. The jealousies are shown too, but it's all done with a light touch. And, of course, we don't care about the murder victims, so no dismal grief or angst to contend with.
Jessica is just as irresistible to men as she is in the show – this time it's Detective Aaron Kopecky who's badly smitten by her charms. Got to admit, this was the one bit of the book that I found tedious – Kopecky's admiration became repetitive and his attempts to woo Jessica by dangling information about the case in front of her became laboured and annoying in the end. But it wasn't enough of an issue to spoil the book for me overall.
The plot is quite interesting, and stays more or less within the bounds of credibility. Jessica is at the show because of her friendship with the designer's mother – she and her son both hail from Cabot Cove originally. And it's not long before Jessica is nosing around amongst the models, publicity people, cosmetic surgeons, et al, coming up with stunning insights long before poor Detective Kopecky is even close. I don't think it could really count as fair-play, though maybe that's just sour grapes because I didn't work out the solution. But it's well written – a nice cosy, with the genuine feeling of the show and enough contact with the familiar characters to prevent me missing the Cabot Cove setting too much. I'll cheerfully read more of these, and recommend it not just to fans of the show, but to cosy lovers in general. Good fun!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
During a catwalk show in New York's Fashion Week, a young model collapses and dies. Rowena Roth had been an unpleasant girl, arrogant and rude, so few people other than her mother could truthfully say they grieved for her loss. It seems like one of those tragic things that happen sometimes – perhaps a heart condition that she had never been aware of. But then a second model is found dead. The question is: are the deaths connected? Fortunately for the NYPD, Jessica Fletcher is in town, ready to offer them as much advice as they can take...
I love the TV series of Murder, She Wrote. It's my go-to cosy for winter afternoons, and I've been known to binge-watch several shows one after the other. This is largely because I think Angela Lansbury is fab in the role, plus the style of the show means that, despite the phenomenal murder rate, nothing distasteful ever really happens, and Cabot Cove still looks like a wonderful spot to spend some time. Would the books work as well without Lansbury's presence?
The story is told in the first-person (past-tense) from Jessica's perspective, so we get to see the thoughts inside her head. Jessica is all sweetness and charm on the outside, and full of some rather waspish thoughts on the inside. I kinda liked that – I always assumed on the TV show that, behind that ultra-friendly exterior, an astute and clear-sighted brain must be ticking away. Like Miss Marple (from whom she's clearly directly descended), Jessica must be an 'expert in wickedness' if she's to see through the façade the villain erects to cover his/her crimes. I found I could easily imagine Angela Lansbury speaking her lines, and the marvellous facial expressions she would have used to convey the unspoken thoughts.
I was rather disappointed that the book was set in New York rather than Cabot Cove. But Seth and Mort both appear during phone conversations, so I didn't have to do without my two favourite men completely. The description of Fashion Week felt thoroughly researched – though given, of course, that Murder, She Wrote spin of cosiness that means it doesn't feel quite authentic to real life. The plot covers the lengths to which young girls will go to succeed in the cut-throat world of modelling, touching on subjects like extreme dieting and cosmetic surgery. The jealousies are shown too, but it's all done with a light touch. And, of course, we don't care about the murder victims, so no dismal grief or angst to contend with.
Jessica is just as irresistible to men as she is in the show – this time it's Detective Aaron Kopecky who's badly smitten by her charms. Got to admit, this was the one bit of the book that I found tedious – Kopecky's admiration became repetitive and his attempts to woo Jessica by dangling information about the case in front of her became laboured and annoying in the end. But it wasn't enough of an issue to spoil the book for me overall.
The plot is quite interesting, and stays more or less within the bounds of credibility. Jessica is at the show because of her friendship with the designer's mother – she and her son both hail from Cabot Cove originally. And it's not long before Jessica is nosing around amongst the models, publicity people, cosmetic surgeons, et al, coming up with stunning insights long before poor Detective Kopecky is even close. I don't think it could really count as fair-play, though maybe that's just sour grapes because I didn't work out the solution. But it's well written – a nice cosy, with the genuine feeling of the show and enough contact with the familiar characters to prevent me missing the Cabot Cove setting too much. I'll cheerfully read more of these, and recommend it not just to fans of the show, but to cosy lovers in general. Good fun!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com