Description:

All Molly Forrester wants is to find that one big story that can redirect her journalism career away from the sex/relationship advice column she writes for Zeitgeist magazine ("wedged somewhere between Marie Claire and Cosmo") and back to the serious news business. But she didn't expect to trip over it, especially when "it" turned out to be the bloody body of one of her coworkers, and she certainly didn't expect to ruin her brand new Jimmy Choos over it. Never mind, though--she knows that solving the murder of one of the magazine world's most notorious lady's men will solve all her problems, including assauging her guilt for blowing a month's salary on a pair of shoes ruined in one night. All Molly needs is a little help from her girlfriends, and perhaps a few detecting lessons from that cute homicide detective.... Or is he cozying up because he thinks she's a killer? Sheryl Anderson delivers this totally charming, wildly clever, and puzzling debut about murder - and sex - in the Big Apple. What her characters find, is that, compared to negotiating Manhattan's singles scene, solving one eensy teensy stabbing shouldn't be that big a deal, right? ** ### From Publishers Weekly Mix a splash of Carrie Bradshaw, a dash of Stephanie Plum and a wee bit of Kinsey Millhone and you have Molly Forrester, advice columnist ("You Can Tell Me") for *Zeitgeist* magazine by day and amateur sleuth by night. At the start of Anderson's debut comic crime novel, Forrester literally steps in it-gooey blood, that is-when she returns to the office late one night and stumbles over a dead coworker. Molly's spanking new Jimmy Choos are covered in blood and she's soon knee-deep in sex, lies and crime-scene tape. Thrown into the fray are a hottie cop named Kyle Edwards; Molly's two gal pals, lawyer Cassady Lynch and event planner Tricia Vincent; and soon-to-be ex-boyfriend Peter Mulcahey, who happens to be a reporter for a rival magazine. Can Molly solve the murder and segue into a serious writing career? Or is using the death of a coworker as a major career move utterly uncouth? ("I always knew I'd make my mark on the world. I just didn't expect it to be one of those chalk outlines they draw around dead bodies.") While Molly explores her options, there's a second murder, and financial irregularities pop up in *Zeitgeist*'s accounting department. Ample laughs help propel a well-crafted plot. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### From Booklist A pseudonymous husband-and-wife writing team debuts a series sure to please *Sex and the City* fans. In fact, similarities between *Sex* heroine Carrie Bradshaw and Anderson's Molly Forrester abound: both are Manhattan columnists who lust after expensive shoes and often pick the wrong man. Like Carrie, Molly has beautiful and wealthy New York sidekicks, Cassady and Tricia, both of whom have plenty of time and money. Molly's rather unexciting job at *Zeitgeist* magazine heats up when she and Cassady visit the office at night and stumble over the dead body of advertising director Teddy Reynolds. If she can find the killer, Molly will have a story she can peddle to bigger magazines--and thus move up a notch on the career ladder. With Teddy's many mistresses and enemies, however, that will be no easy task. Not helping is Molly's attraction to handsome homicide detective Kyle Edwards. Swanky New York locales and designer accessories abound in this fun if slightly implausible tale. For readers who care more about Prada than police procedure. *Jenny McLarin* *Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved*