This Pen for Hire
Series: Jaine Austen Mystery Book #1
Author: Laura Levine
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 218
My Rating:
Book Summary
Smarmy personals ads. Daring declarations of love. Writer-for-hire Jaine Austen has penned them all. But when one of the love connections she made is broken up by murder, Jaine finds herself freelancing free-of-charge–and uncovering more than she bargained for. . .
No one seems to need her help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple enough: a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he’s never actually met the woman gives Jaine pause–but she soon overcomes her misgivings, warms up her computer, and starts pitching woo on Howard’s behalf.
To Jaine’s surprise, the letter is a success–the unlikely Romeo lands a date! But his triumph is, sadly, short-lived. On Valentine’s Day, Howard finds Stacy bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master–and is quickly named the prime suspect.
Upon hearing the news, Jaine is shocked. Sure, Howard’s awkward, eccentric, and a tiny bit odd. But a murderer? That’s hard to believe. Especially after a little sleuthing turns up a whole bunch of people who harbored less-than-loving feelings towards the svelte Stacy.
But Jaine had better wrangle her clues quickly, before a crafty killer catches on–and puts a whole new spin on her ghost writing career. . .
More Facts for Readers about our Sleuth:
Main Sleuth: Jaine Austen (age 36)
Physical Description: White female, curvy, brown curly hair
Best friend: Kandi Tobolowski
Location: Beverly Hills, California
Time of Year: February
Business: writer for hire, company called “This Pen for Hire”
Pet: 1 cat named Prozac
Love Interest: Cameron Bannick (blue eyed white guy)
Family: Mom
Cussing? Yes
Diversity? Yes and No. This book was written in the early 2000s before a time of “wokeness” so while the main sleuth is a white female who seems liberal and open-minded she is also self aware of her own stereotypical ways of thinking. She mentions attraction to Antonio Banderas and a makes kind remarks about handsome Hispanic men she notices… but there’s also a scene where she hurries out of an elevator with a black man because he looks “like a mugger” and it turns out he’s a really nice doctor. But she calls herself out and chastises herself and her actions. It’s the stereotypical “fear of black men” trope and yet the author is calling attention to this line of thinking as if to point out its inappropriateness. But there’s also stereotypical Russian and Jewish characters – again, not really referred to negatively, but it’s this sort of thinking and writing that modern writer’s are moving away from – the whole putting entire groups of people in a box thing. Know what I mean?
My Review
If you like the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich then you’ll like this! “This Pen for Hire” is book 1 in the Jaine Austen murder mystery series by Laura Levine. It’s got tons of early 2000s references (Jennifer Aniston, Seinfeld, Ally McBeal, etc) and unlike other cozies it’s not set in a small town – it’s set in Beverly Hills where apparently men are scarce, everyone has sex on the brain, paying rent is top priority, and feminism was a whole lot different. It’s pretty funny and shorter than most modern day cozies (only 218 pages). As I was reading I found myself wondering if (at 31) I’m the last generation that can appreciate the references in this book?
My Millenial ideals regarding feminism are really different than those portrayed in this book but it didn’t less my reading experience – it just made me analyze how far as a gender we’ve come. Jaine reads as fairly desperate – for a date, for a sex life, for work – all while obsessing about her weight, her bills, her future – and it just made me kind of sad. I’ve never emotionally or mentally been in the same boat in regards to feeling desperate – but I can’t help but think that this is the author’s interpretation of what a “cool chick” would think like. And hey, maybe in the early 2000s that was accurate?
But if anything, reading about a sleuth so different from yourself – makes it more of an escape. And the writing itself was quippy, fast-paced, full of easy humor, with a solid mystery and plenty of red herrings. And it was certainly sexy, so if you like a more mature cozy that’s not quite so PG then you’re in for a good time. Ultimately, I look forward to reading book 2 and I give this book 5 stars.
