A Little Night Murder

June 30, 2014
In Martin’s diverting 10th Blackbird Sisters mystery (after 2013’s Little Black Book of Murder), the financially strapped Philadelphia blue bloods—Nora, Emma, and Libby—have plenty on their collective plate. Nora is pregnant, and a wedding might be in the mix. But she has a job to do as a reporter for the local rag—either to reveal the scoop on fellow society maven Lexie Paine, recently released from prison, or find out what’s going on with the killing of Jenny Tuttle, daughter of a famous composer. Emma appears to be tangled up with a questionable boyfriend, and Libby is trying her hand at a new money-making venture while looking for a new man. Meanwhile, Nora’s love, Michael Abruzzo, is trying his best to clean up his organized crime family’s business. Getting to the facts of Jenny’s murder may be less trouble than settling the personal conflicts in this engaging if chaotic outing. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

August 1, 2014
A reporter whiles away the final days of her pregnancy juggling beaux and solving murders. Nora Blackbird (Little Black Book of Murder, 2013, etc.) is feeling the heat on her aging Bucks County farm as she counts down the days until the arrival of Baby Girl Abruzzo, the first child she expects this summer. The second should arrive closer to fall courtesy of her nephew Rawlins, whose brief but torrid affair with an older woman left her with an unwanted bun in her irresponsible oven. To avoid the swelter, Nora hangs out poolside with her friend Lexie Paine as Lexie avoids the reporters who've stalked her since her recent release from prison. Next door to Lexie's mansion, Fred Fusby pounds the piano as Boom Boom Tuttle, widow of legendary Broadway composer Toodles Tuttle, rehearses for her comeback in a recently discovered extravaganza penned by her late husband. The cast has barely taken a break when Boom Boom's middle-age daughter, Jenny, is found dead in her room. Nora's boss, Gus Hardwicke, editor of the Philadelphia Intelligencer, wants her to exploit her ties to the Tuttles to get the scoop on Jenny's death. He also wants her to rat out her friend Lexie to the Intelligencer's crime reporter. Mostly, though, he wants to get into her pants, undeterred by her burgeoning belly. Nora, who's planning to marry Baby Girl's dad, mobster Michael Abruzzo, is both repelled and fascinated by Gus' ardor but makes intermittent attempts to find Jenny's killer for the sake of her job. Martin's insistence on casting Nora in the dual roles of Earth Mother and Love Goddess deep-sixes any hope of a decent mystery.

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August 1, 2014

The Blackbird sisters are back in their tenth outing (after Little Black Book of Murder) dealing with Philadelphia's high society. Broadway rehearsals next door at the Tuttle mansion are in the spotlight, as is the shocking murder of a Tuttle daughter. Nora attempts to deal with drama--from the killer and her own family.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
The very pregnant society columnist Nora Blackbird has her hands full juggling her job, friends, and family. She is hiding her best friend, Lexie, just released from prison after a manslaughter conviction, from the press while watching her infant nephew and planning her low-key wedding to Michael Abruzzo, who is himself in the process of breaking up the Abruzzo crime family. She is also trying to manage her abrasive boss, Gus Hardwicke, editor of the Philadelphia Intelligencer, who wants information about Lexie's whereabouts and is interested romantically in Nora. When Jenny Tuttle, daughter of the legendary musical composer Toodles Tuttle, is murdered, Gus tells Nora she must write about either Jenny's murder or her friend Lexie, so Nora begins investigating Jenny's murder, in which Nora's soon-to-be mother-in-law, Bridget, is a suspect. Details of Philadelphia society, the life of a society columnist, and musical theater, as well as the relationships among the three Blackbird sisters and Nora and Michael, combine for a satisfying story as the mystery takes a backseat to the personal interactions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)