Handbags and Homicide

Starred review from May 12, 2008
Howell's winning debut introduces Haley Randolph, a self-described “crazed, obsessive, handbag whore,” whose designer bag addiction has put her into mega–credit card debt. After Haley loses her accounting job with a prestigious Los Angeles law firm because of suspected embezzlement, she takes a part-time job during the Christmas season at Holt's Department Store, where she connects with Ty Cameron, the store's gorgeous young owner. When Haley becomes a murder suspect after finding the corpse of Holt's despised assistant manager, she resolves to find the true killer. Haley's amusing narrative voice energizes the crime solving and canoodling (“Oh my God, what was I thinking? I couldn't have sex with Ty Cameron to keep my job—I could under other circumstances, of course—but not for a job at Holt's”). Reminiscent of Reese Witherspoon's character in the Legally Blonde
films, Haley evolves from a total airhead into a semi-airhead without breaking a nail. A cool cliffhanger will leave readers eager for Haley's next adventure.

July 15, 2008
Some women love shoes, and others are handbag addicts. Haley Randolph will do anything for a Louis Vuitton or a Kate Spade and has. Now she has taken a second job in a department store to pay off her credit card debt. When she finds the body of the despised assistant store manager, she begins an incredibly inept investigation. Readers of Elaine Viets and Susan Kandel will like this.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2008
Haley Randolph is a designer-handbag addict. To support her habit, she supplements her job as a finance clerk at Los Angeles law firm Pike Warner with a position at Holts, a middling department store. Things go awry when, in the space of a few days, she discovers the Holts assistant manager murdered in the storeroom, and stands accused of embezzlement at Pike Warner. To clear her name on both counts, Haley investigates her coworkers with the help of Jack, a sexy PI. She also develops a crush on Ty Cameron, the young scion of the Holts chain. Howell, who under the pen name Judith Stacy has written 22 historical-romance novels, now takes on the mystery genre with the first in a series featuring quick-to-learn new sleuth Haley. A twist on the traditional whodunit, this light mystery makes up for a lack of gripping suspense with lots of humor and style.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)