Clutches and Curses

April 11, 2011
In Howell's frothy fourth mystery featuring handbag-obsessed Haley Randolph (after 2010's Shoulder Bags and Shootings), Holt's Department Store employee Haley seizes the chance to work at a new branch in Henderson, Nev., near Las Vegas after being cursed by an irate customer with an eastern European accent at the L.A. flagship store. Soon after she arrives at the Holt's in Henderson, Haley stumbles on the bloody corpse of a young woman on the floor of the women's dressing room. While the police are a tad suspicious when she claims not to recognize the victim, Courtney Collins, with whom she went to high school, lucky Haley remains free to seek not only the killer but also the Delicious, "the hottest handbag of the season." The well-crafted plot offers plenty of red herrings, though shallow Haley won't appeal to every cozy fan.

April 1, 2011

For a vacuous valley girl, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. Haley Randolph would never leave sunny California.

It's got all her best buds and the greatest shopping ever. When Holt's, the downscale department chain Haley works for, asks seasoned employees to head out to Vegas to help open a new store, Haley says no. Her sort-of boyfriend Ty Cameron's family owns Holt's, so she can't be forced to go, and anyway, she's this close to finding her new obsession: the Delicious bag. So when Haley's former beauty-queen mother demands Haley's presence at a hellacious spa week, Haley's as surprised as anyone to find herself suddenly demanding to go to Vegas. Setting up the new store sounds way boring to Haley, so BFF Marcie Hanover arranges for Haley to meet old friend Courtney Collins via Facebook. Courtney's apparently working on a handbag business, so Haley agrees to hang out with her, but when Haley gets to Holt's, she discovers Courtney's body in the fitting room. Now Haley's a suspect in another murder, a stranger in a big city, and she still can't find the bag of her dreams. What's a girl to do? As much as she tries to stay out of trouble, Haley is a magnet for all things mysterious. Luckily she can count on her new Vegas BFF Maya to have her back while she tries to sort out everything else. Can our girl stay out of trouble long enough to get in one good shopping trip?

Howell's voice almost comes off as a satire of herself (Purses and Poison, 2009, etc.)–a little more compassion would make this series a lot more fun.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)