Purses and Poison

May 11, 2009
At the outset of Howell's sprightly sequel to 2008's Handbags and Homicide
, handbag-obsessed 24-year-old Haley Randolph is working part-time at L.A.'s Holt's Department Store, owned by her quasi-boyfriend, Ty Cameron, to pay back the debt she's accumulated—buying designer handbags and clothes, of course. When fashion model Claudia Gray, Ty's former girlfriend, turns up dead in a women's restroom at Holt's, the police soon determine that Claudia ate poisoned fruit from a fruit bouquet from Edible Elegance, Haley's mom's company, sent to the victim. To eliminate her mom as a murder suspect as well as herself, Haley launches her own investigation while dealing with her relationship with Ty and another new boyfriend. While some readers may decide the author ends too many chapters with the exclamation “Oh, crap,” Howell has concocted a solid mystery sure to appeal to younger, fashion-conscious mystery fans.

May 15, 2009
Valley girl investigates murder, gets free Judith Leiber bag.

Haley Randolph is just trying to be your average SoCal college girl, a task complicated by the mix-up last year that implicated her in murder (Handbags and Homicide, 2008) and the fact that she'd rather be studying the newest lines of handbags than studying for classes. Added to all this is her part-time job at Holt's Department Store, which keeps her close to her sort-of-boyfriend Ty Cameron, the store's owner, but forces her to wait on people who actually want to buy Holt's clothes. So of course it's worse than inconvenient when model Claudia Gray, Ty's ex, turns up dead at the employee luncheon. Not only is Haley a suspect, as she was mysteriously MIA when the deed went down, but her mother also makes the police department's short list. In order to clear their names and redirect Ty's attention from his store's bad press back to her, where it belongs, Haley must turn sleuth again. There's an ever-growing list of suspects to wade through, and Haley gets mixed up in a series of goofball mishaps that quickly spiral out of control. The story is told by Haley, who's witty and too cool for school. The effect can be biting, but Haley's sympathy for even the most uncouth neighbors shows that her heart's in the right place.

A treat for those with a passion for fashion. No doubt this sassy heroine's in for a long run.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2009
Haley Randolph is a 24-year-old shopaholic with a special interest in designer purses, handbags, shoulder bags, and wallets. Her adventures as an amateur sleuth are as lightweight and frothy as she is herself. Haley, the daughter of a former California beauty queen and an engineer, has decided she wants an important job and recognizes that a college degree is necessary if that is to happen. Of course, she mostly skips classes and forgets to do her homework, but there are always more important things to take care of. To earn spending money, Haley is also working part-time at Holts Department Store and sort of dating the owner, Ty Cameron. Things get complicated when Tys former girlfriend is murdered at a store luncheon, and Haley might be a suspect. The mystery is not quite as predictable as the first in the series (Handbags and Homicide, 2008), but its still a quick read with lots of humor. In what will apparently be a trademark for the series, the story ends with a cliff-hanger, preparing the way for Haleys next zany adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)