Death of a Trophy Wife

February 15, 2010
At the start of Levine's zany eighth Jaine Austen mystery (after 2009's Killer Cruise
), the L.A. freelance writer and snoop extraordinaire accompanies her Neiman Marcus shoe salesman friend, Lance, to a party at the lavish Beverly Hills estate of “Marvelous Marv, the Mattress King.” Marv's obnoxious trophy wife, Bunny, is one of Lance's best customers. When Bunny dies after drinking a cyanide-laced martini, the LAPD's discovery that Bunny left a $175,000 Maserati to Lance in her will makes him a primo suspect in her murder. Jaine's search for the real killer turns up a host of suspects, including Ellen, Marv's disgruntled first wife; Sarah, Marv's brainy professor daughter, who totally hated her stepmother; and Sarah's unfaithful husband, Owen (aka the “Nerdy Son-in-Law”). A silly subplot involving Vladimir Ivan Trotsky from Uzbekistan, who's obsessed with marrying Jaine, distracts from the main action, but series fans will find Jaine as funny as ever.