Passion, Betrayal and Killer Highlights

March 20, 2006
Following hard on the red spike heels of 2005's Sex, Murder and a Double Latte
, Davis's second whodunit delivers on the promise of the first. Mystery novelist Sophie Katz has a knack for collecting real-life murders. The latest victim is her detestable brother-in-law, Bob Miller, with her sister, Leah, the prime suspect. Bob's sister further muddies the waters with accusations that Leah, the perfect Republican society wife, is playing up her black and Jewish heritage for sympathy in the press. Meanwhile, Sophie and Anatoly, her favorite love-to-hate PI, are investigating Bob's three mistresses and extravagant spending habits as well as their own budding relationship. A cast of charming caricatures—the Jewish mom, the gay hairdresser, the destructive toddler—round out a version of San Francisco in which racial politics are fun to play with and sex is steamier than frothed milk. Davis chooses style over substance, skillfully keeping the snappy dialogue funny all the way to the unsurprising surprise ending, and lands square on target for her chick lit audience.