Claire Fontaine Crime Fighter

April 3, 2006
When Claire Fontaine goes to work for PI Henry Bennett, formerly of the LAPD homicide division, in Enright's amusing and lighthearted debut, it's a clear case of Beauty and the Beast. Claire, 30-something, is wealthy and well connected; Henry, who's in his late 40s, eats junk food and dresses badly. What they share is a keen desire to find the fiend who neatly cut the throat of Beth Valentine, a young party girl, and to stop a serial killer from slaughtering another victim. After a somewhat sluggish start, the pace picks up as Claire demonstrates that her rich-girl persona brings more than pearls and Prada to the mix—the girl has a positive talent for connecting with sleazy Hollywood types. If the repartee between the two sometimes lacks fizz, that may be because Claire's distracted by her attractive and enigmatic neighbor while Henry seems to have left his heart at homicide. Solid plotting and characterization bode well for any future sleuthing adventures featuring this incongruous pair.

May 1, 2006
Claire Fontaine's wealthy father gets her a job as assistant to Henry Bennett, an unkempt, ill-mannered private eye who has been asked by his former coworkers at LAPD's homicide bureau to look into the still-unsolved brutal murder of a young woman left in a derelict building. While Bennett runs down clues and questions people, Claire brings her rich-girl attitude and knowledge to the job. Just when you want to hit her with her Prada bag, she does something so intelligent that you begin to cheer. Her style of coaxing information from suspects involves giving something in return, like the name of a good dermatologist. This makes for an entertaining trip to the crime's solution. As first novels go, this is a keeper. Enright lives in New York.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.