Sophie Katz is a writer of murder mysteries. Her latest book, Sex, Drugs, and Murder, has just been published, and a prominent Hollywood director has just committed suicide. Or has he? Sophie is immediately suspicious, because the way he chose to die also appeared in one of his movies. Soon it becomes clear that life imitates art; that is, life is beginning to imitate the things that took place in Sex, Drugs, and Murder.
Sophie receives a strange note that reads, "You reap what you sew." She also gets strange calls where the caller simply hangs up. Sophie's home is then broken into, then her car is ripped apart, and a woman is hatcheted to death in a park. These events are just too eerie for Sophie to ignore.
She comments that the person who committed all these acts must have been a genius; I beg to differ. None of the vandalism and murder that takes place in this book is original; Sophie has written about it in the past. I reason that a genius would have come up with his own methods of killing- unless this certain killer is trying to make a particular statement? Added into the mix is Anatoly, Sophie's new love interest. He seems like a really great guy- but then suspicion falls upon him, and Sophie isn't so sure that he's all that he appears. She isn't so sure about the integrity of her best friend's new guy either, a vampire wannabe who seems to be a little off the deep end. The other suspect is Andy, a simple young man who works at the neighborhood grocery store. Sex, Murder and a Double Latte could have been a really great book.
The promise is all there: a murder mystery within a chick lit book. But Ms. Davis chose to populate her book with clichéd characters: the gay hairdresser friend, the love interest who grates on the heroine's nerves at first, and the slightly psychopathic mother. This makes for uninteresting reading in many places. Although the murderer isn't revealed until its almost too late, its pretty obvious from the start who the killer isn't (or have I read too many murder mysteries?) This is a pretty entertaining book if you take it all with a grain of salt: most of this stuff wouldn't ever happen in real life, especially the part about Anatoly and Sophie's budding relationship. In all, this book is witty, though it goes over the top in some places. But regardless, it's a pretty frothy book that many will be able to finish in an afternoon- or less.
Also reviewed by: Sam's Book Blog
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