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Desiree Shapiro, #1
MYSTERY
 
Desiree Shapiro, New
York P.I. is no hard boiled shamus. She has dimples in her knees,
elbows, and some unmentionable places. Desiree is a chubby gumshoe who
has a mind as sharp as a Cuisinart and a queen size talent for
sleuthing. Her heart is pretty big too, which is why she agrees to take
the case of the poor grocery kid accused of killing the old lady in
apartment 15D for the money stashed in her freezer. Sure, the boy's fingerprints on the refrigerator make the problem sticky, but only until there's yet another murder in the same building. Before anyone can say Haagen-Dazs, Desiree bets she will be able to finger the real killer. She's detoured by dinner with a bachelor, but he, unfortunately, turns into a suspect. So while her love life is chilling out, Desiree cooks up a scheme to trap a lean, mean, decidedly unsavory killer. |
Review based on a re-read
I
read this years ago and remember really liking it, but I think I loved
it even more now. Absolutely wonderful and effortlessly amusing, this is
a series I’ll definitely be continuing while crossing fingers it stays
as good. Seriously the humor is quirky and made me laugh out often.
Desiree has a fun outlook on life and she’s not one of those perfect
heroines who has stellar IQ. She even admits embarrassment to missing
the obvious sometimes.
Desiree is a down-to-earth and realistic
sleuth with high sympathy and addiction to food. She indulges without
apologies and admits to flaws and novice mode in investigations. This is
her first murder assignment so she’s out of her league, but relies on
some friends in the detective department who she of course pisses off.
There are a few side character companions in Desiree’s ring that bring
more life to the party.
Pacing is slower for a mystery but that’s
fine. Desiree’s niece takes some scenes, including a bizarre love
interest twist, but this kind of ties into Desiree’s vulnerabilities
later. The pacing isn’t fast paced enough to make this a book that’s
impossible to put down, but it’s such a fun thing.
The mystery
leads Desiree back and forth through old fashioned detective motions
like interviewing the same people after new facts are learned. It’s back
to the basics but it works. There are several suspects who I wondered
about, and the villain turned out to be a likable person who you kind of
hated for it to be.
And of course COVER LOVE.
