Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die
by Nancy Martin
You could say my sisters and I are hot-blooded bluebloods with a flair for fashion—and for solving crimes. But things have NOT been going well for us Blackbirds: Emma has busted out of a very exclusive clinic. Libby’s hormones are in overdrive from selling paraphernalia for Potions and Passions, a company that promises its customers full satisfaction. And I’m still dating mobster’s son Mick Abruzzo, which keeps me in a permanent tizzy. At least, nobody in my vicinity has been knocked off lately. Oops—looks like I spoke too soon…
A TEMPEST IN A C-CUP
Nora’s next journalistic assignment: the unveiling of the most miraculous bra in fashion history. But before Nora can hand in her uplifting story, her boss is found shot execution-style and trussed up in expensive panty hose—an Abruzzo family trademark. Now Nora must find the killer before her innocent lover takes the rap. That means shadowing the most glamorous suspects in Philadelphia—including a bad-boy designer, a former child star, a high-strung ad exec, and a pair of luscious twin models. Though Nora’s accustomed to upper-crust murder, cross your fingers for the Blackbird sisters, because this time, high society has never seemed so low-down dirty.
**From Publishers Weekly
The three high-flying Blackbird sisters make their hardcover debut in their fourth mystery (after 2004's Some Like It Lethal), a blend of fashion-forward romance and witty suspense. When not assisting Kitty Keough, a Philadelphia society columnist, former debutante Nora Blackbird strives to save the family farm after the sisters' parents "spent our trust funds faster than drunken lottery winners could buy a fleet of Cadillacs." Meanwhile, wild baby sis, Emma, escapes rehab with a media cowboy, and fertile sis, Libby, keeps popping out babies. Assigned to cover the Philly launch for Brinker Holt's revolutionary Brinker Bra ("No need for straps or uncomfortable wires"), Nora recalls Brinker was the creepy preppie who once assaulted Emma and tortured other kids for fun. When Kitty, whom Brinker barred from the show, turns up dead on Nora's doorstep, Nora's lover, Michael Abruzzo, becomes the primary suspect due to his mob connections. Nora, Libby and ace crime reporter Richard D'eath's efforts to investigate more likely suspects lead to a madcap dénouement just in time for Nora's annual New Year's Eve bash and a sparkling but bittersweet surprise. Martin's wicked tongue-in-cheek satire will appeal to fans of Jennifer Crusie, who provides a blurb, and Janet Evanovich.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Nora Blackbird is no singing star, but she knows how to act like a diva, complete with the designer clothes and the little dog in her arms. But Nora is one thing most divas are not: she is broke. Determined to save the family manse outside Philadelphia, frittered away by her parents, Nora is forced (shudder) to get a job. As an assistant for fashion-writer Kitty Keough, she does grunt work for little recognition--such as covering the unveiling of the hot new "Brinker bra." After fighting the crowds for a seat, Nora is shocked to find that her sister Emma, supposedly in rehab, is the top bra model. She is even more shocked to return home and find her boss, Kitty, dead on her doorstep. It's perhaps not quite so shocking to learn that her "mobbed-up" boyfriend is the prime suspect. This third in the Blackbird Sisters series (and first to appear in hardcover) is a laugh-out-loud comic mystery as outrageous as a pink chinchilla coat. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
A TEMPEST IN A C-CUP
Nora’s next journalistic assignment: the unveiling of the most miraculous bra in fashion history. But before Nora can hand in her uplifting story, her boss is found shot execution-style and trussed up in expensive panty hose—an Abruzzo family trademark. Now Nora must find the killer before her innocent lover takes the rap. That means shadowing the most glamorous suspects in Philadelphia—including a bad-boy designer, a former child star, a high-strung ad exec, and a pair of luscious twin models. Though Nora’s accustomed to upper-crust murder, cross your fingers for the Blackbird sisters, because this time, high society has never seemed so low-down dirty.
**From Publishers Weekly
The three high-flying Blackbird sisters make their hardcover debut in their fourth mystery (after 2004's Some Like It Lethal), a blend of fashion-forward romance and witty suspense. When not assisting Kitty Keough, a Philadelphia society columnist, former debutante Nora Blackbird strives to save the family farm after the sisters' parents "spent our trust funds faster than drunken lottery winners could buy a fleet of Cadillacs." Meanwhile, wild baby sis, Emma, escapes rehab with a media cowboy, and fertile sis, Libby, keeps popping out babies. Assigned to cover the Philly launch for Brinker Holt's revolutionary Brinker Bra ("No need for straps or uncomfortable wires"), Nora recalls Brinker was the creepy preppie who once assaulted Emma and tortured other kids for fun. When Kitty, whom Brinker barred from the show, turns up dead on Nora's doorstep, Nora's lover, Michael Abruzzo, becomes the primary suspect due to his mob connections. Nora, Libby and ace crime reporter Richard D'eath's efforts to investigate more likely suspects lead to a madcap dénouement just in time for Nora's annual New Year's Eve bash and a sparkling but bittersweet surprise. Martin's wicked tongue-in-cheek satire will appeal to fans of Jennifer Crusie, who provides a blurb, and Janet Evanovich.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Nora Blackbird is no singing star, but she knows how to act like a diva, complete with the designer clothes and the little dog in her arms. But Nora is one thing most divas are not: she is broke. Determined to save the family manse outside Philadelphia, frittered away by her parents, Nora is forced (shudder) to get a job. As an assistant for fashion-writer Kitty Keough, she does grunt work for little recognition--such as covering the unveiling of the hot new "Brinker bra." After fighting the crowds for a seat, Nora is shocked to find that her sister Emma, supposedly in rehab, is the top bra model. She is even more shocked to return home and find her boss, Kitty, dead on her doorstep. It's perhaps not quite so shocking to learn that her "mobbed-up" boyfriend is the prime suspect. This third in the Blackbird Sisters series (and first to appear in hardcover) is a laugh-out-loud comic mystery as outrageous as a pink chinchilla coat. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved