Beth Ciotta, Jinxed

Every once in a great while, a writer comes along and really breaks new ground. What makes Jinxed so different from other detective-dame stories is the totally original 'voice' of author Beth Ciotta. She's quirky with a different style and her characters are very original. The whole package works. I found myself laughing out loud and falling in love with Afia and Jake and flat out rooting for them to succeed on their own and as a couple. Great use of original secondary characters, too. Can't wait to read more from this promising new-to-me author.

Jinxed

Beth Ciotta

Medallion Press, Mar 2004, $6.99

ISBN: 0974363944

Afia St. John feels her life is JINXED with three funerals in seven years to include her father and her two nice elderly husbands. However, her life collapses when her mother's selected finance manager Henry Glick embezzles her money.

Afia's godfather high powered attorney Harman Reece insures her he will catch Glick and offers her a place to stay, but Afia declines feeling she needs to take charge of her life. After being fired twice on her first day at jobs, Harman pays private sleuth Jake Leeds to hire Afia as his office assistant while his sister is on maternity leave. Jake takes Afia with him on surveillance to fool her and his client's target Anthony Rivelli. As the sleuth and the unlucky society dame fall in love, he ignores her plea that something is not right with their client because his attention is on how his beloved will react when she learns he was paid to baby sit her.

JINXED is an enjoyable private investigative romance that has the feel of the 1930s Hepburn-Grant madcap comedies. The story line is fun to follow as Jake does not know whether he needs to lock up or kiss Afia. Though the spin the intrigue takes seems unnecessary, fans of screwball romantic romps will enjoy the love tale of the socialite and the sleuth.

Harriet Klausner