Lynn Harris, Death by Chick Lit

Death by Chick Lit

Lynn Harris

Berkley, June 2007, $14.00

ISBN: 0425215245

Thirtyish author of a thriller, Pink Slip, Lola Somerville is enjoying the slings, while wondering where is the star of the book party, writer Mimi McKee of "Gay Best Friend" fame. Lola quickly finds out where Mimi is when she sees the woman lying on the floor with blood everywhere; her throat slashed by a broken martini glass.

Besides needing to faint and puke, Lola sees another book in the making similar to Pink Slip, which was a fictionalized account of her exposing former media giant Ovum, Inc as villainous e. All she has to do is expose the killer; albeit and stay alive to write the fictionalized account. She assumes the culprit is either fortyish chick lit stalker Reading Guy, the victim's boyfriend puzzling Quentin, or anti chick lit combatant Wilma of the Jane Austen Liberation Front. However, as more authors violently die, Lola sees a best seller, while her husband Doug pleads with her to back off so she does not join the dead.

DEATH BY CHICK LIT is a lighthearted, amusing satire that lampoons the invasion of the hard core mystery genre by chick lit amateur sleuths acting like the female reincarnation of Marlowe. The story line is a fast-paced martini, as Lola gets what Lola wants, with a spot on the bestseller lists, but also lands on another deadlier list. Lynn Harris provides a fun tongue in cheek whodunit, chick lit style.