Pick Up Lines for Murder

by Nora LeDuc

Jozy Landis' bad day started when she lost her wallet, but took a deadly turn when she found a body on the school's copy machine and a killer lurking in the shadows. Now she has a murderer on her heels and the police have designated her prime suspect number one. After all, she has a motive. The victim was the woman who stole her credit cards and her boyfriend. Cooper Montgomery's bad day started when the competitor scooped the big murder story. It grew worse when the editor threatened his job unless he came up with some inside information. Now, the main suspect in the murder case has fallen into his lap, guaranteeing the break he's been looking for. Can he use Jozy to make a name for himself in the news world or will the fact she's already gotten the scoop on his heart lead them both to a fatal end?

364 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2010

Reviews

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pick Up Lines for Murder is the story of Jozy Landis, a substitute teacher whose personal and professional life is in a fragile state of flux. Her ability to get her life on a more solid footing is severely threatened when the shadow of murder falls on the elementary school where she is employed.

Having recently been burned by a bad relationship, Jozy is reluctant to trust another man. Even when a high school crush shows significant interest, Jozy’s recent past has left her reluctant to reach out. However, the ever-present threat of an at-large murderer can be a powerful motivator.

Nora LeDuc does a very good job of portraying the circle of friends, family, and neighbors around a young woman, tentatively asserting her independence as she starts her professional career. The reader sees Jozy learn a great deal about her character and coping mechanisms as one obstacle after another is thrown in her path.

Finally, the author does a great job of keeping the whodunit element in question to the very end. If you’re the type of mystery reader who likes a more challenging puzzle, this one’s for you; especially if you like a bit of romance with your mysteries.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book! It’s like one of those mapcap comedy-mysteries of the 1930’s with the smart-mouthed reporter and his equally snappy girlfriend solving the crime. The breezy repartee between Jozy and Cooper reminded me of the dialogue from His Gal Friday, a movie which is mentioned several times in the story. The characters are zany, the story fast-moving, the plot just believable enough not to cause a jangle to the senses. Mention of current events/people/slogans and other modern icons make it just realistic enough. The only problems I had were not with the story itself but with many typos and misuse of words—such as bower for bowler, transpose for transcribe, vertebrate for vertebra, etc.—which an alert editor should have caught. Since I’m judging this story on quality of content and not format, I’m going to ignore those, however, and recommend this novel if you want an entertaining story and a good many chuckles along the way.