Not Crusie’s best, but her work is always good, and this one is as fun and witty as others. This time, the relationship is between Mae and Mitch, who couldn’t be more different. Mae, a niece to three questionable characters, and Mitch a Private Investigator… or is he? The best thing about this book is the banter, which Crusie never seems to get wrong. ( )

I ♥ Jennifer Crusie's writing, it makes me laugh, feel good, & holds my interest.

I am taking of 1/2 Star for the over dramatized, over-long sex scene.... It was long & tedious. Usually Crusie's sex scenes are pretty good, but this was over the top & boring.

Mae Belle hires Mitch, whom she mistakenly takes for a dummy to investigate Armand's murder & to find his missing diary. What Mae Belle doesn't tell Mitch is that she overheard a snippet of Armand's phone conversation stating that the diary tells where the money is.

Mae Belle's parents died when she was a child, her three uncles (all crooks) drew straws for her and her Uncle Armand (who didn't like children) won.

When Uncle Armand dies, his will leaves everything with the exception of a stipend for his butler & housekeeper and 1/2 of his stocks to Mae Belle.

But the funeral holds a surprise for everyone; the previous week Armand married a Society Maven who decides that as the widow she is moving into Mae Belle's home. Not only is there a widow to contend with, there is no money, there are no stocks, and valuable antiquities & art have been steadily been disappearing from the house.

When Mitch & Mae Bell visit her two other uncles: Uncle Claud, a silent brooding financial wizard (indicted for financial fraud) and Uncle Gio, a rumored hit-man who is also taking care of his sociopath grandson Carlo (in love w/ Mae Belle) all hell breaks loose... All do their best to get Mae Belle away from Mitch, no matter how she demands that Mitch is who she wants at her side investigating Armand's alleged murder.

Included in the family:
* June, Armand's housekeeper & former mistress, surrogate mother of Mae Bell and wife of Harold
* Harold, Armand's sinister butler and protector of Mae Belle
* Stormy, Armand's mistress, stripper, & good-times girl
* Bob, Mae Belle's mentally challenged dog that keeps hitting his head on the kitchen cupboard

It is a fun & fast moving book with a twist of an ending ( )

Witty and fun with a bit of mystery thrown in, me likey (lol). Jennifer Crusie's writing continues to entertain and amuse me. It was good to see Tess and Nick again. ( )

Entertaining who-done-it story that at first it seemed like plot overshadowed romance but it was so funny and eventually romance kicked in. Dressed to seduce, Mae walks into detective Mitch's office to hire him to solve a murder.
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I loved this story. It kept a great pace through out and I believed the relationship as it developed. ( )