3rd in the Valentine and Lovelace series. This takes place shortly after the 2nd book. This has Clarisse just starting law school and Valentine is going to open a bar with them living in apartments above the bar. The apartments and the bar both need lots of renovations. Luckily for the pair Valentine's roommate in the hospital was also a contractor. Another book with a wide variety of characters, a lesbian hooker and her partner have one of the apartments upstairs. Next door is a beauty parlor with Mr. Fred and his sister Ms. America. The book starts with the murder of a mean gossip columnist in Clarisse's apartment after a welcome to the neighborhood party thrown by Mr. Fred. This mystery take a little of a backstage to the other characters unraveling many of the cast is not who they appear to be. An interesting point someone tries to kill Clarisse with a VCR, a Betamax no less. ( )