Lauren Henderson (1) (1966–2026)

This debut of the Sam Jones series is pretty good, setting up Sam as a hard-living artist capable of drinking, snorting and dancing her way through the fringes of London and still smart enough to figure out the circumstances of the death of a mentor. She shows all the stubbornness and curiosity of the best amateur detectives, along with a fierce sexuality and persistent recklessness. I was more impressed with the third installment, which I came across first, but this would have been a great show more start by itself. show less

This mystery story is a wonder. Sam Jones is an artist in London who has had some opportunities to solve mysteries before (this is third in the series). This time she has gotten roped into the high-flying world of corporate greed when she sells a sculpture to decorate the lobby of the bankf Mowbray Steiner. The cocktail party celebrating its unveiling is interrupted when one of the business executives is found dead with the sculpture fallen on top of him.

Sam is not accustomed to this upper show more crust of society, but she is a good observer, and soon is attempting to find out what happened. In the course of this search, she meets the twin daughters of the chairman of the bank, Suki and Belinda, the top executives, including the very attractive Sebastian Shaw, and the security men on the front desk, one of whom dies unexpectedly, hinting at blackmail.

Sam herself is the epitome of a free woman, independent, sexually secure, dazzling in the black rubber dress of the title, quick-witted and curious. I am determined to find the beginning of the series, and follow her wherever she goes. show less

Startled to find a historical portrait of an Italian girl who looks like her, Violet convinces her mother to send her to Italy for the summer. She'll join three other girls in a 'finishing school' in a country manse, but her real goal is to get into the castle where the portrait originally hung. Italy is both idyllic and confusing. There's Elisa, their hostess's cutting daughter, the castle's mistress, who is unexpectedly chilly upon meeting Violet, and Lucas, the moody prince whose behavior show more vacillates between passionately kissing Violet and just ignoring her.

Why does Violet look so much like this family of noble Italians? Why does Lucas electrify and infuriate her? And are her fellow 'students' friends or foes?

This book fits the bill for those who love the farflung travels and elusive romances of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and it is the first in an anticipated series. Highly recommended. Releases June 12, 2012. (87) show less

This was not a good book. I'm not sure if it was the incongruity of using principles from Jane Austen to justify very modern sexual behaviors or if it was the fact that a good amount of information about Austen's books was wrong (the Crawfords came to the neighborhood of Mansfield Park to visit their half-sister NOT their aunt. And Henderson repeatedly accuses Willoughby's wife of being "bitchy" which is unfairly harsh).

I'm also 90% positive that the majority of the "real life" examples show more were made up or heavily edited to fit the principle it was meant to illustrate. Not that it mattered since most of the examples didn't really make sense anyways.


I would not recommend this book at all. show less