Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The three sisters Blackbird-Nora, Emma and Libby-return in Martin's charming and funny fifth novel (after 2005's Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die). Zell Orcutt, a dirty old man on the periphery of the Blackbirds' high-society Philadelphia circle, is found dead. If the arrow shot through his heart at first seems a tad improbable, well, all his disgruntled relatives are archery fans. From a state senator who may not be as dumb as he appears to an obnoxious, busty teenager who thinks she'll come into big bucks now that Zell is dead, the suspects are legion, and Nora, of course, can't resist detecting. But the real mystery is the paternity of the baby Nora's carrying, and whether she is really, truly, finally through with her hunky but oh-so-dangerous lover, Michael Abruzzo. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Starred Review. Philadelphia Blackbird sisters (How To Murder a Millionaire) are back. Libby is putting together a nude calendar to benefit her Erotic Yoga Society, while Emma is working as a hostess in a den of iniquity wearing a dog collar, high-heeled boots, and carrying a whip. For her part, Nora is pregnant and afraid to tell ex-boyfriend Michael Abruzzo, who happens to be the son of the head of Philly ruling crime family. When Zell Orcutt, owner of a tacky sports bar, is murdered, too many people Nora knows are involved, and she is sucked into identifying the guilty one. Martin, a master of one-liners and witty repartee, mixes the zany lives of the Blackbird family with posh Main Line Philadelphia society and comes up with another winning mystery. Martin lives in Pittsburgh. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Murder on Philadelphia's Main Line distracts a society columnist from her busy social life. Since she stops every five minutes to turn green and vomit, observant folks might figure that The Intelligencer's Nora Blackbird (Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die, 2005) is pregnant. But of her two sisters and her two lovers, only one of each starts out in the know. Part-time dominatrix Emma and goody-two-shoes crime reporter Richard D'eath both know Nora's little secret, but she's kept yoga-freak Libby and mobster Michael Abruzzo in the dark while deciding who she wants to be "the father of my child," an honor she assumes either gene-pool applicant would be thrilled to accept, whatever the DNA says. Nora's maternal stirrings are rudely interrupted by the murder of Zell Orcutt, shot by bow and arrow at nearby Fitch's Fancy while he's selling off its assets to finance Cupcakes, his strip club. The police suspect Delilah Fairweather because she's black and she won some archery medals years ago at summer camp, but Nora's checking out semi-senile Pierpoint Fitch and his dim state senator son Boykin, whose family heirlooms Zell just put up for auction, as well as stepdaughter Verbena Barnstable, whose daughter Clover is shaking her teenaged booty on Cupcakes. Nora's social connections and bedrock sentimentality rub all the sharp edges off her alley-cat behavior. Instead of Tart Noir, think Slut Gris. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
