Death by smoothie

In Levine's feather-light 19th outing for L.A. freelance writer Jaine Austen (after 2021's Murder Gets a Makeover), Jaine provides editorial expertise and acts as a sounding board during rehearsals for a new play based on the cult TV sitcom I Married a Zombie, a Bewitched knockoff. Relationships among the cast members are strained, and Jaine isn't surprised when the untalented leading lady, Misty, playing Cryptessa, fatally collapses halfway through drinking her mid-afternoon smoothie, which is later discovered to have been laced with rat poison. The cast is full of suspects; indeed, most of the people involved in the production had good reason to want Misty dead. While indulging her cravings for cinnamon raisin bagels, Jaine manages to talk to suspects, interview for a PR position with a prestigious local organization, and teach her pet cat, Prozac, to walk on a leash. The story may be formulaic, but Jaine's wry sense of humor enlivens the action, while the reports from her retired parents in Florida are often hilarious. Fans of girl-on-the-go cozies will have fun. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Dec.)

A freelance writer discovers that a job as a script doctor can be a real headache. Jaine Austen thinks she's finally caught a break when her neighbor Lance Venable recommends her for a job editing the script of a new musical based on the long-defunct TV show I Married a Zombie. The lure is that the producers, a couple of IT nerds who won the lottery and are using their windfall to bankroll a stage version of the creaky old sitcom, can offer $5,000 in ready cash. The downside is that the script is terrible. Reluctant to give up such a lucrative gig, Jaine attends a casting call only to see David, the male producer, hire an attractive airhead named Misty to play Cryptessa Muldoon, the female lead, much to the dismay of his girlfriend, Becca, the female producer. Since David refuses to let Jaine edit any of his lame jokes, her job is limited to cutting Misty's lines down to a length she can remember, not using any words longer than three syllables. The remaining cast members spend rehearsal time either mocking Misty or choking down the ghastly vegan lunches David provides at his leading lady's insistence. So nobody complains when Misty leaves the ranks of the undead and joins the just-plain-dead thanks to a dose of rat poison someone adds to one of her smoothies. It isn't until the police zero in on her co-star Aidan, Lance's latest crush, that Jaine feels she needs to turn her skills as an amateur sleuth to cracking this case--and only because Lance begs her to save Aidan's well-toned buns. Levine specializes in chaos cozies, and her latest does not disappoint. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.