Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Comedian and actor Firestone debuts with a hilarious cozy set during the production of a reality dating show. When David G., one of the most popular contestants on Sex Island, goes missing, the show's producers hire Staten Island PI Luella Van Horn to go undercover as a contestant to find him. As Luella blends in with the cast, she eyes everyone as a potential suspect, especially Sex Island's lecherous director, ruthless producers, and shady crew. She soon learns that all the male cast members were jealous of David G., and all the women wanted him just as badly as it looked on TV. Then things start to go awry for Luella: she discovers a body in her bathtub, accompanied by a threatening note; she's drugged; and she starts to fall for a fellow contestant. As her castmates battle for a cash prize, Luella knows she's in danger, but she's determined to solve the case and maintain her professional reputation. Firestone scores major points with her outrageous premise, laugh-out-loud one-liners, and fast-paced plot. It's a tropical blast of sun, sex, and sleuthing. Agent: Abby Saul, Lark Group. (June)Correction: A previous version of this review misstated the name the main character uses for her undercover work.
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Comedian and TV writer Firestone debuts with a clever, broadly funny mystery. Marie Jones is a divorced, broke ex-social worker with an alter ego as private eye Luella van Horn. "Luella's" last case went disastrously wrong, and the offers of employment have dried up. Her only solace as she's moving out of her apartment--future abode unknown--is watching the trashy reality TV show Sex Island. When the producers of Sex Island offer her a job on the private Caribbean island where the show is filmed, Marie jumps at it. Her assignment is to find out what happened to one of the contestants, who was the favorite to win the $100,000 cash prize and now has gone missing. With wig and fake teeth in place, Marie poses as a new castmate and discovers that some of the others would kill to be the winner. Now trapped on the island and in the game, Marie has to bluff her way to a solution or risk being killed. VERDICT Fast-paced fun that will appeal to fans of Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan and Jesse Q. Sutanto's Meddelin Chan.--Jane Jorgenson
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A private detective goes undercover to solve a reality-show mystery. Marie Jones was a social worker from Staten Island, but that was before she transformed herself into a private investigator, got a divorce, and moved to Manhattan. When she wears a blond wig, fake teeth, and red lipstick, she's Luella van Horn, a glamorous detective capable of locating any lost dog. But then she gets hired for a much larger case: Finding a missing man. David G., a cast member from the reality showSex Island, is nowhere to be found, and producers are worried.Sex Island, which Luella watches religiously, puts "the country's sexiest twenty-two-year-olds" on an island in Bermuda, where "viewers watch them have sex and emotionally destroy each other." Luella must pose as a contestant as she investigates, despite being nearly 30--geriatric inSex Island terms. Being part of the show is much harder than simply watching it: Luella must now dress in the skimpy bathing suits the cast members favor and try to keep her wigs from getting damaged (also, those fake teeth make it hard to eat or talk). She soon finds David G. dead in her bathtub and realizes that the situation may be more dangerous than she expected. Soon, she's embroiled in a mystery and no one can be trusted. Comedian Firestone's debut is hilariously absurd and over the top, showcasingSex Island as a nightmare fantasy world where contestants wear backless dresses with rhinestone G-strings and have sex on television. Luella is a fantastic and funny narrator whose can-do attitude frequently places her in bizarre and dangerous situations. With a long list of suntanned suspects, the true identity of the killer remains a mystery right up until Luella puts the pieces together. This silly and surreal cozy mystery is truly unlike anything else. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
