Book Review: Little Black Book of Murder

Author: Nancy Martin
Publication Date: August 6, 2013
Publisher: NAL Hardcover
Series: Blackbird Sisters Mystery # 9

Someone’s getting crossed off the register.

Nora Blackbird may have been to the manor borne, but these days money is so tight, she can’t afford to lose her job as a society columnist. So when her new boss at the Philadelphia Intelligencer—Australian tabloid editor Gus Hardwicke—tells her to work the celebrity gossip beat or start checking the want ads, the choice is easy.

Now Nora’s writing a profile on billionaire fashion designer Swain Starr, who recently retired to build a high-tech organic farm with his new wife, Zephyr, a former supermodel. But before Nora can get the story, the mogul is murdered. And now Gus wants her to snap up an exclusive on who killed Starr before the cops do.

But solving a celebrity murder isn’t easy with a home life as colorful as Nora’s. Her sort-of-husband, Mick, a former mobster, is associating once again with unsavory characters. Her sister Libby is on a mission to get her diabolical twins on stage or screen with the help of an unscrupulous former child star. And the youngest Blackbird sister, Emma, just got kicked out of the house by Mick—who refuses to explain why.

If anything can bring the blue-blooded Blackbird sisters together, it’s a murder investigation involving high-society events, glamorous people, and the disappearance of a genetically perfect pig that may or may not be basking in the sun at Blackbird Farm. They’ll all have to pull together this time, because if Nora can’t bring home the bacon, she might have to exchange her bucolic estate for a cramped walk-up. 

“Nora Blackbird,” he said to me, his smirk broadening. “Do you always dress like you’re going to a garden party?”

Under my feet, I heard the furnace give a plaintive moan. I almost ran after Libby and asked her to share that pitcher of margaritas.

Please, I said to a greater power. Please don’t let Rawlins be mixed up in this.

She hadn’t been grieving at all for her ex-husband. Her blood was still boiling.

Nora and her sisters are back at it again, and to be honest I hope Nancy Martin keeps writing this awesome series! I don’t care if anyone disagrees with me; this series just keeps getting better and better. Nora and her sisters have grown, their family has grown, and their outside connections have grown, so the entire town they live in is now full of some new people that we didn’t have from the beginning and also some of the golden oldies that have been around since the first book! In the newest edition to this series, Nora is having to put in more hours with The Philadelphia Intelligencer and has been asked to cover celebrity gossip as well as her regular material. Nora is not happy about this, but the economy isn’t where it needs to be and neither is Nora’s life. While she is interviewing Swain Starr, famous fashion designer, Nora is nearly shot and ends up caught in the middle of two women fighting over Swain. Later Nora find Swain’s body and her nephew’s car keys are right beside the dead body. Nora quickly picks up the keys before they can be confiscated by police!

I always enjoy seeing Nora on the socialite scene. She may not like it, but she fits in well with all the rich and famous. Nora is so charismatic and sophisticated that it doesn’t matter what scene she is on, she shines! Nora has gotten herself in quite the pickle this time, and it always floors me how Nancy Martin can come up with these awesome story lines over and over again that keep avid readers like me coming back for more! This story is no less thrilling than any of the others, and I loved watching the characters develop throughout the book! I will tell you that things get spicy and a little bit twisted!

The relationship and the snappy, hilarious moments between Nora and her sisters never gets old. I LOVED that this book/murder was tied to Rawlins in certain ways. Rawlins is Nora’s oldest sister’s son. If you have read this series since the beginning, then you have watched him grow and now he has gotten himself into a bit of a mess. I do not want to give away any spoilers, but Rawlins does play a big part in this story. I enjoyed everything about this book, and I think it makes for a great edition to Nancy’s ever-growing series!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at NAL in exchange for my honest review***