Book Review: No Way To Kill A Lady

Author: Nancy Martin

Publication Date: August 6, 2013 (Paperback)
Publisher: Signet
Series: Blackbird Sisters Mystery # 8

The Blackbird sisters are back—and as witty and wonderful as ever!

For richer, for poorer...
                                                            
Nora Blackbird, the Bucks County ex-debutante with a haute couture wardrobe, a hot job as a glamorous society columnist and a stone cold bank account, might finally have her own life just right, but everyone around her is going down in flames. Her sister Libby seems destined to be the lead character in a tabloid sex scandal.  Her sister Emma is expecting a mysterious love child.  Her best friend, Lexie Paine, is serving time in the slammer.  And now her mobbed-up boyfriend, Mick Abruzzo—who might actually be her husband—is conducting clandestine capers from Blackbird Farm while under house arrest. What’s a good girl to do?

Find a killer, that’s what!  Word arrives that the sisters’ great aunt, Madeleine Blackbird, has died in a volcanic eruption on an Indonesian island and left her fabulous country estate, worth millions, to the three of them.  But when the Blackbird sisters show up to claim their windfall, they find the house in a state of disheartening decay and all of Madeleine’s to-die-for treasures gone. Worse, the mansion has been hiding a grisly secret: the body of a woman who died there many years ago.  All the evidence points to a high society murder...

Nora’s special bond with flamboyant Aunt Madeleine compels her to seek out the truth.  With her aunt’s amorous stepson dogging her footsteps, her unscrupulous lawyer acting like a skunk, and her devoted housekeeper not to be found, Nora’s investigation is going nowhere.  Good thing Mick’s close by to offer Nora distractions both dark and delightful.  And, as ever, her irrepressible sisters provide some unexpected... and highly unorthodox... assistance when she most needs it.

When a long-lost relative bequeathed us a fortune, I found myself locked in an epic battle with the most fearsome adversaries any woman can face. Her sisters.

Libby said, “And I promise I won’t run off to some exotic island with a cabana boy. Although nobody would blame me if I did. My children are driving me bonkers, and the best cure for motherly frustration is an exciting new relationship, right?”

“It’s a person,” Libby cried, sobbing against my shoulder. “A dead person!”

Jamison said, “You don’t even need to look around. The smell will make you sick, and besides, I can give you the lowdown in a printable sentence or two. Instead, we must talk. I heard about your aunt Madeline. Good God, do you think she murdered her housekeeper before she bolted?”

Things are looking up for the Blackbird sisters. This book starts off with a somewhat large inheritance for Nora, Emma, and Libby. Their Aunt Madeline has just been killed in a natural disaster, volcano eruption, and has left her sprawling estate, Quintain, to the Blackbird girls. When they reach her mansion and hope to claim their prize and hopefully free themselves of some debt incurred by their frivolous parents, they find that they are not the only ones vying for this massive inheritance. Madeline’s stepson, Sutherland, has his eyes on the prize as well and lets the sisters know that he won’t let Quintain go without a fight. While exploring the estate, the girls notice that their Aunt Madeline might have been robbed while she was off gallivanting in Indonesia. Oh, and did I forget to mention that they found a dead body in the elevator?!

I have religiously followed this series since I first discovered it when I was a teenager! I love Nora Blackbird and honestly I wish I could meet her and be her best friend. This book was no different than the rest of the series, and maybe it’s actually Nancy Martin that I need to meet. This is the eighth book and I am still just as content to sit and read these murder mysteries as I was when the first one released. Nora and her sisters are always up to some mischief, and they find trouble around every nook and cranny. I will always believe that Nora is the sensible one, and in this book she proves that even more. Her new husband has just been locked away in prison and with another mystery on her hands she perseveres.

The mystery in this story is like the rest of them, fast-paced, interesting, and so hard to resist. I enjoyed learning more about the Blackbird family and meeting some more members of it. I wish Aunt Madeline hadn’t of died because she sounded like a fascinating and eccentric character. Nora really had a connection with her Aunt Madeline, and I enjoyed seeing Nora so emotionally invested in this murder mystery. The Blackbird sisters are still making me laugh and keeping me on my toes!

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