Death and the Lit Chick

I love G.M. Maillet's writing and mysteries and is one I never read before. I loved it and just ordered the next in the series!

This is my personal favorite of the three DCI St. Just books, although they all stand as top-notch mysteries. In Death and The Lit Chick the author perfectly blends complexity, plot, and satire, and limns her characters with the sinuous economy and verve we have come to expect. Bright Youngish Author Portia De'ath fairly comes to life in these pages, and her nascent relationship with St. Just evolves in both a plausible and endearing way. In a more general sense, I would remind readers that this is a gentle parody of the chick lit genre, and the plump cheeks of literary convention will be pinched. But in the end, what distinguishes successful novelists from the competition is how well they tell stories, and G.M. Malliet possesses story-telling ability, and possesses it in spades.

However you want to classify this book - satire, humor, suspense - it delivers on all fronts. I haven't ever enjoyed a "cozy" read this much, but I must say it doesn't really fit that description. It's sophisticated, funny, and (above all) smart.

She's done it again - another hit. I was so intrigued by G.M. Malliet's "Death of a Cozy Writer, that I simply had to order her second St. Just Mystery. Glad I did. It was refreshing to see that DCI St. Just has moved beyond the first cast of characters( though I enjoyed them so much as well...) into new settings and characters. The theme of the story still revolves around mystery writers' conventions of sorts, but we've moved on to castles, hotel rooms and another murder, of all things! What could be better than playing the board game "Clue" for the first time on a stormy night?...."Death and the Lit Chick". It's a fun read, particularly by a wood fire with a glass of good port, and a refreshing retreat from today's wordly concerns. I highly recommend it to you!

G. M. Maillet's new offering 'Death & The Lit Chick' is a beautifully written and tightly crafted page turner. Wondeful plot and character development exceeds her highly acclaimed first book, 'Death of a Cozy Writer'. I couldn't put it down.