Freeze My Margarita: A Sam Jones Novel

The best! Makes you want to buy a blender and start making your own margaritas and party til the morning time!

The second Sam Jones novel is wonderful and even better than the first. Sam wants men who are good in bed, don't ask questions, are sardonic and have a great bodies. She likes a nice ass, 6 pack abs and a big "organ". She is delightful.Almost a half of the novel is not dealing with murder at all but detailing Sam's luscious view of the world of theatre. In a fetish bar, Sam meets an old friend from design school who is now working on designing the set for a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. Sally (a very gay Italian with a theek accent) convinces her that her mobiles would be great as the forest and look like chandeliers for the indoor scenes.Sam goes to work making her mobiles at the theatre and is introduced to the cast and crew. Melanie Marsh (MM) is the director and she is talented, focused and never raises her voice. She will direct a smashing play that gets rave reviews and makes the career of many of the actors. Hugo is Oberon and when we first meet him we are sure he is a hunk, but gay. It turns out he is not, but playing the part to annoy another member of the cast who he dislikes and who dislikes him. He has been chatting up Sam and she is attracted to his wry humor, quick wit and 6 pack abs. When he drops his towel in front of her and stands there naked, she understands he is not gay and their relationship begins. Hugo is so much the type Sam loves, she is starting to get mushy about him and feels jealousy! Sam jealous?!The wit is wonderful as this brief excerpt will attest: there is a heavy conversation and then a pause after something weighty is said. "'God,' Hugo drawled at last, I've always avoided doing Pinter and now I know why.'" You have to know about the Pinter pauses to get this, and if you do, it is great fun.I suspect that like me, once you start this series it will be hard to stop.

Lauren Henderson improves as a writer with each new book. This one is better written than the last, with wittier dialogue and crisper characterizations. Also, there is a lot of insider-type information about how a theater production is put together. The mystery is well done, with the required red herrings and obvious suspects who turn out not to be so obvious in the end. It held my interest throughout, which is what I require of a mystery story. I'm looking forward to "The Strawberry Tattoo", which should be out shortly.

I was a big fan of Black Rubber Dress and I'm an even bigger fan of Freeze My Margarita. Lauren Henderson focuses a sharp eye on the theatrical world and from my experience, gets it just right. If you like strong heroines who don't take guff from anyone, you'll like Sam Jones.