Strawberry Tattoo

Third in the series finds Sam Jones in NYC where two of her big mobiles are to be shown at a Soho gallery along with three other yBAS (young British artists). The fun of this novel is Sam's take on NY. From the wild cab rides to the hustle and bustle to the public ingesting of drugs, Sam enjoys NY and contrasts it with London. She arrives a week early to hang her mobiles and meets the crew at the Bergmann LaTouche Gallery. Carol Bergmann is the owner and she is all efficiency and competence. But even her sangfroid is tested when the paintings of one of her regulars, Barbara Bilder, are vandalized in the gallery. And at the same time, one of the assistants at the gallery, Kate, with whom Sam was to work and with whom she felt an immediate connection, is found dead in the Strawberry Fields section of Central Park. She had been garroted and left dead on a bench. When the surly Don, who moves and hangs the installations is also found dead, Sam determines to find out who did it.Complicating the scene is that early arrival of Lex, one of the yBAS, who had tried to stick his tongue down Sam's throat in a ladies room in a British pub a week before. Lex had been staying with Kate and now that she is dead is scared to go to the police and be implicated. And Lex had a one-night stand with another of the yBAS due to show at the gallery and she has turned into an obsessed stalker. Lex is very handsome but Sam is being faithful to her actor lover, Hugo. It is tough for Sam to do without her shag, but she manages with copious amounts of vodka and cocaine and other mind-altering substances.This is a great read for Sam's views on things. She is a wild woman and lots of fun. Seeing the world from her viewpoint is a gas. I enjoyed this thoroughly and laughed aloud. The series just gets better and better.

I stumbled upon this book in a 5 minute book grabfest at my local library (with 2 little ones its hard to be choosy) and struck gold! As a 30something former party girl I was secretly wishing I was Sam Jones in NYC! ..I have never written a review for a book before but HAD to let anyone considering reading this book to DO SO IMMEDIATELY and order the other ones too because you'll be wanting more!

Over drinks at the most recent Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention,a fellow mystery writer with whom I had made several Los Angeles appearances, elbowed me and inquired about the identity of the stunning brunette holding court down the bar. I explained the exuberant woman was Lauren Henderson, the creator of Sam Jones. My friend was not familar with Ms. Henderson's work so I went on to give him a brief explanation of Lauren Henderson, Sam Jones, and Tart Noir.STRAWBERRY TATTOO is a perfect Sam Jones adventure. It has everything Ms. Henderson's readers have grown to expect from her stylish and sexy protagonist.Sam Jones is invited to New York City as part of a gallery display featuring the works of emerging British artists. Of course, with Sam Jones on the scene, one knows dead bodies are sure to follow. Sam, despite her promises to stay out of trouble, investigates the homicide. As Sam takes on Manhattan, everyone knows Manhattan doesn't stand a chance.As with all Sam Jones novels, style matters as much as substance. Sam is a true original in mystery fiction. She is a strong, hip, and witty protagonist. Tart Noir is one of the freshest breezes to hit crime fiction in decades, and STRAWBERRY TATTOO is one of the best examples of this sub-genre.

My favorite English "crime girl behaving badly" has "crossed the pond" to exhibit her art at a show in the Big Apple. Naturally, murder, mystery and mayhem follow her. I thoroughly enjoy these books, because the author has created a thoroughly modern heroine who does outrageous things, and makes no apologies whatsoever for her actions. Often the mystery is secondary to the characterizations and the verbal byplay, but that's fine with me. Strong female characters are still a bit unusual in fiction today, particularly in this type of work (with the exception of Dennis Lehane's PI series)and I for one am happy to see Sam Jones continue her career for many, many more years.

This is a worthy addition to this series of mysteries. And the series is great. Don't be put off by the explicit sexual innuendo in the first chapter (though Henderson's hilarious when writing about situations that would be hard to actually visualize as anything other than grotty). Henderson's novels are sophisticated social satire, and her heroine doesn't just dress or undulate, she thinks and sculpts (mobiles, that is). Seeing things through Sam's eyes allows us as readers into a really alien world that we get to temporarily enjoy. In this episode, Sam does Manhattan as part of a collection of Young British Artists. Yep. We get to see both what a serious, absorbed sculptor thinks of her work, and her scathing opinions on others' trendiness. Note to publishers: please make the earlier works of the series available in paper. There's a backstory here that I want to know. Note to those new to series: I'd start with "Freeze my Margarita" [more on the London drama scene] rather than "Strawberry Tatoo".