"Nora has to prove Emma didn't kill Rush Strawcutter"

Nora Blackbird is at another society party. This time it is a hunt club breakfast. Rush Strawcutter, husband of a wealthy dog food heiress, is found bludgeoned to death in a horse stall. Nora's sister Emma is found unconscious and bruised nearby. The evidence begins to point to Emma as the main suspect. Nora knows Emma couldn't have done it, so she begins to investigate.

Nora's little sister Libby has just had another baby. Her husband has died -- all the Blackbird women are widows, it appears to be a curse. Nora is staying with Libby to help out with the children. Michael, Nora's boyfriend who is the son of a mob boss, is out of the country on a fishing trip. The police are looking into possible money laundering and keep asking her about it. To complicate matters, she has a small, ugly puppy Spike who she takes almost everywhere with her in her purse.

Nora is from high society but since her parents left the country to avoid a $2 million tax bill, she has had to take a job as a society writer for a Philadelphia newspaper to keep her head above water and hold onto the family farm.

As Nora begins to investigate, her friend Hadley Pinkham comes to her aide many times. They know a lot of the same people and end up following one of them into a park. It appears he is paying the blackmailer. Nora knows if she can get to the bottom of the blackmailing, she'll probably get to the bottom of the murder as well. Somehow they are tied together.

This is a terrific series and this is a great addition to it. I like all the characters and all the parties she attends. Yet she seems to be a normal person most of the time. Her boyfriend Michael and Detective Bloom both add a lot of color to the story as well.

I always look forward to reading the next book in the series. I find it hard to put it down once I start! I highly recommend this one!

Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle
Posted April 24, 2004

Summary

Just when I thought my life couldn't get any more chaotic, I'm proved wrong. My new dog, Spike, is a tiny terror. My demented sister, Libby, is dealing with the effects of recent childbirth by trying to locate the "goddess within" (whatever that is)—and my tough- guy boyfriend is gallivanting through Scotland on a fishing trip (or is he?). Oh, and one of Philadelphia's rich and infamous was just found brutally murdered. With all this going on, who has time to write for the society pages?

When Rush Strawcutter, the husband of a wealthy dog food heiress, is found bludgeoned to death in a horse stall at an exclusive hunt club, Nora Blackbird is as surprised as anyone. Her surprise turns to shock when her sister, Emma, is discovered nearby, unconscious and badly bruised. Worse still, the evidence points toward a devious blackmail scheme—with Emma as the main suspect. Investigating with the help of friend and foe alike, Nora inadvertently uncovers the scandalous secrets of some of Philadelphia's high-and-mightiest—and attracts the unwanted attentions of the real killer...