"High society jewel thief - who killed her?"

Nora Blackbird writes a society column for a Philadelphia newspaper, so she attends lots of parties. She attends one for Oliver Cooper who has been nominated by the president to serve as the next secretary of transportation. Nora dated his son Flan many years ago.

Flan's wife Laura runs into them as Flan and Nora leave the bathroom. She explodes. Nora and Laura end up talking things out. Laura is mad, but when Nora leaves, she feels things will calm down. The next day Nora hears that Laura killed herself. Well that's the initial theory. She is found in the pool with a garden gnome tied to her ankles.

Nora becomes a suspect. So, she sets out to find out who killed Laura. Mostly she does it to get herself off the suspect list, but she also does it to help Flan.

Nora also finds that dating Michael, son of a mob boss, can be very complicated. It also affects her job. She can't quite trust him. Is he clean like he says? She's always looking for trouble.

Detective Bloom tells Nora that there are suspicions that Laura was a jewel thief. Nora believes this to be true because her grandma's ring went missing the night of the altercation with Laura. Nora goes to meet with Sidney Gutnick, a dealer in jewelry and silver. Her grandma had purchased items from him but she had also sold some items to raise some extra cash when she was alive. Nora begins to try to put the pieces together to discover who killed Laura and why.

I like this series a lot. Nora is from high society but due to the fact her parents skipped the country leaving behind a $2 million tax bill, she has had to go to work. She doesn't have many skills so the society writer job is perfect for her. She knows most of the people in society and fits right in at the parties.

The sexual tension between her and Mike is well written. As is the uncertainty of his criminal behavior. Then there's Detective Bloom. That really muddies the waters for Nora.

This is a great, quick read. I love cozies and this is fast becoming one of my favorite series. I highly recommend it!

Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle
Posted April 24, 2004

Summary

Giving up my socialite life to get a real job writing a society column for a Philadelphia paper hasn't worked out as well as I hoped. The developers still want to turn the Blackbird estate into an outlet mall. My eccentric sisters are convinced I need a dog, a baby...or a keeper. And now I'm falling hard for a Jersey tough guy with criminal connections. On top of my family feuding, one of the city's nouveau riche has just been murdered, and I could be a prime suspect. What would Emily Post do?

When a high society jewel thief winds up drowned at the bottom of a pool with a tacky garden gnome tied to her ankles, Nora must swing into action to save her old flame, Flan Cooper, from a hasty murder charge. A politically ambitious millionaire with hushed up secrets, a dotty grand dame with a penchant for polo teams, and a cat fancier who keeps a gun with his silver tea set all steer suspicion onto Nora herself. It's enough to make the bluebloods turn pale! Nora must find the killer on her own—or risk trading her grandmother's couture for an orange jumpsuit. All in an ex-debutante's day's work, Nora. All in a day's work.