This Pen For Hire: A Jaine Austen Mystery (Jaine Austen Mysteries)

In the first novel in her wickedly witty new mystery series, Laura Levine introduces Jaine Austen, a hip, jack-of-all trades writer who spends her days penning smarmy personal ads and daring declarations of passion--and her nights looking for Mr. Right in Hollywood's swinging singles scene.

smarmy Personals Ads. Daring Declarations Of Love. Writer-for-hire Jaine Austen Has Penned Them All. But When One Of The Love Connections She Made Is Broken Up By Murder, Jaine Finds Herself Freelancing Free-of-charge--and Uncovering More Than She Bargained For . . .

no One Seems To Need Her Help More Than Geeky, Gawky Howard Murdoch. His Request Is Simple Enough: A Letter Proclaiming His Undying Love For Stacy Lawrence, A Gorgeous Aerobics Instructor. The Fact That He's Never Actually Met The Woman Gives Jaine Pause--but She Soon Overcomes Her Misgivings, Warms Up Her Computer, And Starts Pitching Woo On Howard's Behalf. To Jaine's Surprise, The Letter Is A Success--the Unlikely Romeo Lands A Date! But His Triumph Is, Sadly, Short-lived. On Valentine's Day, Howard Finds Stacy Bludgeoned To Death With A Thigh Master--and Is Quickly Named The Prime Suspect.

upon Hearing The News, Jaine Is Shocked. Sure, Howard's Awkward, Eccentric, And A Tiny Bit Odd. But A Murderer? That's Hard To Believe. Especially After A Little Sleuthing Turns Up A Whole Bunch Of People Who Harbored Less-than-loving Feelings Towards The Svelte Stacy. But Jaine Had Better Wrangle Her Clues Quickly, Before A Crafty Killer Catches On--and Puts A Whole New Spin On Her Ghost Writing Career . . .

this Book Is Laugh-out-loud Funny. A Real Winner!--laurien Berenson

publishers Weekly

humor Is The Key Ingredient In This Slick Debut By Television Comedy Writer Levine. Freelancer Jaine Austen (her Mother Loved The Classics But Couldn't Spell) Makes A Living Writing Love Letters, Personal Ads And Industrial Brochures, But She Never Expected Her Work To Involve Her In Murder. When Geeky Howard Murdoch Hires Her To Pen A Letter Proclaiming His Love For Gorgeous Fitness Instructor Stacy Lawrence, No One Is More Surprised Than Jaine When Stacy Agrees To Go Out With Howard On Valentine's Day. But Harold Arrives For Their Date Only To Find That Someone Has Bludgeoned Stacy To Death With A Thighmaster. Feeling Some Responsibility For The Hapless Howard, Now The Police's Only Suspect, Jaine Starts Digging. Stacy Might Have Been Beautiful, But Most People Disliked Her. Elaine Zimmer Wanted The Corner Apartment Stacy Had Just Moved Into, And The Building Superintendent Seemed Besotted With Her. Then There's The Volatile, Married Producer, Not To Mention The Girlfriend Stacy Stole Him From. Handsome Neighbor Cameron Bannick, A Straight Antiques Dealer, Piques Jaine's Interest (she Hasn't Had A Good Date In A Long Time), And Becomes A Dashing Watson To Jaine's Sherlock. Though Her Life Is In Danger, Jaine Never Loses Her Sense Of Humor As The Story Zips Along To An Action-filled And Surprising Climax. Levine Delivers The Goods, And Readers Who Appreciate A Heroine With Wry, Self-deprecating Humor Will Hope Jaine Soon Gets Caught Up In Another Murder.

Smarmy personals ads. Daring declarations of love. Writer-for-hire Jaine Austen has penned them all. But when one of the love connections she made is broken up by murder, Jaine finds herself freelancing free-of-charge--and uncovering more than she bargained for. . . No one seems to need her help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he's never actually met the woman gives Jaine pause--but she soon overcomes her misgivings, warms up her computer, and starts pitching woo on Howard's behalf. To Jaine's surprise, the letter is a success--the unlikely Romeo lands a date! But his triumph is, sadly, short-lived. On Valentine's Day, Howard finds Stacy bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master--and is quickly named the prime suspect. Upon hearing the news, Jaine is shocked. Sure, Howard's awkward, eccentric, and a tiny bit odd. But a murderer? That's hard to believe. Especially after a little sleuthing turns up a whole bunch of people who harbored less-than-loving feelings towards the svelte Stacy. But Jaine had better wrangle her clues quickly, before a crafty killer catches on--and puts a whole new spin on her ghost writing career. . . "This book is laugh-out-loud funny. A real winner!" --Laurien Berenson Steamy personals ads. Daring declarations of love. Writer-for-hire Jaine Austen has penned them all. But when one of the love connections she made is broken up by murder, Jaine finds herself freelancing free-of-charge--and uncovering more than she bargained for... No one seems to need her help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple enough: a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he's never actually met the woman gives Jaine pause--but she soon overcomes her misgivings, warms up her computer, and starts pitching woo on Howard's behalf. To Jaine's surprise, the letter is a success--the unlikely Romeo lands a date! But his triumph is, sadly, short-lived. On Valentine's Day, Howard finds Stacy bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master--and is quickly named the prime suspect. Upon hearing the news, Jaine is shocked. Sure, Howard's awkward, eccentric, and a tiny bit odd. But a murderer? That's hard to believe. Especially after a little sleuthing turns up a whole bunch of people who harbored less-than-loving feelings towards the svelte Stacy. But Jaine had better wrangle her clues quickly, before a crafty killer catches on--and puts a whole new spin on her ghost writing career... 'I'm crazy about Laura Levine's mystery series. Her books are so outrageously funny.'--Joanne FlukeSmarmy personals ads. Daring declarations of love. Freelance writer Jaine Austen has penned them all. But no one needs her help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple enough: a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he's never actually met the woman gives Jaine pause--yet she soon overcomes her misgivings, and the unlikely Romeo lands a date! But his triumph is short-lived. On Valentine's Day, Howard finds Stacy bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master--and is quickly named the prime suspect. Jaine is shocked. Sure, Howard's awkward and eccentric. But a murderer? That's hard to believe. Especially after a little sleuthing reveals a plethora of people who harbored less-than-loving feelings towards the svelte Stacy. Now Jaine had better wrangle her clues quickly, before a crafty killer catches on--and puts a whole new spin on her ghost writing career...'Sheer fun!'--Carolyn Hart No one seems to need her help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple enough: a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he's never actually met the woman gives Jaine pause--but she soon overcomes her misgivings, warms up her computer, and starts pitching woo on Howard's behalf. To Jaine's surprise, the letter is a success--the unlikely Romeo lands a date! But his triumph is, sadly, short-lived. On Valentine's Day, Howard finds Stacy bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master--and is quickly named the prime suspect. Upon hearing the news, Jaine is shocked. Sure, Howard's awkward, eccentric, and a tiny bit odd. But a murderer? That's hard to believe. Especially after a little sleuthing turns up a whole bunch of people who harbored less-than-loving feelings towards the svelte Stacy. But Jaine had better wrangle her clues quickly, before a crafty killer catches on--and puts a whole new spin on her ghost writing career .. "No one needs [Jaine's] help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple enough: a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he's never actually met the woman gives Jaine pause--yet she soon overcomes her misgivings, and the unlikely Romeo lands a date. But his triumph is short-lived. On Valentine's Day, Howard finds Stacy bludgeoned to death with a Thigh Master--and is quickly named the prime suspect"--Page 4 of cover When Jaine Austen is hired by nerdy Howard Murdoch to pen a love letter to gorgeous aerobics instructor Stacy Lawrence, she gets caught up in a murder investigation when Stacy is found beaten to death and Howard is accused of the crime