Sam Jones, sculptress and reluctant sleuth, can't resist the opportunity to do Manhattan when she's invited to a group show at a New York gallery featuring young British artists.

But almost as soon as she arrives one of the gallery employees is murdered, and the body count keeps rising...

As mentioned in this box for Chained, I love these books! This one sounds more like a standard Sam Jones novel, and set in NY too, which leaves plenty of room for good times and interesting stories. I'm looking forward to a Sam Jones binge in the very near future.

October 17th 2001
Up to page 76

Boy was I worried! But I shouldn't have been! It's been slow progress thus far, Lauren Henderson taking more time than usual to set the scene, but she's off and firing on all cylinders. More than anything with these books I love the dialogue, so much so that this week I found myself scanning a page for a friend because it was so funny (page 61 in case you were wondering). the story started with Sam in London, surrounded by a crowd of Young British Artists...YBA's...and yeah, you bloody well should be suspicious! This is the anorak-wearing, Oasis-worshiping, elephant-poo-is-a-metaphor-for-life, bed-showing, conceptual lot, and Sam's a little troubled at being associated with them, and frankly who can blame her! But it's a show right? In a New York gallery...so even if it is with a bunch of people she would normally not snort a line with, it's worth the sacrifice. After a fleeting grope with one of them in the toilets of a trendy club she heads to the US in order to install her mobiles.

She bonds with Laurence, over copious amounts of alcohol, but when she arrives at the gallery for the big tour the following morning she's met with a sight that sends a chill through her. The work of dodgy artist Barbara Bilder has been vandalized, apparently by one of the staff. To top it off Barbara takes an instant dislike to Sam when it turns out her husband, Jon Tallboy, and Sam go way back...Jon's the father of the friend she planned to look up whilst in NY...but there's more on her mind now, who would have destroyed the paintings? And when will the body, that always shows up around Sam, appear?

*Deep sigh* I am now loving this read, the banter and thoughts that spin from Sam are far too easy for me to relate to, and I adore her for it. I can't wait to see where it goes next, and I want to meet Hugo...Sam's fella, because he sounds almost as much fun as Sam...go Sam!

November 3rd 2001
The End.

I actually finished reading this about a week ago, but the real world has conspired to prevent me writing until now. I loved reading this book, the style is fresh, and the pop culture references are even within my limited realm of relevance. But what really clinches it for me is the dialogue. You can hear the characters tone and inference as you read, so skillfully are the words written. It brings the people in the story alive...and if ever there were lively characters it was in this book!

When I finished my initial review we had only just begun, the body was found just a few pages afterwards. It was Kate, feisty fun gallery assistant, everyone loved her...well obviously not everyone because someone murdered her, and Sam headed into the fray to find out who dunnit. The tale meanders through the dirty underworld of New York's art scene, with more than the usual amount of drugs and juice bars. She meets up with her old partner Kim, who has changed immeasurably since they went their separate ways. That she holds huge animosity to her father's new wife, artist Barbara Bilder, puts her firmly in the frame as whoever trashed the gallery also killed Kate. Eventually all is unraveled, with an obligatory death defying finale for our heroine.

This was fun, pure and simple. Witty, raucous and with more than a little naughtiness thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed this, as I have Lauren Henderson's other books. I'm already reading the next one, which should tell something about this book.