This week I’m featuring the first book in the Claire Rawlings series by author Carole Bugge’ (aka C.E. Lawrence) who recently obtained the rights to publish these books digitally…so they are now available for your e-reader!  This is an older series, cell phones weren’t really around and it talks about the OJ Simpson trial and the movie Forrest Gump.  There are 3 books in this series and the other two are Who Killed Dorian Grey? and Who Killed Mona Lisa?.

Synopsis

New York mystery editor Claire Rawlings spends her days scrutinizing the motives and methods of fictitious criminals—but her precocious 13 year-old friend Meredith Lawrence has a keen eye for the cold, hard facts of crime. So when Meredith comes to visit, the two mystery buffs put their heads together to sleuth out the truth about a real-life murder.

Claire’s star author, the ferociously flirtatious Blanche Dubois, is found dead after eating a poisoned apple and there’s no shortage of suspects. Many were jealous of her success, and many put off by her haughty, demanding demeanor. With the help of a detective, Claire and Meredith question Blanche’s friends, colleagues, and relatives—and discover that even in the Big Apple, the world of murder is a very small world indeed.

Review

I felt like the book had a rocky start.  The segue between the first two chapters didn’t flow well but after that it seemed to gain a rhythm.  It seemed like there was a lot of talk about Claire and Meridith and not a whole lot on the murder, even though Meridith was keen to solve the murder.  The book started getting interested when another character dies.  I had a few suspicions on who the killer might be but nothing I could put my finger on.

This story is set in 1995 since there are references to the OJ Simpson trial…and looking back, that was about 20 years ago.

We give this book 3 1/2 paws