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Fiction. Gay/Lesbian Studies. A new Lindsay Gordon murder mystery set in the world of London publishing, BOOKED FOR MURDER tracks the freak killing of bestselling author Penny Varnavides and the clues left behind in her literary circle. The writing is tough and colourful, the scene setting excellent - The Times Literary Supplement. Fifth in the series, BOOKED FOR MURDER follows REPORT FOR MURDER, also available from SPD.

Former journalist and inveterate snoop Lindsay Gordon (Conferences Are Murder, 1999, etc.) sallies forth again to rectify wrongs done to members of the lesbian communitythis time at the request of her pal Meredith Miller, whose ex-lover Penny Varnavides, a bestselling author, was killed by an exploding bottle of wheat beerthe exact ploy clever Penny devised as the murder method in her soon-to-be-published manuscript, which, alas, has disappeared. Whodunit? Lindsay flies off to London and discovers three suspects. The police, naturally, opt for the just-jilted lover, the distraught Meredith. But Lindsay thinks Penny's agent and her editor at Monarch Books are equally plausible choices. And theres more: Did Penny's new novel out someone who wanted her private life private? Was someone about to out the closeted Penny? Lindsay's physician-lover, Sophie, recovers the floppy disks with Penny's latest inventionor perhaps a roman clefcentered on a scheme involving money-laundering for the mob. Is life imitating art again, or vice-versa? Before Lindsay can accost the villain, she must outrun a baseball batwielding thug and finagle some computer files to help a friend whose partners are scuttling her firm with porno sleaze. She ends up with a slug in her shoulder, glass in her jaw, and bruises everywhere, but is soothed by Sophie's bedside manner. Earnest yet dull, until the plot takes several welcome turns. Disgruntled readers may wish they could pick up that bat and knock some common sense into Lindsay.-- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

McDermid's latest in her successful Lindsay Gordon series is another winner, providing plenty of plot turn and puzzlement as Lindsay is dragged away from her California home to England to help prove an old friend innocent of killing her ex, best-selling author Penny Varnavides. Her death is not the freak accident it was first thought to be, but a reenactment of a devilishly clever method used in her forthcoming book. Only three living people--her literary agent, her editor, and ex-girlfriend Meredith--saw the manuscript, which curiously turns up missing as Lindsay delves deeper into the glitzy world of London publishing in search of a killer. She uncovers a love triangle responsible for the break-up of Penny and Meredith, and some business details that just don't add up as her safety becomes increasingly imperiled. When lover Sophie arrives from the States (just in time to stitch up Lindsay's gashed face), complications multiply, making for one of the best women's mysteries in a long time. Whitney Scott

In order to clear her friend of suspicion, lesbian-feminist journalist Lindsay Gordon investigates the murder of a best-selling novelist. Apparently, the novelist's death followed a murder scenario in her as-yet-unpublished new book, so Lindsay winds up in the dog-eat-dog world of London publishing. For series fans.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.