By Kelly Lange
Mysterious Press - March 2002
ISBN 0-89296-752-8 - Hardcover
Mystery / Amateur Sleuth
for Violence, Sexual References
Reviewed by Susan McBride, MyShelf.Com
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THE REPORTER is a first mystery by
a Los Angeles TV personality Kelly Lange. For that reason alone, I'll
admit I was prepared to absolutely loathe the novel and was pleasantly
surprised to find it entertaining, in a rather silly "beach book"
kind of way. The plot gets kicking at the funeral of Jack Nathanson, a
former Hollywood star who hadn't had a hit in a while, but who seemed
to have no problem casting women as his wives. When Jack is murdered inside
the house of Wife #1, it's up to Wife #2, "feisty TV reporter Maxi
Poole," to come to the rescue. Maxi starts digging and finds more
dirt on
her ex than she'd bargained for. And, in between the name-dropping of
real-life stars, she starts to piece together what happened to the sleazy
man she'd once married.
The ending is over-the-top, but I would have expected no less from a book set in La-La Land. The Reporter isn't for fans who like meat in their mysteries. There's no moral to the story here...except, perhaps, to keep a good plastic surgeon on hand in case some crazed maniac comes after you with something pointy. This is pure poolside entertainment as frothy as a rerun of Dynasty, so slap on the suntan oil and enjoy.