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If You Like . . . Janet Evanovich Booklist
Page Modified: April 2, 2008
Books featuring strong, sassy female leads, offbeat characters, bounty hunters, more than a hint of romance, and humor . . .
Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.
- The Miracle Strip
Author: Bartholomew, Nancy
Publisher: St. Martins List Price: $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312192991 Date: 1998
Kirkus
Sierra Lavontini, Bartholomew's unlikely detective, is a stripper - pardon, an "exotic dancer" in Panama City, Florida. Her brash and sassy debut pits Sierra against the manipulations of a putative best friend, the Mob who left one of its members lying dead in the woman's bathroom, the police - indeed, everyone but her dog Fluffy. Sierra has no choice but to dig in her five-inch heels and find the killer on her own.
From Murder at the Flatiron Building - Drag Strip
Author: Bartholomew, Nancy
Publisher: Minotaur List Price: $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312202954 Date: 1999PW
Sierra Lavotini, the classiest dancer at the Tiffany club in Panama City and star of the hit novel The Miracle Strip, returns in another action-packed adventure. This time, the death of another young Tiffany dancer sends Sierra in search of a killer. - Size 12 Is Not Fat: Heather Wells
Author: Cabot, Meg
Publisher: Avon $ 12.95 ISBN: 0060525118 Date: 2006PWLJ
The #1 "New York Times" bestselling author strikes gold once more with a new series featuring a pop star-turned-girl detective in a mystery that rocks.
Suggested Reading: Humorous Crime Fiction
Updated 12.27.05 - The Butcher of Beverly Hills
Author: Colt, Jennifer
Publisher: Broadway $ 11.95 (paper) ISBN: 0767920112 Date: 2005
With a razor-sharp wit that brings to life LA's most eccentric personalities, this novel marks the debut of two of the hottest sleuths since Stephanie Plum--and delivers a fast-paced, highly original tale that will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Updated 7.25.05 -
Fast Women
Author: Crusie, Jennifer
Publisher: St Martin's $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312252617 Date: 2001Kirkus
Nell Dysart brings calamity to her job at a detective agency, but even her boss has to admit that no matter how much he hates the confusion she's brought into his life, Nell shares his passion for making things right. It's not long before they share another passion--one they can't ignore--even in the face of distractions like adultery, blackmail, arson, murder, and really bad business cards.
Updated 3/19/01 - Faking It
Author: Crusie, Jennifer
Publisher: St Martins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312284683 Date: 2002Kirkus
Matilda "Tilda" Goodnight and Davy Dempsey both want something gorgeous gold-digger Clea Lewis has. When they cross paths in Clea's bedroom, Tilda and Davy reluctantly join forces to battle with a determined femme fatale, an inept art collector, a disgruntled heir, false identities, and worst of all, real love.
Updated 6.29.02 - Dating Dead Men
Author: Kozak, Harley Jane
Publisher: Doubleday $ 22.95 ISBN: 0385510187 Date: 2004LJKirkusPW
Kozak's debut novel is a smart, funny, fast-paced mystery in the tradition of Janet Evanovich featuring greeting card artist and small business owner Wollie Shelley, a woman who's looking for love--and job satisfaction--in all the wrong places when she literally stumbles across a murder that irrevocably changes her life (in some ways, for the better).
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts | All Stars
Updated 12.8.03 - Dating Is Murder
Author: Kozak, Harley Jane
Publisher: Doubleday $ 19.95 ISBN: 0385510349 Date: 2005LJKirkus
With Dating Is Murder, Kozak delivers another sparkling treasure, a laugh-out-loud funny, literate mystery for readers of Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton, and for Kozak's own growing legion of fans.
Updated 11.2.04 - The Bitch Factor
Author: Rogers, Chris
Publisher: Bantam List Price: $ 22.95 ISBN: 0553106597 Date: 1998LJ
After ten years in the Houston's D.A.'s office, watching the guilty get off on technicalities, Dixie Flannigan decides to embrace a more hands-on style of justice: she becomes a bounty hunter. Tracking an accused child-killer to North Dakota, Dixie finds herself facing not only a blizzard, but also suspicions that the man is really innocent. - False Profits
Author: Smiley, Patricia
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892967900 Date: 2004Booklist
Featuring a fresh new voice and cast of characters, False Profits will appeal to fans of the novels by Janet Evanovich.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 9.7.04 - Bubbles Unbound
Author: Strohmeyer, Sarah
Publisher: Dutton $ 23.95 ISBN: 0525945806 Date: 2001
Agatha Winner Best First Novel
Bubbles Yablonsky knows there is more to life than doing hair in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. She goes back to school, enters journalism classes and gets a job at a local newspaper for on-the-job training. When Bubbles stumbles upon a crime scene on the way home from an assignment, she's suddenly up to her roots in a nasty murder investigation. This title is the debut novel in a new mystery series. - Bubbles Ablaze
Author: Strohmeyer, Sarah
Publisher: Dutton $ 23.95 ISBN: 0525947388 Date: 2003
The irrepressible heroine of Strohmeyer's Agatha Award-winning series makes her usual headline-grabbing entrance just in time to heat up Pennsylvania's coal country--in another rip-roaring tale of murder and mayhem.
Updated 7.19.04 - Bubbles a Broad
Author: Strohmeyer, Sarah
Publisher: Dutton $ 23.95 ISBN: Date: 0525947981 2004
In the newest installment in Strohmeyer's wacky mystery series, Bubbles Yablonsky, everyone's favorite flaky hairdresser/reporter/amateur sleuth, attempts to solve a sticky homicide and uncover possible corruption at the highest levels of the steel industry.
Updated 7.19.04
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