Category: B-

Fast Women

Nell is stumbling through life after her twenty-two marriage ends in divorce. Looking to start again she takes a job as a temporary secretary at a small Private Detective Agency.
As she drives her new boss crazy trying to modernize the office she starts to find a purpose in life. It doesn’t hurt that the Agency’s caught up in a juicy puzzle involving murder, embezzlement and adultery.
Maybe I’m just getting tired of reading this author’s books or this really is a pretty perfunctory entry in Crusie’s canon. There’s just so many scenes of women being morose over failed or failing marriages and there’s no fun to be had in that.

Rating: B-

Crazy For You

Quinn just wanted to keep the stray dog but when her boyfriend takes the dog to the pound she suddenly realizes that she needs a whole new life. Unfortunately the asshole ex-boyfriend isn’t going to take no for answer.
The tone of this one was weird. The usual Crusie wit is on full display and then suddenly you get whole sections of the ex-boyfriend being creepy as hell and even, unforgivably, trying to get the dog put down.
Thankfully the plot ends with Quinn happily in a relationship with someone the complete opposite of the asshole.

Rating: B-

Trust Me On This

Alec’s attending an academic conference to hear his aunt speak. As a federal agent he’s delighted when a most wanted con man turns up on the scene.
Dennie’s also at the conference having found out a famous academic is getting a divorce. She’s hoping to get the big interview that will advance her career.
Of course there’s a comedy of misunderstandings and Alec thinks that Dennie is in cahoots with the con man.
There’s lots of fun dialogue in this one but the con plot is woefully underdeveloped – a great con is something to be cherished – and most of the side characters are barely one-dimensional. I still don’t really get the point of including the con man’s real assistant at all since she’s barely in the book and the only important thing she does is mentioned in passing by another character.
Also the romances are incredibly perfunctory in this one. Characters meet, are attracted, briefly resist it, have sex and then are absolutely ready for the commitment of marriage to the extent to changing the rest of their lives to make it happen.

Rating: B-

Getting Rid Of Bradley

Lucy has just had her divorce come through. Moving on with her life gets complicated when a police detective turns up saying that her life is in danger from a dangerous embezzler who happens to share her ex-husband’s name.
This is a decent but slightly disappointing effort from Crusie – it’s just a bit lacking in terms of sparkling dialogue that her other books excel at.

Rating: B-