Speak Now
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
"Comic cozy meets crazed spy thriller in this debut novel short-listed for Britain's 2003 Crime Writer's Association Debut Dagger award."—Booklist
Charley Van Leeuwen can tell by a man's kiss whether he's been drinking Taittinger or Veuve Clicquot. Not that she kisses many men, a fact her friends deplore. So imagine their surprise when she came home to San Francisco with a new husband. Jack Fairfax is the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. But is he a mild-mannered meteorologist as he claims?
Sometime between finding a dead body in her bathtub, tagging along on a ransom drop, and getting rescued by her husband in a hail of bullets, Charley begins to suspect there's more to Jack's past than he's willing—or able—to admit.
So, here's Charley, used to her money as a cushion, forced to protect her family and friends, and rushed to rescue her nonprofit repertory theater from artistic and financial ruin. If that means dealing with kidnappings, murders, bitter ex-boyfriends, out-of-control relatives, and vicious former spies—all while staging a play—well, nobody ever said marriage would be easy....
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Short-listed for Britain's C.W.A. 2003 Debut Dagger Award, Dumas's sparkling debut should appeal to both cozy and chick-lit fans. Thirty-four-year-old Charley Van Leeuwen, who runs her own "non-profit rep company in San Francisco," has married Jack Fairfax, a dashing former U.S. Navy meteorologist (who reminds her of "Roman Holiday Gregory Peck"), six weeks after meeting him in London. Their honeymoon comes to an abrupt halt when they discover a dead body in their bathtub at San Francisco's posh Mark Hopkins Hotel. Charley must solve the mystery (which somehow involves Jack) and direct a new play while getting kidnapped and held at gunpoint along the way. Stock characters abound: the queeny, bisexual artistic director of her theater; the no-nonsense, sometimes tactless financial manager; the uptight, shy women's studies professor. At times Charley comes across as little more than a collection of references to designer labels and expensive champagne, but her engaging voice ("It would be nice if I could say I look like Aubrey Hepburn, but I'm not delusional") will keep readers turning the pages.