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Jaine Austen mysteries

Author:
Levine, Laura, 1943
Levine, Laura
 
Showing 1 - 21 of 21
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Star rating for This pen for hire
Series Volume:
1.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"I'm crazy about Laura Levine's mystery series. Her books are so outrageously funny." —Joanne Fluke
Smarmy personals ads. Daring declarations of love. Freelance writer Jaine Austen has penned them all. But no one needs her help more than geeky, gawky Howard Murdoch. His request is simple enough: a letter proclaiming his undying love for Stacy Lawrence, a gorgeous aerobics instructor. The fact that he's never actually met the woman gives Jaine...
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Star rating for Last Writes
Series Volume:
2.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Wisecracking pen-for-hire Jaine Austen is back—and she's about to discover that working on the set of a Hollywood sitcom is no laughing matter. . .
Jaine still hasn't found a good man—or a way to keep all those sugary snacks from going straight to her hips. But—with a little help from her best friend Kandi—she's finally landed a gig as a sitcom writer! True, Muffy 'n Me (aka "Bewitched with Tits") isn't going to win any...
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Star rating for Killer blonde
Series Volume:
3.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
A gal with a serious Ben & Jerry's habit can't afford to be too picky about employment opportunities. So when Beverly Hills socialite SueEllen Kingsley offers freelance writer Jaine Austen megabucks to ghostwrite a book of hostess tips, it's time to sharpen the #2s. But everything short circuits when Jaine finds SueEllen floating face down in her tub, fried by her own blow dryer. The primary suspect: Heidi, SueEllen's stepdaughter, whose account of...
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Star rating for Shoes to die for
Series Volume:
4.
Description:
I'm crazy about Laura Levine's mystery series. Her books are so outrageously funny. —Joanne Fluke
If clothes make the man, then what do Jaine Austen's elastic-waist pants and T-shirts make her? A fashion nightmare, according to her neighbor, Lance. She doesn't expect Lance—who works in the designer shoe department at Nieman Marcus—to understand. . .which is how she ends up visiting his favorite boutique, Passions. While the couture...
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Star rating for The PMS Murder
Series Volume:
5.
Description:

On the frontlines of the battle of the bulge, otherwise known as trying on bathing suits in the communal dressing room at Loehmann’s, freelance writer Jaine Austen makes a new friend—a wannabe actress named Pam—and gets a new job: sprucing up Pam’s bare-bones resume. Their feeling of connection is mutual, so Pam invites Jaine to join The PMS Club–a women’s support group that meets once a week over guacamole and margaritas.

But

...
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Star rating for Death by pantyhose
Series Volume:
6.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
Agreeing to write jokes for Dorcas, a struggling stand-up comic, Jaine Austen discovers that murder is the punchline when Dorcas's rival, a heckler named Vic, is strangled with one of her props--a pair of pantyhose.
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Star rating for Killing bridezilla
Series Volume:
7.
Description:
When writer-for-hire Jaine Austen signs on to script vows for the ultimate Bridezilla, "I do's" soon become "I wish I hadn't's" - and curtains for the bride spell a veil of woes for Jaine... Jaine's accepted her share of lame gigs to pay the bills, but rewriting Shakespeare's got to be an all-time low. The fiasco begins with a call from Jaine's high-school nemesis, uber-rich uber-witch Patti Devane. It seems Patti will soon be sashaying down the...
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Star rating for Killer cruise
Series Volume:
8.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
While teaching on a swanky cruise, wordsmith Jaine Austen soon discovers that her all-expenses-paid trip to the Mexican Riviera comes with a high price when she is faced with blackmail, a sleazy British dancer, eccentric passengers, and murder.
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Star rating for Death of a Trophy Wife
Series Volume:
9.
Description:
Without a job or a date in sight, freelance writer Jaine Austen is equally out of luck in finance and romance. So when her friend Lance offers to treat her to brunch at the Four Seasons, Jaine leaps at the invite. They've barely made it through the menu when Lance spots his friend Bunny, who is the new trophy wife of mattress maven Marvin Cooper.
When Bunny generously offers Jaine a gig writing Marv's new advertising campaign, Jaine accepts the...
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Star rating for Pampered to death
Series Volume:
10.
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
While being tortured at a weight loss health spa, Jaine Austen has one week to solve the murder of B-movie star and Paparazzi Princess, Mallory Francis, who was found strangled with a piece of kelp after a seaweed wrap.
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Star rating for Death of a Neighborhood Witch
Series Volume:
11.
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
Reprinted Edition
"I'm crazy about Laura Levine's mystery series. Her books are so outrageously funny." —Joanne Fluke
When Jaine Austen's beloved cat Prozac unwittingly scares to death a parakeet belonging to the neighborhood's resident curmudgeon, Jaine finds herself knee-deep in toil and trouble. The cantankerous Hollywood has-been once played Cryptessa Muldoon, television's fourth most famous monster mom. Now she spends her days...
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Star rating for Killing cupid
Series Volume:
12.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
When her abusive professional-matchmaker boss ends up dead, Jaine Austen is on the long list of suspects.
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Star rating for Death by tiara
Series Volume:
13.
Description:
When she is hired to write lyrics for a contestant in the talent competition for the Miss Teen Queen America pageant, freelance writer Jaine Austen is plunged into a glittering nightmare of vicious stage moms, exacting judges and trash-talking teens after a catfight turns deadly.
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Star rating for Murder has nine lives
Series Volume:
14.
Description:
"Jaine's flair for the well-turned phrase puts her in the top tier of do-it-yourself detectives"—from the author of Death by Tiara (Kirkus Reviews).

The future is looking bright for freelance writer Jaine Austen. She's signed up for a new job, she's looking forward to a tropical vacation, and her cat Prozac is slated to star in a major commercial. But when the claws come out behind the scenes, Jaine worries...
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Star rating for Death of a bachelorette
Series Volume:
15.
Description:
"Fans of Janet Evanovich or Ali Brandon's Black Cat Bookshop mysteries will enjoy the latest in Levine's hilarious series." —Smitten by Books

Freelance writer Jaine Austen thought working for a knock-off reality show in the tropics would be paradise. But when she and her kitty Prozac find themselves trapped between a dimwitted leading man, catty contestants, and a cold-blooded murderer, the splashy gig becomes...
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Star rating for Death of a neighborhood Scrooge
Series Volume:
16.
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"Exemplary . . . a thoroughly enjoyable cozy with just the right balance of crime, humor, and holiday spirit" by the author of Death of a Bachelorette (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Freelance writer Jaine Austen is feeling festive about spending Christmas house-sitting at a posh Bel Air mansion, accompanied by her friend Lance and her cat, Prozac. But when a grumpy neighbor gets himself iced, she'll have to...
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Star rating for Death of a gigolo
Series Volume:
17.
Average Rating:
3.7 stars
Description:
Freelance writer Jaine Austen's life is suddenly full of romance. For one thing, she's reconnected with her ex—though her cat, Prozac, isn't happy about it. And Jaine's also got a new ghostwriting gig, working on a steamy novel called Fifty Shades of Turquoise . . .

Daisy Kincaid is in her sixties and heiress to a fortune. Now she wants to make a name for herself as a romance author . ....
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Star rating for Murder gets a makeover
Series Volume:
18.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
When uber-stylist--and uber-bully--Bebe Braddock is murdered, and Jaine's prints are all over the murder weapon, she, while navigating a cougar-style romance, must clear her own name before the color of the next outfit she wears is orange.
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Star rating for Death by smoothie
Series Volume:
19.
Description:
"Freelance writer Jaine Austen is all too familiar with the short-lived sitcom I Married a Zombie-she once solved the murder of its star, Cryptessa Muldoon. But in true zombie fashion, Cryptessa is back from the grave-sort of-courtesy of a new theatrical production, and murder is on the bill once more... The Bewitched knockoff I Married a Zombie may have flopped in its day, but it's got a devoted cult following. Jaine is delighted when one of those...
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Star rating for Murder buys a one-way ticket
Series Volume:
20.
Description:
"What could be more idyllic than starting a new gig with an exclusive train ride from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara? Turns out, a whole lot. Jaine must figure out how to tolerate her client--Chip Miller, aka Iron Man, a wealthy gym chain owner--who Jaine soon discovers is a tyrant and a bully with an ego as pumped as his pecs. Practically everyone on board seems to have it in for Chip--his dysfunctional family members, his beleaguered staff, even his...
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Star rating for Candy cane murder
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
'Tis the season for suspicion in thesethree Christmas crime-solving confections—with recipes! "Entertaining...a sweet holiday treat for mystery lovers."—Publishers Weekly
'Tis the season for trimming the tree, caroling, baking cookies, and waiting for Santa to drop down the chimney. But in this festive collection of whodunits, murder is also paying a visit...
Candy Cane Murder by New...