Review by Booklist Review
Plus-size paralegal and sometime detective Odelia Grey has just found another body, this time at her best friend's daughter's wedding. Turns out the victim, wedding planner Shirley Pearson, was actually a man, one of a group of persons who supposedly died to assume new identities and new lives. An old nemesis, Clarice Thomas, shows Odelia a group photograph and hires her to find out why these people who transformed their lives are being murdered. The case becomes personal for Odelia when she recognizes her friend Joan's father, whose funeral she attended, in the photo, and then he, too, turns up murdered under a different identity. Odelia is assisted by a small village consisting of her husband, her former police officer half-brother Clark, detective Dev Frye, and her rather obnoxious boss, Steele. Assistance is not forthcoming, however, from Odelia's best friend, Zee, who decides it's become too dangerous for her to associate with Odelia. Plenty of humor, the charms of the feisty main character, and a great supporting cast add to the amusement.--O'Brien, Su. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"Dead bodies find me like flies zeroing in on dog poop," remarks Odelia Grey at the outset of Jaffarian's raucous sixth cozy featuring the plus-size Southern California paralegal (after 2010's Corpse on the Cob) after she notices a woman's corpse on the floor of the cloakroom at the private club where she and her husband, Greg, are attending a wedding reception. The victim turns out to be Shirley Pearson, the wedding planner, soon revealed to be a man, Doug Pearson, who disappeared 14 years earlier after being involved in a Minnesota bank robbery. With the help of Greg, her irascible boss, and assorted other supporters, amateur sleuth Odelia follows the trail through Orange County, including a stop at a gay nightclub called Billie's Holiday for Shirley/Doug's memorial service. Distinctive characters help compensate for the rushed and untidy plot. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Prepare to laugh as "Corpse Magnet" Odelia (Corpse on the Cob) finds yet another dead body, this time at a fancy Newport Beach, CA, wedding. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The death of an event planner spells more than double trouble for a Southern California paralegal and her yuppie boss.Finding Shirley Pearson's corpse in a coatroom while guests dance the Electric Slide at Hannah Washington's wedding poses a variety of problems for Odelia Grey (Corpse on the Cob, 2010, etc.). First, in a fit of mother-of-the-bride outrage, Zee Washington threatens to brain her best friend with a coat hanger if she dares disrupt Hannah's nuptials with something as tacky as a dead body. Second, stylish Shirley turns out to be, at least technically, still a guy. Third, Doug Pearson, the guy Shirley is or used to be, reportedly died 14 years ago after sticking up a bank in Minnesota. But fourth and foremost, her coat room discovery confirms Odelia's status as Corpse Magnet of the Century, an honor her husband Greg and brother Clark fear will make her a target in her own right. They won't help her investigate, even when former classmate Clarice Hollowell presents her with a list of people who, like Doug, supposedly shuffled off this mortal coil years ago, but whose alter egos now seem to have bought it for real. And Detective Dev Frye certainly doesn't want Odelia messing around in police business. That leaves Odelia's boss, smart but arrogant Mike Steele, who's surprisingly willing to be Odelia's Watson, even if it means a night of Drag Queen Bingo at Billie's Holliday, Newport Beach's answer to Hamburger Mary's.Sleuthing spirals so quickly out of control in Odelia's loopy sixth that you can't tell the corpses without a scorecard.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
