Author: H. Jean Bushnell

ISBN:  1932636269

This novel by H. Jean Bushnell is about an author turned legal assistant, Abbie Tartingale.  Tartingale and her deceased husband were famous authors of a book series called Fortune.  Fortune is their main character who is a legal assistant by day and private detective by night.

Tartingale’s husband/co-author had passed away and she is now living in Denver with her sister.  She agrees to take a temporary job at a legal firm with the unfortunate acronym H.E.L.L.  After she is there a few weeks life starts imitating art when one of the lawyers at the firm is murdered at the office.  Tartingale finds herself involved in the investigation as it starts to unfold and basically becomes Fortune.

The book starts out with a prologue which I assumed was an excerpt from a Fortune novel.  I later found out it was intertwined with the book I was reading and not an Abbie Tartingale creation.  When I got to the point in the book where the prologue is relevant I had to stop and re-read it because I had already forgotten what the circumstances were.

As the book progressed I followed Abbie to work at H.E.L.L.  While Bushnell was describing the office and progressed though the first few chapters the plot was slow.  There was almost too much description while the scene was set with so many adjectives. 

During the first few chapters there were numerous characters introduced; almost too many characters.  Throughout the entire book I had a very hard time keeping characters straight.  It wasn’t just that there wee a lot of characters but they were also referred to in many different terms.  Not only did I have to remember all the characters but also all of their monikers.  For example, there is a character named Andrew Skollini.  He is referred to as Andrew, Andy and Skollini.  When I was reading an important scene and a character entered it, I found myself flipping back in the book to try and remember who this person was and why they were important.

Once I got passed these things I couldn’t put the book down.  Even though I couldn’t keep some of the characters straight, I still couldn’t wait to see what happened next.  Bushnell’s writing drew me in and made me physically react to scenes.  I would find myself smiling, gasping or yelling something out that was shocking.  My husband thought I was crazy but I really felt like I knew Abbie Tartingale and experienced her up and downs with her.  I found myself trying to solve the crime along with her.  I got so sucked in to the book I felt like I was in it. 

I really enjoyed the way Bushnell put in Tartingale’s thoughts in italics.  In many instances, Tartingale’s thoughts made me laugh at the situation.  She was very sarcastic and it really made me feel like I knew her.  I also liked the way Bushnell didn’t let the reader know what was going on.  I felt I was solving the crime right alone with Tartingale.

There were many twists and turns in the book and I was shocked at how the book ended and how the plot really unfolded.  Bushnell has a great mind and knack for writing the murder mystery genre.  Even with the confusion in characters, she really intertwined everyone and the ending was a complete shock.  I can’t wait until the next book!

The above review was contributed by: Kate Gaffney:  Law Student, Journalist Graduate and Monthly Contributor to the E-Zine Femme Vip.