The witch has landed - latest adventures of Jaine Austen

witch.jpgAnother shamless plug - my wife Laura Levine is out with her 12th book in the Austen series, "Death of a Neighborhood Witch" (Amazon, Levine website). It's the tale of one-time TV character Cryptessa Muldoon (she's become a bitter old dame), her beloved parrot Van Helsing, Jane's feisty cat Prozac, and a bunch of really wacky neighbors. Or as one reviewer put it: "If good fences made good neighbors, ad writer Jaine Austen would need the Berlin Wall to cope with the nutty crew that surrounds her South Beverly Hills rental." All I can say is that Halloween parties will never seem quite the same. Here's the review from Publisher's Weekly:

In Levine's whimsical 11th mystery featuring L.A. freelance writer Jaine Austen (after 2011's Pampered to Death), our scatterbrained, sugar-addicted heroine; her demanding cat, Prozac; and nosy shoe salesman Lance Venable all fall head over heels for their new neighbor, Peter Connor. Unclear on Peter's sexual preference, Jaine and Lance outdo each other trying to impress the handsome book editor. Peter's arrival even brings the curmudgeonly neighborhood "witch," forgotten TV actress Eleanor Jenkins, better known as Cryptessa Muldoon, out of her cluttered house. Already facing a suit in small claims court for the death of Cryptessa's beloved parakeet, Van Helsing, Jaine falls even deeper into trouble--and under police suspicion--when the one-time star turns up on Halloween night stabbed to death with her own Do Not Trespass sign.

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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
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