I really, really want to like these books (this one along with "I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason", "Not a Girl Detective"). I think the premise is terrific -- modern writer in LA obsessed with all the old classics (as well as old classic clothes). I think the books are succesful, in varying degrees, in bringing some of the period settings alive, but I'd like to see more. I'm a huge fan of Perry, Nancy Drew and Dashiel Hammett, but they don't always come through as I'd like them to (don't worry, I know that two of these people are fictional, but if you are a fan perhaps you'll know what I mean!). When reading this latest book I kept having to flip back to clarify something about some obscure character or a more major character who wasn't defined very clearly. Unlike Perry and Nancy, the detective star of this book, Cece, doesn't wrap things up very tightly, strings are left hanging. And I'm pretty sure that Sam Spade (Hammett's hard-boiled detective in The Maltese Falcon) would have been disappointed. However, I can't say that there aren't a lot of fun scenes thrown in, with the info about Dashiell Hammet's life and the heroine's musings about clothing choices. So, I'm sure I'll read the next Cece Caruso book (Christietown) and hope for the best. Like the spunky Nancy Drew, and indeed the spunky Cece Caruso, I have a hard time giving up on a case.

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Was not real crazy about the story but I probably should have started from the beginning of this series too - to be fair. Another book written in L.A. but the writer knows the town and how hard it is to get anywhere and what crazy shops there are there too. I will have to see if there is a book (or books) written before this one before casting my final vote (so I have some sense of the heroine).

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