The fluff continues in the second installment of the Murder A-Go-Go Cozy Romance Mystery series, and as long as you remember that this is fluff and therefore not really a book series to take overly seriously, you’ll be fine.
Set 3 weeks after It’s A Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod Murder, Bebe and her oh so dreamy boss Bradley Williams have moved from Rip-City Records Talent Company to Ryan Modeling on the round-the-companies tour Bradley’s Uncle Herman has sent him on. See, Uncle Herman has no sons but three nephews, so Herman has set them all up at various companies he owns (some of which seem to be a film studio in Hollywood, a fleet of department stores in Chicago, a Record Company, Modeling Agency and Toy Store in New York) to see who he’ll leave his empire to. Seeing as Bradley’s two cousins have both stayed at their original posts, I guess that means ol’ Herman has the most faith in Bradley?
While at Ryan however, Bradley has still not gotten the memo that he is the future Mr. Bebe Bennett,
dating top model Suzie Wexford, ice blonde and social climber extraordinaire. When Suzie is found strangled with the Pucci scarf Bradley has gifted her, Bebe is put in a race against the clock to clear Bradley’s name before the only metal ring she’ll see him wear is a pair of handcuffs. Can she do it while juggling her roommate Darlene’s quarterlife crisis, her father’s continued attempts to get her back to Virginia, an overly dramatic French photographer, drunken models, and a potential date with the Burma Shave ad model?
This book was a tick down from the first. The side characters were more annoying; Darlene’s quarterlife crisis, Cole, was such an obvious step down from Stu that there was no question Bebe was going to get Darlene to dump him. (Aside; who decides to have “Stu” as a nickname when their name is Burt?) Pierre, the photographer, was So French. So very, very French, with his yelling and his dramatic utterances, and his posing.
And of course we have Gloria, the “chubby, long suffering woman who wants to know why the man has never looked around and noticed her standing in his doorway.”
And Debbie Ann, the “Happy Homemaker” ripoff, is everything wrong with TV cooking show hosts. Though you’re expected to forgive her being an intrusive shrew because of “The Tragic Backstory”.
And Bradley, oh Bradley. Having not read this book in over 20 years, I had forgotten how condescending and giver of mixed signals Bradley Williams is.
Bebe is a kid who doesn’t know better and shouldn’t date or wear anything adult (seriously, he tries to dictate her perfume choices, for chrissakes), unless he decides that he must give in, she’s making him give in to his base nature. Sure….your libido is her problem. Every lapse is her fault, and he punishes her by ignoring her. She does something to try and save a modeling job the company is under contract for, he worries about what her father would think, and basically calls her a prostitute. He stalks her on dates, and she’s supposed to take it as a compliment (she does).
Not that Bebe doesn’t encourage him. Everything is geared towards making Bradley realize that he needs to marry her, she’s the inevitable fate he can’t escape. Every man she compares to him, every action is “what would Bradley think”, every clothing choice is made to attract his eye and his libido, when she isn’t worried about being Daddy’s Little Virgin, saving herself until marriage, because as Mama says, “Men won’t buy the cow if they get the milk for free” (I hate that phrase by the way). I just kept hoping (even though I knew how this series ended) that Bebe would just tell her parents and Bradley off and go on a madcap “Free Love” spree like the ’60’s had never seen.
You have to have noticed that I really haven’t touched on the mystery; that’s because it technically doesn’t matter to the book. The murders don’t technically matter to any of the three books in the series, they’re there just as a framing device excuse for Bebe and Bradley’s continued slow burn. The only thing to really say about this one?
