Review: Watch out Janet Evanovich - there's a new girl on the block!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 26, 2012
Watch out Janet Evanovich, there's a new 'girl' on the block! Admittedly, she is older than Stephanie Plum but this is a ballsy lady with credibility and determination.48 year old Mia Ferrari (who wouldn't want a great name like that?) holds down the position of duty manager at a top Rourke hotel in Sydney. Once rejected by the police force, thanks to her ex-husband and a policeman called Smythe, Mia is a sleuth at heart.A suicide occurs on her watch at the hotel and Mia's gut reaction is that foul play is at work. When arch enemy Smyth decides that it is an open and shut case it is Mia, together with good friend and work colleague Dobbs and the hotel manager's son who set about proving there is more to it all.The plot is fast-paced and absorbing. Mia is sassy and very smart. She is the sort of woman you would love to have as a friend and not just because she is a dab hand at cooking Italian food. She is loyal, compassionate and funny. As Dobbs points out she is a 'wise-ass' but Mia is also a remarkable woman. She has only just emerged from a heartbreaking break-up after eighteen years of marriage. Her husband has left her for a floozy several years his junior. Does this get the formidable Mia down? No, she picks herself up and starts all over again with entertaining consequences.This is an absolute must-read for those who like thrillers, women's fiction and appreciate film noir. Sylvia Massara delivers a slick novel which entertains and also manages to comment on society's attitude to middle-aged women. This is one woman who stands up for all of us in the 'sisterhood' who are getting older and I for one cannot wait for Mia's next case.Playing With The Bad Boys (A Mia Ferrari Mystery)