Death by Smoothie, Laura Levine’s latest work, has Jaine Austen tossed into investigating two murders: that of a classic sitcom turned musical, and that of the lead actress starring in said musical. Jaine is approached by her friend and neighbor Lance Venable and asked if she would be interested in doing the screen writing for the musical remake of an old sitcom called ‘I Married a Zombie’. While she isn’t a fan of the sitcom or of the idea of a musical based upon it, she is definitely interested in the paycheck the job would bring. David and Becca are the couple who are funding and directing the project using the winnings from David’s recent lotto ticket. While she is hesitant about working on such a tacky project, Jaine is won over by the large pay out promised.
Their first meeting starts off positively but rapidly degenerates to a cringing endurance of the audition of a rather untalented, but beautiful, actress named Misty. Despite there being an obviously more qualified and talented actress for the role, David hires Misty. This heavily debated decision creates a rather contentious work environment with the other cast members, as well as with David’s girlfriend. Misty quickly establishes herself as a selfish, entitled, offensive, and domineering diva who drives everyone crazy, with the exception of one madly infatuated David.
Jaine tries her best to stay out of the drama while accommodating Becca’s ever increasing demands for edits to accommodate Misty’s ineptitude on stage. She also has to deal with a constant slew of bad behavior from her mischievous cat, Prozac. She does all she can to rectify her cat’s wrongs and to try to prevent them from happening in the future, and the result is several hilarious misadventures. She thinks that her cat’s misbehavior and being shanghaied into a dating auction luncheon by her friend Kandi Tobolowski are the worst of her problems…but sadly for Misty, that isn’t the case.
During a cast rehearsal, Misty comes to an unfortunate end. Even more upsetting is the fact that Jaine’s friend Lance is completely in love with the actor who is the prime suspect for the murder. As Jaine has a reputation for solving mysteries, Lance throws himself at her mercy and begs her to look into the case. She reluctantly agrees to and begins digging into Misty’s life. She isn’t too shocked to learn that Misty’s life is just as selfish and shallow as she was. Plenty of people wanted her gone, for a multitude of reasons. However, when Jaine finally puts all of the clues and information together, she is just as shocked to uncover the culprit as the reader will be.
Laura Levine’s Death by Smoothie is a fun and engaging read with a quick pace, and readers will find it easy to get lost in the narrative. Cat lovers will appreciate that Levine does an excellent job of capturing the very realistic attitude and inner dialogue of Prozac the cat. There is also a parallel story of the adventures of Jaine’s parents told in the form of emails that provides a humorous distraction from the main plot, while keeping readers invested in both stories. Overall, Death by Smoothie is an enjoyable read that will delight and amuse readers. – Carla Schantz
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Carla Schantz is a Courthouse Clerk Supervisor and has a bachelor’s degree in English as well as a master’s in legal studies. Books have been a passion of hers since she was young, and she is a firm believer in the purse book so that she is never without a book at any time.