Oranges and Lemons

Calli Barnow Mystery #2

by Liz Bugg

In the glamorous world of advertising, image is everything as intrepid lesbian PI Calli Barnow finds out when she goes undercover at a top Toronto agency.Following a twisted money trail, she stumbles across the body of a hot young copywriter, dead of a drug overdose at his desk. Just another casualty of the Bay Street rat race? Calli doesn’t think so and when she follows her intuition, trouble usually follows her.

Genres: Fiction

308 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2012

About the author

Liz Bugg is a Toronto-based writer.

Reviews

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian]

This book was pretty meh for me. By the end I was wondering why on earth Calli is a PI since she seems to neither like it nor be good at it. Also none of the characters got more fleshed out from the first book, making them seem more like caricatures than real people. Calli herself is kinda complex I guess but after this book I have to say I don't really like her. She seems like a stereotype of the butch who won't grow up, like the dyke version of a straight dude who doesn't know anything about women/femininity, which is not my experience of butch / masculine women IRL at all.

[Jenny Franklin]

I received Oranges and Lemons by Liz Bugg as a First Reads Giveaway. I loved the mystery of the book and could not wait to find out what was going on at the agency. It was a great easy read and as I got more into the story I just didn't want to put it down because I just had to know what happened. I hadn't read Liz Bugg's first book "Red Rover" which was the first Calli Barnow mystery but I didn't feel lost or confused at who Calli was. However, every time it mentioned the previous case it just made me want to go get her first book aswell and I am going to. I would read any more Calli Barnow mystery books if there are going to be more, and would recommend them to people who like mystery/ investigation books. It was a really fun and modern mystery book.

[Lori]

Looking forward to this one! Don't remember the last time I read a mystery....
Finished it last night. Good fun read! I guess now I need to read Liz's first one, Red Rover.

[Adam Dunn]

Another great book, as good as the first in the series. Calli is becoming like an old pair of shoes you feel great slipping into.

The book starts again with Calli meeting a new client she's intimidated by and again reluctant to accept the case. How does this woman get any business?

We see Calli go undercover, which is brilliant and provides some comic relief even before her drag queen sidekick arrives to liven up the party.

I liked that we got to see more of Calli's girlfriend, she wasn't really in the first book. I also like all the minorities in the book, from people's ethnicities to people in wheelchairs, although the wheelchair was never mentioned again and I forgot who was the one in it.

The only slight, very slight, negative is the ending. I like Calli and to put her in such a terrible situation for the last 20 percent of the book, it felt too long. I wanted her to get away sooner.

That being said everything works here in this second book and I can't wait to read the third.

[Mona Harrison]

A favourite early piano tune, a city I know and love... What could be better? Not forensic accounting, unfortunately. Good characters, good writing, good loving, great descriptions of familiar landmarks; even some blood and guts - but, I'm sorry, Ms Bugg, you failed to win me over to the advertising world.