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Rebecca Schwartz #1
Death Turns a Trick
Rebecca Schwartz, nice Jewish lawyer with a few too many fantasies, is happily playing the piano in a whorehouse when she suddenly finds herself assigned to make sure a near-naked state senator escapes a police raid. That dirty job done, a lovely evening turns even more delightful when she’s picked up by the cops and spends the next two hours at the Hall of Justice. Could this day get any worse? Of Course! Guess who arrives home to find a dead hooker on her living room floor?
Handsome Parker Phillips, Rebecca’s new beau and the most attractive man she’s met in ages, is arrested for the murder. (Worse, she suspects he might actually have done it.)
On the plus side, another very attractive man is following the case--reporter Rob Burns of the San Francisco Chronicle, a possible ally. And there are other possibilities.
Fans of Janet Evanovich, Joan Hess, and Elizabeth Peters will get a kick out of this one.
Handsome Parker Phillips, Rebecca’s new beau and the most attractive man she’s met in ages, is arrested for the murder. (Worse, she suspects he might actually have done it.)
On the plus side, another very attractive man is following the case--reporter Rob Burns of the San Francisco Chronicle, a possible ally. And there are other possibilities.
Fans of Janet Evanovich, Joan Hess, and Elizabeth Peters will get a kick out of this one.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1982
987 people are currently reading
2049 people want to read
About the author
Julie Smith
263 books404 followersAuthor of 20 mystery novels and a YA paranormal adventure called BAD GIRL SCHOOL (formerly CURSEBUSTERS!). Nine of the mysteries are about a female New Orleans cop Skip Langdon, five about a San Francisco lawyer named Rebecca Schwartz,two about a struggling mystery writer named Paul Mcdonald (whose fate no one should suffer) and four teaming up Talba Wallis, a private eye with many names, a poetic license, and a smoking computer, with veteran P.I. Eddie Valentino.
In Bad GIRL SCHOOL, a psychic pink-haired teen-age burglar named Reeno gets recruited by a psychotic telepathic cat to pull a job that involves time travel to an ancient Mayan city. Hint:It HAS to be done before 2012!
Winner of the 1991 Edgar Allen Poe Award for best novel, that being NEW ORLEANS MOURNING.
Former reporter for the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE and the San Francisco CHRONICLE.
Recently licensed private investigator, and thereon hangs a tale.
Resident of New Orleans, Louisiana
In Bad GIRL SCHOOL, a psychic pink-haired teen-age burglar named Reeno gets recruited by a psychotic telepathic cat to pull a job that involves time travel to an ancient Mayan city. Hint:It HAS to be done before 2012!
Winner of the 1991 Edgar Allen Poe Award for best novel, that being NEW ORLEANS MOURNING.
Former reporter for the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE and the San Francisco CHRONICLE.
Recently licensed private investigator, and thereon hangs a tale.
Resident of New Orleans, Louisiana
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 225 reviews
April 14, 2017
No great read here...by pretty entertaining on my afternoon walks. I liked the narrator. Not sure the book itself would have held my attention on just paper. The book was free via a notification from bookbub. I saw I could add the audio for $1.99 and sometimes I do that for my walks. And esp when I want something kinda lite and simple...not too hard to follow. This worked well for that. I do recommend it. It would probably be a fun beach read. It was a good little cozy mystery. And gave me a few laughs along the way as well.
May 2, 2018
As soon as I read the synopsis I had to find out why a lawyer would be playing the piano in a brothel. I’m glad we find out right away. Funny things happen before she gets home that day (though she doesn’t find them funny). She is so relieved to get in her apartment. That is until she finds a dead prostitute in her living room. The whole place had been ransacked. But that was nothing compared to the dead woman. Rebecca is quickly thrown into lawyer mode when the man she was dating was the prime murder suspect. He was the dead woman’s brother. The police thought her boyfriend was the murderer so they were not looking at anyone else. Since he was her client, Rebecca wanted to make sure they had the right person so she started investigating. But there were lots of suspects, making this a daunting job. Lucky for her, reporter, Rob Burns lent a hand.
This was a well-written book that grabbed my attention right from the beginning. There were lots of amusing times in this legal mystery, along with romance and suspense. I liked the risks Rebecca took to get answers. And I also liked that she went from a serious, skilled lawyer to fun brothel piano player.
I recommend this fun legal mystery.
This was a well-written book that grabbed my attention right from the beginning. There were lots of amusing times in this legal mystery, along with romance and suspense. I liked the risks Rebecca took to get answers. And I also liked that she went from a serious, skilled lawyer to fun brothel piano player.
I recommend this fun legal mystery.
November 24, 2014
Death turns a trick
I picked up this book looking for a funny light read...instead I got a headache. I do not normally review books that I don't finish but I decided to make an exception here. The characters, instead of being fun, were just annoying. If I had to hear one more time about the main character being a middle-class, feminist, Jewish attorney I was going to scream and possibly throw the book (which would have been bad since I love my kindle)!! At one point it seemed as though she mentioned these facts every other sentence. Seriously...I understood it the first time, you don't have to continually mention it. The story was also very slow and I got to the point where I simply could not bring myself to care what happened to these characters. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
I picked up this book looking for a funny light read...instead I got a headache. I do not normally review books that I don't finish but I decided to make an exception here. The characters, instead of being fun, were just annoying. If I had to hear one more time about the main character being a middle-class, feminist, Jewish attorney I was going to scream and possibly throw the book (which would have been bad since I love my kindle)!! At one point it seemed as though she mentioned these facts every other sentence. Seriously...I understood it the first time, you don't have to continually mention it. The story was also very slow and I got to the point where I simply could not bring myself to care what happened to these characters. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
January 7, 2013
A feminist lawyer must solve a murder whodunit in Julie Smith's Death Turns a Trick (read an excerpt of the book here).
Rebecca Schwartz is a well-bred lawyer in the San Francisco Bay area who tends to bore easily. That boredom leads her to a whorehouse where she is playing the piano for a party when she finds herself in the middle of a police raid. Grabbing the almost naked senator strapped to a bed behind closed doors, she ends up in jail after a fender bender in a borrowed car. Finally freed from her two-hour stay in the slammer, Rebecca goes home looking for some R&R only to find a dead prostitute in her apartment.
Still reeling from the shock of that, Rebecca is thrown another surprise when her new boyfriend is arrested for the murder. While she wars with whether or not he might have done it, she continues to look into the case, which also throws her in the path of a studly reporter.
This fast-paced first book in the Rebecca Schwartz series flew by. The story has excitement from page one, and even with a heavy dose of background in the first chapters, it's woven in the story's present well enough it did not seem too heavy.
At little more than 100 pages, it was easy -- and fast -- to dive into this story, much the way one would get into an episode of Law and Order: SVU. Actually, the plot itself could have been an episode of that show, but this book was written before that show, so it wins.
However, just like an episode of SVU, I knew who the murderer and the red herring would be in this story before the victim even dropped dead in Rebecca's apartment. I'm not saying that made this book predictable -- there were twists and turns I did not see coming -- and in all fairness, my siblings and I have watched enough crime shows and read enough mysteries that it usually doesn't take us more than a few minutes to have it solved.
Even though I was about 99 percent certain who did and who did not do it early on, the journey in this story was definitely worth the read. Rebecca is a fun and unique protagonist, and her little quirks set her apart from other narrators of mystery novels. In addition, the friendship she forges with an almost madam was something unexpected, even given the name of the book.
This story was also well written enough that I found myself not noticing or being bothered by the lack of technology and cell phones, because this book was written in 1992 and recently re-released. That's good story-telling.
I enjoyed Rebecca's story, and this exciting read offers a good foundation of a series of more stories to come.
Rating: 4 of 5
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. Originally published at www.change-the-word.blogspot.com.
Rebecca Schwartz is a well-bred lawyer in the San Francisco Bay area who tends to bore easily. That boredom leads her to a whorehouse where she is playing the piano for a party when she finds herself in the middle of a police raid. Grabbing the almost naked senator strapped to a bed behind closed doors, she ends up in jail after a fender bender in a borrowed car. Finally freed from her two-hour stay in the slammer, Rebecca goes home looking for some R&R only to find a dead prostitute in her apartment.
Still reeling from the shock of that, Rebecca is thrown another surprise when her new boyfriend is arrested for the murder. While she wars with whether or not he might have done it, she continues to look into the case, which also throws her in the path of a studly reporter.
This fast-paced first book in the Rebecca Schwartz series flew by. The story has excitement from page one, and even with a heavy dose of background in the first chapters, it's woven in the story's present well enough it did not seem too heavy.
At little more than 100 pages, it was easy -- and fast -- to dive into this story, much the way one would get into an episode of Law and Order: SVU. Actually, the plot itself could have been an episode of that show, but this book was written before that show, so it wins.
However, just like an episode of SVU, I knew who the murderer and the red herring would be in this story before the victim even dropped dead in Rebecca's apartment. I'm not saying that made this book predictable -- there were twists and turns I did not see coming -- and in all fairness, my siblings and I have watched enough crime shows and read enough mysteries that it usually doesn't take us more than a few minutes to have it solved.
Even though I was about 99 percent certain who did and who did not do it early on, the journey in this story was definitely worth the read. Rebecca is a fun and unique protagonist, and her little quirks set her apart from other narrators of mystery novels. In addition, the friendship she forges with an almost madam was something unexpected, even given the name of the book.
This story was also well written enough that I found myself not noticing or being bothered by the lack of technology and cell phones, because this book was written in 1992 and recently re-released. That's good story-telling.
I enjoyed Rebecca's story, and this exciting read offers a good foundation of a series of more stories to come.
Rating: 4 of 5
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. Originally published at www.change-the-word.blogspot.com.
April 29, 2021
Rebecca Schwartz is a perfectly respectable San Francisco lawyer who just happens to represent a group known as HYENA (Head Your Ethics toward a New Age), who are in favor of legalizing prostitution and who organize a local demonstration to promote same that is known as the Strumpet Strut. One of the people she has gotten to know through her work with HYENA is Elena Mooney, who runs a co-op bordello.
Elena is hosting a party for the FDOs (Friday Downtown Operators) at her co-op bordello and finds that the pianist she engaged for the party has become ill. So, she inveigles Rebecca into tarting herself up a bit and filling in as the pianist. At some time during the evening, the party is raided by people who are ostensibly from the police. Elena gets Rebecca to sneak out the back with a client who is a well known local politician. On the way away from the scene, Rebecca has an automobile accident. Rather than staying around to be rescued, the politician flees the scene.
Rebecca spends some time at the police station, but eventually gets home. When she arrives, she finds that one of the guests from the party has been murdered in her living room. The guest goes by the name of Kandi, and is a "working girl". She is also, it turns out, the sister of Rebecca's current boy friend and escort at the party, one Parker Phillips. In addition to finding Kandi murdered, Rebecca sees that her apartment has been tossed. She also finds a rather sizable wad of cash hidden in one of her house plants. So what to do?
Rebecca tries to stay out of the investigation, but keeps getting pulled in. We end up with crooked politicians, a bent cop, who tries to frame and then murder Rebecca. And so forth. A fairly fun rollick.
Elena is hosting a party for the FDOs (Friday Downtown Operators) at her co-op bordello and finds that the pianist she engaged for the party has become ill. So, she inveigles Rebecca into tarting herself up a bit and filling in as the pianist. At some time during the evening, the party is raided by people who are ostensibly from the police. Elena gets Rebecca to sneak out the back with a client who is a well known local politician. On the way away from the scene, Rebecca has an automobile accident. Rather than staying around to be rescued, the politician flees the scene.
Rebecca spends some time at the police station, but eventually gets home. When she arrives, she finds that one of the guests from the party has been murdered in her living room. The guest goes by the name of Kandi, and is a "working girl". She is also, it turns out, the sister of Rebecca's current boy friend and escort at the party, one Parker Phillips. In addition to finding Kandi murdered, Rebecca sees that her apartment has been tossed. She also finds a rather sizable wad of cash hidden in one of her house plants. So what to do?
Rebecca tries to stay out of the investigation, but keeps getting pulled in. We end up with crooked politicians, a bent cop, who tries to frame and then murder Rebecca. And so forth. A fairly fun rollick.
January 27, 2013
Death turns a trick by Julie Smith was originally published in 1992. This is a short cozy mystery with 177 pages. This is the first in the Rebecca Schwartz series, set in San Francisco.
Rebecca attends a party being held at a bordello. She is in costume and playing the piano , when the police raid the party. Rebecca winds up being led out through the dark and becomes responsible for helping a recognizable senator escape detection. In the process, Rebecca leaves her purse behind, gets in a fender bender, and gets taken to jail for suspicion of driving drunk.
One of the working girls , brings Rebecca's things over to her apartment for her and gets murdered.
The girl happens to be Rebecca's new boyfriend's sister. He is arrested and hires Rebecca to prove his innocence.
This book introduces us to Rebecca , a Jewish feminist lawyer and to her zany family and friends. Rebecca is a real hoot. The plot was a genuine whodunit, with more than a few laughs along the way.
If you haven't read any of these , Amazon has several for a really good price right now or you can borrow them from the kindle library if you have Amazon Prime. These are older mysteries but were recently released in digital format , probably with some revised editing. I highly recommend these if you are a fan of cozy type mysteries. Overall an A-
Rebecca attends a party being held at a bordello. She is in costume and playing the piano , when the police raid the party. Rebecca winds up being led out through the dark and becomes responsible for helping a recognizable senator escape detection. In the process, Rebecca leaves her purse behind, gets in a fender bender, and gets taken to jail for suspicion of driving drunk.
One of the working girls , brings Rebecca's things over to her apartment for her and gets murdered.
The girl happens to be Rebecca's new boyfriend's sister. He is arrested and hires Rebecca to prove his innocence.
This book introduces us to Rebecca , a Jewish feminist lawyer and to her zany family and friends. Rebecca is a real hoot. The plot was a genuine whodunit, with more than a few laughs along the way.
If you haven't read any of these , Amazon has several for a really good price right now or you can borrow them from the kindle library if you have Amazon Prime. These are older mysteries but were recently released in digital format , probably with some revised editing. I highly recommend these if you are a fan of cozy type mysteries. Overall an A-
November 1, 2014
The story is fine. There is enough to keep you reading with out too much trouble. However, the use of language is strange, to say the least! I had to keep using the Kindle's look-up feature to find out what the words meant such as "Myrmidon" (basically a minion!). Now I don't mind learning new words; I have even read the first two Gormenghast books. What got me was the use of multi syllable words alongside phrases such as "split up to the wazoo". Some consistency would have been nice.
So, I'm deducting a star for the fact that the flow was interrupted by required use of the dictionary.
So, I'm deducting a star for the fact that the flow was interrupted by required use of the dictionary.
March 31, 2014
I have had this book sitting on my shelf since 2007 and finally picked it up. Not sure why I waited so long! Good book with characters that have some depth to them. I never would have guessed the killer, although it makes a lot of sense how the book was wrapped up. I've got a few more of this series on my shelf, will need to pick those up soon!
August 20, 2021
"Death Turns a Trick" is the first novel in a cozy-mystery series, and a real palate-refresher after my previous, difficult read.
Rebecca is a lawyer in San Francisco who loves the piano as a hobby, which is how she ends up entertaining the party-goers at a bordello belonging to one of her legal clients. Rebecca goes full camp, dressing up as one of the prostitutes. Then there's a police raid, and Rebecca is tasked w/ rescuing the state senator who is tied up in the S&M dungeon in the basement, naked. She has a minor car accident, which the senator flees, and Rebecca is hauled to the hoosegow on a DUI suspicion. She is cleared, but when she finally gets to her apartment, she finds one of the bordello's hookers dead in her living room.
The plot thickens as Rebecca's new boyfriend gets accused of the murder. Or was it someone closer to Rebecca? And who's the creepy guy following her? As a good lawyer, Rebecca continues to investigate the murder in order to clear the name of her client/boyfriend. She befriends a journalist, and uses him to actually complicate the plot, instead of solving the murder as she wanted.
This is a cozy mystery after all, so Rebecca DOES get threatened w/ rape and murder in a fairly scary scene, but in the end, she solves the mystery. This is a very fast-reading little mystery, w/ a small amount of profanity, which is unusual in cozies that I generally read. There is some crusading for legalizing prostitution also. Neither of these things bothered me personally, just surprised me. I'll rate this at 3.4 stars, reluctantly rounded down to 3. I already have Book #2 in the series queued up.
Rebecca is a lawyer in San Francisco who loves the piano as a hobby, which is how she ends up entertaining the party-goers at a bordello belonging to one of her legal clients. Rebecca goes full camp, dressing up as one of the prostitutes. Then there's a police raid, and Rebecca is tasked w/ rescuing the state senator who is tied up in the S&M dungeon in the basement, naked. She has a minor car accident, which the senator flees, and Rebecca is hauled to the hoosegow on a DUI suspicion. She is cleared, but when she finally gets to her apartment, she finds one of the bordello's hookers dead in her living room.
The plot thickens as Rebecca's new boyfriend gets accused of the murder. Or was it someone closer to Rebecca? And who's the creepy guy following her? As a good lawyer, Rebecca continues to investigate the murder in order to clear the name of her client/boyfriend. She befriends a journalist, and uses him to actually complicate the plot, instead of solving the murder as she wanted.
This is a cozy mystery after all, so Rebecca DOES get threatened w/ rape and murder in a fairly scary scene, but in the end, she solves the mystery. This is a very fast-reading little mystery, w/ a small amount of profanity, which is unusual in cozies that I generally read. There is some crusading for legalizing prostitution also. Neither of these things bothered me personally, just surprised me. I'll rate this at 3.4 stars, reluctantly rounded down to 3. I already have Book #2 in the series queued up.
Want to read
August 27, 2018DNF 10%
January 26, 2019
A good read!
I loved the approach to this novel and it made me laugh!😀 A great open minded start to a series that I love.😊
I loved the approach to this novel and it made me laugh!😀 A great open minded start to a series that I love.😊
May 16, 2014
Death Turns a Trick is an entertaining introduction to Rebecca Schwartz, a Jewish feminist lawyer in San Francisco. In her first outing, she gets herself involved with a bordello owner as a client and is at her client's place of business playing the piano when the police raid the place. Mayhem ensues and a fun and clever mystery result. Good characters, good writing, and overall fun story. The one drawback for me was a lot of mentions of casual, illegal drug use and that bothers me personally. It threw me out of the story every time. It won't stop my from reading the rest of the series but it did lessen my enjoyment of the book to a small degree.
May 3, 2014
I was looking for something a bit lighter to read and turned to Julie Smith's new (to me) series, after having read the reviews here. I was a huge fan of her New Orleans-bases series. But they did tend to get a bit heavy for my current mood.
Overall I enjoyed it. There were a few parts I found a bit goofy, like her interview with the police which had her trying to solve their case for them with very little information, or the relationship between her and the 'new' boyfriend. But I am looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how things develop with the characters.
Overall I enjoyed it. There were a few parts I found a bit goofy, like her interview with the police which had her trying to solve their case for them with very little information, or the relationship between her and the 'new' boyfriend. But I am looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how things develop with the characters.
August 21, 2014
A light, entertaining, well-paced mystery, the first Rebecca Schwartz mystery. A nice, spunky character, a lawyer in San Francisco who gets involved in a murder in her apartment and works to keep her boyfriend from being charged/ found guilty of the crime. It's not a deep crime mystery, just good fun. I like Rebecca and her sister Mickey and the other characters that were introduced. Entertaining and comforting. 3.5 stars. I'll read more of this series.
November 20, 2014
I liked this book. It was quick read and quite funny!! The main character, Rebecca, is a complete nut and so is her family members. She is a Jewish lawyer that gets in a little too deep with a guy she doesn't know. And ends up being his lawyer when the cops think he killed his sister. She overthinks things and ends up in trouble. Completely funny. Like I said LOVED IT!!
March 9, 2015
A VERY WELL written book
This is a good mystery about a young woman lawyer with some novel ideas about morality. It is a good read written by an expert who paid her dues in the newspaper business. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery or just appreciates an extra well written story.
This is a good mystery about a young woman lawyer with some novel ideas about morality. It is a good read written by an expert who paid her dues in the newspaper business. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery or just appreciates an extra well written story.
October 2, 2014
Could not put it down!!!
fast paced,suspenseful,the characters were interesting. The writing was great,flowed nicely.It was such a page turner.I stayed up past bedtime because I had to know the ending.
fast paced,suspenseful,the characters were interesting. The writing was great,flowed nicely.It was such a page turner.I stayed up past bedtime because I had to know the ending.
October 20, 2014
Julie Smith has been one of my favorite authors for years. This book was fun, entertaining and easy to skim through...I thoroughly enjoyed it
October 26, 2016
first book in series I started with book 5, now 1 and will continue with the rest in order. I like her humor in the stories, quick reads
October 20, 2018
Ever since she began representing some prostitutes in legal cases, Rebecca has become friends with Elena, who owns an under-the-radar brothel. On an evening when Elena is hosting a lavish party for would-be clients, she talks Rebecca into playing the piano at the event. Reluctant at first, Rebecca soon finds herself having a good time. That is, until the police raid. Suddenly, she is tasked by Elena to sneak a senator out of the house, using Elena's sports car. The plan is working, until Rebecca side-swipes another car, the senator bails, and she gets hauled into the police station. The evening goes from bad to worse when she returns home to find her apartment ransacked and a dead prostitute on the floor.
When the police seem eager to pin the murder on Rebecca's new beau, she begins doing some investigating of her own. In no time at all, Rebecca's tame life is turned on its head, mob connections are suspected, and family secrets are revealed. It's a good thing she's one tough cookie.
This book was hilarious! Rebecca is a hoot, and her wry observations had me chuckling as I read. I didn't realize until later, but the book was written in 1982. It was odd to see Rebecca dragging out ye olde phone book to make calls, and getting a busy signal when she tried to call someone else. I think, in this day and digital age, there would have no mystery, if there had been a crime at all. Still, it added to the fun factor. Delightful book, and I'll look for more in the series.
When the police seem eager to pin the murder on Rebecca's new beau, she begins doing some investigating of her own. In no time at all, Rebecca's tame life is turned on its head, mob connections are suspected, and family secrets are revealed. It's a good thing she's one tough cookie.
This book was hilarious! Rebecca is a hoot, and her wry observations had me chuckling as I read. I didn't realize until later, but the book was written in 1982. It was odd to see Rebecca dragging out ye olde phone book to make calls, and getting a busy signal when she tried to call someone else. I think, in this day and digital age, there would have no mystery, if there had been a crime at all. Still, it added to the fun factor. Delightful book, and I'll look for more in the series.
November 29, 2022
For me, it was a very confusing murder story
I find myself unable to grasp the full implications of this story about a funny, warm, friendly Jewish female attorney who was forced to investigate a murder which occurred in her own home.
I liked her. Her ability to laugh at herself was endearing and she was open-minded and non-judgemental.
Her friend Elena ran a bordello.
One night Elena threw a party at her tastefully decorated house of ill-repute, after persuading her attorney friend to play the piano at the party.
To play the part effectively, the attorney wore a trashy outfit she had recently bought at a bargain price.
All was going well until a raid led to Elena asking her to sneak a Senator out the secret back entrance, which she did.
The story developed from there, getting more confusing and complicated by the minute.
I really enjoyed the vocabulary, but must conclude that the quick-thinking intellect of the author, Julie Smith, left me behind, struggling to work out some aspects of the complex plot, while enjoying certain other aspects of the story.
I feel frustrated by the many twists and turns leading to the solution of the case, which suddenly occurred to the attorney while drying the blood-stained flotaki rug in her bathroom, and picking feathers off of it, which left me in a tail-spin. I should have taken notes to follow as the plot unfolded.
I find myself unable to grasp the full implications of this story about a funny, warm, friendly Jewish female attorney who was forced to investigate a murder which occurred in her own home.
I liked her. Her ability to laugh at herself was endearing and she was open-minded and non-judgemental.
Her friend Elena ran a bordello.
One night Elena threw a party at her tastefully decorated house of ill-repute, after persuading her attorney friend to play the piano at the party.
To play the part effectively, the attorney wore a trashy outfit she had recently bought at a bargain price.
All was going well until a raid led to Elena asking her to sneak a Senator out the secret back entrance, which she did.
The story developed from there, getting more confusing and complicated by the minute.
I really enjoyed the vocabulary, but must conclude that the quick-thinking intellect of the author, Julie Smith, left me behind, struggling to work out some aspects of the complex plot, while enjoying certain other aspects of the story.
I feel frustrated by the many twists and turns leading to the solution of the case, which suddenly occurred to the attorney while drying the blood-stained flotaki rug in her bathroom, and picking feathers off of it, which left me in a tail-spin. I should have taken notes to follow as the plot unfolded.
April 7, 2023
I read this, and Julie Smith's others in the 1980s when she, Sue Grafton, Edna Buchanan, and the other Sisters of Crime made their debuts. As it has been so many years, I am rereading as if it was new.
I forgot how much I liked Rebecca. She is a liberal woman with some conservative feelings. She is forthright, clever and even funny. Rebecca is a fairly new lawyer with a father who is well known, well established and very good.
Rebecca finds herself defending a man she was having a casual relationship with. It seems his troubled sister's past and present life had caught up to her and she's been murdered. His fingerprints are on the weapon.
Rebecca uses her savvy and intelligence to figure out who may have had a motive. Apparent!y, the victim wad not well liked, and was a known manipulater. Plenty of suspects.
This is a fun romp of the past. Revisiting the 80's this way is almost ironic. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sadly, San Francisco and Berkeley are now nothing like the cities of the 80s. Remember, there were no cell phones, and 911 had yet to kick in. There were no TV cameras either. Newspapers like the merged Chronicle-Examiner was a real place where the public actually read real newspapers and get true information.
I forgot how much I liked Rebecca. She is a liberal woman with some conservative feelings. She is forthright, clever and even funny. Rebecca is a fairly new lawyer with a father who is well known, well established and very good.
Rebecca finds herself defending a man she was having a casual relationship with. It seems his troubled sister's past and present life had caught up to her and she's been murdered. His fingerprints are on the weapon.
Rebecca uses her savvy and intelligence to figure out who may have had a motive. Apparent!y, the victim wad not well liked, and was a known manipulater. Plenty of suspects.
This is a fun romp of the past. Revisiting the 80's this way is almost ironic. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sadly, San Francisco and Berkeley are now nothing like the cities of the 80s. Remember, there were no cell phones, and 911 had yet to kick in. There were no TV cameras either. Newspapers like the merged Chronicle-Examiner was a real place where the public actually read real newspapers and get true information.
June 4, 2018
LOVED ONES ACT STRANGE WHEN WE QUESTION PARTS OF THEIR LIFE THEY DO NOT OPEN TO US!
Julie Smith gets 3.5 STARS for her Death Turns A Trick The Rebecca Schwartz Series, Book 1) a snazzy murder mystery with an amateur detective, who is the lawyer for the person the police think is guilty and who is sitting in jail because he doesn't have a good solid alibi, go figure. If you can picture an inquisitive but interesting young lady from San Francisco, who is Jewish with a wealthy attorney Father, who is there if you need back up or just to bounce ideas off then combine that with a bit of straight laced type clothing, throw in heavy amounts of "feminist" thinking as in she definitely is one and also represents the HYENAS., you get a kooky but interesting read for an afternoon. I found this a great relief from the news, the weather and just kicked back and enjoyed the crazy murder adventure. Oh, this is one where if you guess you will change your mind a few times and be surprised, it isn't obvious at all.
WARNING: 18 & Up SEXUAL CONTENT- Yes Bondage, Cursing, Attempted Rape, Physical Violence to a Woman, Discussions at Whore House
Julie Smith gets 3.5 STARS for her Death Turns A Trick The Rebecca Schwartz Series, Book 1) a snazzy murder mystery with an amateur detective, who is the lawyer for the person the police think is guilty and who is sitting in jail because he doesn't have a good solid alibi, go figure. If you can picture an inquisitive but interesting young lady from San Francisco, who is Jewish with a wealthy attorney Father, who is there if you need back up or just to bounce ideas off then combine that with a bit of straight laced type clothing, throw in heavy amounts of "feminist" thinking as in she definitely is one and also represents the HYENAS., you get a kooky but interesting read for an afternoon. I found this a great relief from the news, the weather and just kicked back and enjoyed the crazy murder adventure. Oh, this is one where if you guess you will change your mind a few times and be surprised, it isn't obvious at all.
WARNING: 18 & Up SEXUAL CONTENT- Yes Bondage, Cursing, Attempted Rape, Physical Violence to a Woman, Discussions at Whore House
September 20, 2023
Rebecca Schwartz sees herself as a conservative Jewish lawyer but seems to specialise in defending prostitutes and their business. As in other areas of her life the morality of ‘feminist prostitution’ (aka horizontal hostility), right or wrong, is muddled.
While playing the piano at a whorehouse party Rebecca has to flee when the police raid the building. But, she’s left her belongings behind in the rush and, after a convoluted night when she finally gets home she finds one of the prostitutes, Kandi, dead in her apartment.
Kandi is, to use an old-fashioned term, a fallen woman, but she is also the sister of Rebecca’s boyfriend Parker Phillips. He becomes the first and, as far as the police are concerned, the only suspect.
As his lawyer Rebecca investigates the hell out of the circumstances surrounding the murder.
The best thing about “Death Turns a Trick” is that it is unusual, offbeat and different.
On the downside the writing veers from great to ‘could do better’, often on the same page.
I couldn’t quite connect with the book as it didn’t flow well and relied rather too much on serendipity to move things along.
3 Stars.
While playing the piano at a whorehouse party Rebecca has to flee when the police raid the building. But, she’s left her belongings behind in the rush and, after a convoluted night when she finally gets home she finds one of the prostitutes, Kandi, dead in her apartment.
Kandi is, to use an old-fashioned term, a fallen woman, but she is also the sister of Rebecca’s boyfriend Parker Phillips. He becomes the first and, as far as the police are concerned, the only suspect.
As his lawyer Rebecca investigates the hell out of the circumstances surrounding the murder.
The best thing about “Death Turns a Trick” is that it is unusual, offbeat and different.
On the downside the writing veers from great to ‘could do better’, often on the same page.
I couldn’t quite connect with the book as it didn’t flow well and relied rather too much on serendipity to move things along.
3 Stars.
January 22, 2022
Ah, the late seventies/early 80s in San Francisco! Where else could you find a young lawyer, all tarted up, playing ragtime on the piano in a bordello - a co-op, feminist bordello, mind you !- while the local worthies dance and a senator lies tied up in the basement dungeon, awaiting the tender administrations of "Kandi". Could anything go wrong in this scenario? Yes, and it does, with a vengeance. Cue a police raid, a hasty exit from the house of ill repute, and, finally, the dead body of Kandi on our heroine's expensive rug. Rebecca, the lawyer in question, is determined to find the killer, and with the help of her hippie sister, a blue-eyed reporter and various ladies of the night, she figures it out.
I can't say that the mystery, as such, was particularly interesting, but the madcap adventures of Rebecca, who alternates between sober lawyering and yearning for adventure, for romance and independence, for glamour and workaday outfits, made for entertaining reading.
I can't say that the mystery, as such, was particularly interesting, but the madcap adventures of Rebecca, who alternates between sober lawyering and yearning for adventure, for romance and independence, for glamour and workaday outfits, made for entertaining reading.
July 17, 2024
This is not a 'cosy mystery' I will say that. It definitely needs trigger warnings of attempted rape and torture.
However, this one moment in the story doesn't remove from the comedy of story overall. Rebecca is an interesting protagonist as she is very clearly thrown into the mystery. Whilst, yes, the crime scene appears to be her flat she does not leap at the chance to solve a mystery. It's apparent her father's approval means a lot to her but instead of pandering to her parents to get this she strives to prove them wrong in every moment.
As for the story, the mystery is a well-planned and, I think, quite clever. All the clues are there if you know where to look. It is a credit to the author and to Rebecca's character that she never rules anyone out simply because she knows them. This allows for the reader to continuously guess throughout and have every detail Schwartz does.
However, this one moment in the story doesn't remove from the comedy of story overall. Rebecca is an interesting protagonist as she is very clearly thrown into the mystery. Whilst, yes, the crime scene appears to be her flat she does not leap at the chance to solve a mystery. It's apparent her father's approval means a lot to her but instead of pandering to her parents to get this she strives to prove them wrong in every moment.
As for the story, the mystery is a well-planned and, I think, quite clever. All the clues are there if you know where to look. It is a credit to the author and to Rebecca's character that she never rules anyone out simply because she knows them. This allows for the reader to continuously guess throughout and have every detail Schwartz does.
June 4, 2017
Rebecca Schwartz, San Francisco lawyer, does a friend a favor and fills in as pianist at an event she's hosting...except the friend runs a bordello and the event is, well, you know. Schwartz ends up sneaking a politician out the back when there's a raid, and the night gets even more ridiculous after that. Written believably, mind you, just ridiculous. By the time she gets home, she finds one of the girls from the bordello dead in Schwartz's own apartment...and it turns out the dead girl is the sister of Schwartz's boyfriend. Later, she finds $25K hidden in her houseplant, but whose is it? Again, written believably, just convoluted! Nice, quick read. Not one of those cozies where the protagonist is foolish in jumping in where she doesn't belong.
May 2, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed this fluffy little mystery from 1982. Picked it up because lately I've loved a little Jewish flair in my casual fiction, and Julie Smith did not disappoint. I won't say this is a spiritual successor to Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small mysteries, but it's got a spirited Jewish lawyer, complete with overbearing parents, who ends an ill-considered evening, freshly sprung from jail, by finding a dead hooker in her apartment.
And that's all you need to know. It's dated, but the only way you could tell that is the lack of mobile phones, which is more than I can say for Rabbi Small.
Recommended.
And that's all you need to know. It's dated, but the only way you could tell that is the lack of mobile phones, which is more than I can say for Rabbi Small.
Recommended.
May 22, 2017
While this is the first book in the Rebecca Schwartz series, it's the second one I read. I encountered Rebecca a few months ago in the "Sourdough Wars", and really loved that! and so I decided to read more in the series.
It did not disappoint!
The plot is twisty and involved, and all the chracters are well-rounded and individual. The writing is engaging, and there's never a dull moment!
Mostly, though, I love Rebecca. She's not generic; she's a well-realized individual who has her idiocyncracies and blind spots, but is very sympathetic nonetheless.
I look forward to reading more in this series- it's one of the better "cozy" series I've read recently.
It did not disappoint!
The plot is twisty and involved, and all the chracters are well-rounded and individual. The writing is engaging, and there's never a dull moment!
Mostly, though, I love Rebecca. She's not generic; she's a well-realized individual who has her idiocyncracies and blind spots, but is very sympathetic nonetheless.
I look forward to reading more in this series- it's one of the better "cozy" series I've read recently.
July 26, 2018
PROTAGONIST: Rebecca Schwartz, attorney
SETTING: San Francisco
SERIES: #1
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Rebecca Schwartz is a feminist attorney who has among her clients Elena Mooney, a prostitute who is running a co-op bordello. There is going to be a party at the whorehouse and Elena asks Rebecca to play the piano for the entertainment. Things go terribly awry when there is a police raid. Rebecca leaves her purse behind, and a young prostitute brings it to her apartment and is murdered before Rebecca gets home. Of course, she then feels the necessity to find the killer. An entertaining read but nothing really out of the ordinary.
SETTING: San Francisco
SERIES: #1
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Rebecca Schwartz is a feminist attorney who has among her clients Elena Mooney, a prostitute who is running a co-op bordello. There is going to be a party at the whorehouse and Elena asks Rebecca to play the piano for the entertainment. Things go terribly awry when there is a police raid. Rebecca leaves her purse behind, and a young prostitute brings it to her apartment and is murdered before Rebecca gets home. Of course, she then feels the necessity to find the killer. An entertaining read but nothing really out of the ordinary.
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