A Little Trouble with the Facts

by Nina Siegal

Valerie Vane was an up-and-coming lifestyle reporter at a prominent New York City daily. Then she stumbled, rather publicly, and lost it all—her column, her fiancé, her access behind the city's velvet ropes. Now she's on the obituary desk writing death notices, and it feels like a dead end. However, when she writes about a recently deceased once-famous graffiti artist, the phone calls start. A mysterious voice on the other end of the line tells her the artist's death was a murder—and if she were a real reporter, she'd investigate. But can Valerie trade her stilettos for gumshoes?

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Nina Siegal has been a regular freelance contributor for The New York Times since 2012. Based in Amsterdam, she covers museums, exhibitions, art restoration and attribution issues, art world discoveries and legal cases, profiles of conductors, filmmakers, dancers and other cultural figures, and culture in a socio-political context. An occasional general-news reporter, she has also written about migration issues, emerging political parties and legal cases in the Netherlands.

Siegal began reporting for The Times in 1997 as a stringer for the San Francisco bureau, and worked for The Times' "The City" section in New York from 1998 to 2000, covering Harlem and The Bronx. After that, she spent four years as the cultural news and art market reporter for Bloomberg News in New York.

Siegal was born in New York City, graduated with a BA in English Literature from Cornell University and received her MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. In addition to The Times, her freelance writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including the Wall Street Journal, W. Magazine, Art in America, 1stDibs.com, ArtNews, Sotheby's Magazine, The Progressive, and the Holland Herald. She was the launching editor of Time Out Amsterdam, managing editor of Flow Magazine International, and a founding creative editor of See All This, a Dutch art magazine.

Nina has written two novels: The Anatomy Lesson (Nan A. Talese/Knopf Doubleday, 2014) and A Little Trouble with the Facts (HarperCollins, 2008). For her fiction, she has received numerous grants and fellowships, including a Fulbright Fellowship in Creative Writing, two MacDowell Colony fellowships, and the post-graduate Jack Leggett Fellowship from Iowa. Her first novel was top finalist for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it to page 160 and I had to quit. It was flat, boring and too cliche. I struggled and I didn't want this to be the first book of my 2012 year. eeecckk.

[Ayda Razak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of having a love hate relationship with this book. It started out slow but it went faster from there. But the ending was so sudden. The writer could do better than that. However, I like the writing style.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nina is a sparkling writer (in full disclosure, she's also a friend and former colleague) and brings to life rich characters. As a journalist, I LOVE the description of working in a New York City newspaper (modeled on the New York Times) and the humorous portrayal of office politics. The plot involves a possible murder of an aging graffiti artist. Valerie Vane, a former lifestyle columnist demoted to Obits after an "incident" (wonderful stuff - read the book), gets sucked into solving the mystery. Vane is a modern day Hildie Johnson - wise-cracking, funny, but with with a tenderness to her, too. One of the most enjoyable books I've read recently.

[Laticia Selvey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even though I just added this book today I've been reading it for a while, it was kind of my go to book when I couldn't find anything to read. This honestly was very slow and hard to get into and I'm sure if I read this four or five years from now I may like it and relate to it but currently I do not. The ending picked up and the writing style was good it was just the detail in the plot that lacked everything.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was definitely "chick-lit" - light and fluffy with a little sex thrown in. The constant references to various movies drove me crazy because I was unfamiliar with the movies so unsure of what the author was trying to explain. All in all, the plot and resolution were fine (nothing spectacular) but the heavy use of graffiti terms (without initial definition for all) and the detailed listing of co-workers she encounters was too much for me.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun but forgettable chicklit-ish mystery.

[Jill Meyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nina Siegal’s first novel, “A Little Trouble With the Facts”, isn’t very good. In fact, I doubt if I’ll remember it in a week.Published in 2008, but taking place in the media-mad late 1990’s, the plot is absurd and features people and entities who come out as mere caricatures. It’s one of those first novels the critics say show the author has “promise”.

However, in this case, the author’s “promise” did show up in her second book, “The Anatomy Lesson”, published in 2014. It’s the story behind the famous painting by Rembrandt of Dr Tulp, a doctor in Amsterdam who is dissecting a cadaver. Siegal shows her writing chops in “The Anatomy Lesson” and its a lovely historical novel. If you’re new to Nina Siegal’s writing, I’d advise skipping her first novel and going directly to her second.

[Carol Waters · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK, so I tried. I really tried. But the wanna be a star journalist writes about fashion, and there aren't many Pulitzers in that department. She has a hissy fit and loses her coveted spot, begins writing obits in a dark corner and gets brought into a mystery when she repeats in print the police comment about the dead man having committed suicide.

All that is on the book jacket. I am more than halfway through the book and the only new reveal is that Mr. Cabeza is hot.

This is no Brenda Starr. This is boring and simpering and in case I forgot to repeat myself as often as Siegal does boring. I quit. This woman should be a bartender.

[Chrisinny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taut mystery novel of the glitterati in the Fourth Estate. Valerie Vane had it all, and then lost it, through cocaine abuse and office politics. So she is put on the obits desk and she lives a kind of half life trying to regain some semblance of her old life. She is pressured into investigating the death of a graffiti artist, which looks like an opportunity to move in the right direction but in getting too close to one of her sources it all goes sour. Rather bleak ending, not a feel good mystery, but well written.

[Amanda Siano · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a while to get through. I enjoyed the New York City setting, it was immersive and made me feel I was really there. The main character being a reporter was also fun and immersive, I felt really like a reporter myself, not just something in the background. J just felt the story was a little slow at parts. 3/5

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick, murder mystery. I reviewed it on my blog: https://wineandhistory.wordpress.com/...

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

She was born Sunrise Radiance in the glory hippy days, raised in San Francisco among street musicians and street theater people; they were great days, happy and unfettered by property or much responsibility. She and her father would go to the movies on Fridays and see the old classics and glamour movies of the 30s, 40s, and 50s; and he would tell her the stories of growing up rich in NYC...it was their secret. She read an old issue of Vanity Fair over and over, and filled herself with longing for the life of Audrey Hepburn and the glamorous life. It ended when her family moved to a commune in the Northwest. She vowed that this would not be her life.

As soon as she can, she escapes to New York City and finds herself an employed at a gossip magazine. Her vision of a glamorous reporter life is quickly smashed and as she starts work, she learns from a strong task master, The City. Her new name, Valerie Vane soon becomes a door opener to all the big parties and events. She ascends to great heights and profits as a writer of the high social scene. She moves to a more legitimate publication only referred to as The Paper. She succumbs to the allure of sex, money, drugs and high living as well, that is, until "the incident." She loses everything

She is then relegated to the Obituary desk where her writing is short and without a byline. Until one day, she gets a phone call about an obit she wrote and the mistake she made. And then begins a new tutelage where she decides if she is a reporter or not.

I have lots of reading catnip it seems. I'm a sucker for girl reporter stories. I debated whether to give this more stars. I liked it a lot and found it insightful and entertaining. I enjoyed it very much.

[Nour El Houda Ziani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very captivating.

At times it seemed promising and interesting and caught my attention and got me curious, but eventually I’d lose interest and become bored again.
At some point Nina Siegal lost me, I mean I kept track of course but I didn’t really care.
The only thing that kept me going was my refusal to stop reading a book in the middle; I never give up on books no matter what.

Around chapter 17, however, things got more gripping and rouse my curiosity and I began to find pleasure in reading again.

I love the diversity in this story, people from every color, everywhere, from different ethnicities and religions… No racism whatsoever shown by the author. ☮&♡

In my humble opinion Nina Siegal overused pop culture references.

- My favorite character: Curtis Wright.

My Rating:
Cover: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 4/5
Mystery: 3/5
Ending: 3/5

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as light mysteries go, I found "A Little Trouble with the Facts" to be entertaining, interesting, a bit predictable, and certainly a new spin. Siegal's writing style takes a bit of getting used to. It has a vintage newspaperman's feel to it and I was not familiar with a lot of the jargon. Once I got past the first couple of chapters, which took a bit to get going, the story really started to draw me in. I enjoyed a look behind the scenes of newspaper reporting and liked learning about graffiti art.

There is a bit of foul language in this one, including a couple of f-bombs, but it wasn't on every page or anything. The intimate scenes are handled fairly cleanly. There is one raunchy scene which is essential to the story and that I thought was written in as clean a manner as possible. I really enjoyed this one because it was so different from much of what I usually read.

Highly recommend for lovers of mystery and chick lit.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never sure how to review the less serious books that I read (which, I'll admit, isn't many). I'm doing a little "chick-lit genre study" at the moment - don't ask - and this was my first foray... I enjoyed the story, about a former style writer for "The Paper of Record" who is demoted to Obits after a clubbing disaster. Now she finds herself mixed up in a murder mystery involving a graffiti artist from the Bronx, a SoHo gallery, and a mysterious documentary filmmaker. The writing is snappy, spot-on at times, never dull. But there's too much explication, if you ask me. You never or rarely get past the voice to actually feel the story - it's all at the level of clever & witty description. At that level, it really works, though.

[Ilse · Rating 2 out of 5]

het is dat ik het boek bij had in het ziekenhuis en niet veel anders bij had, anders had ik het boek waarschijnlijk niet eens uitgelezen. Maar ik las het uit en heb er geen spijt van.
maar het hoofdpersonage is echt mijn ding niet. je zou kunnen zeggen dat ze naief is, maar hoe kan ze dan toch ooit zo hoog geklomen zijn op de sociale ladder??? heeft ze dan gewoon geluk gehad (en pech gehad)???
al bij al een heel ongeloofwaardig verhaal, met ongeloofwaardige personages, vaak wat chaos (al is dit misschien wel express gedaan om het geheel een mysterieus kantje te geven of de haken en ogen wat te verdoezelen)

het thema is leuk, het genre zou leuk kunnen zijn (chick noir, ik had er nog nooit van gehoord), maar ik bleef heel hard op mijn honger zitten

[Conor Olmstead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I picked up this book on a whim. I found this for 4 bucks and the premise seemed light and almost like a joke. And honestly that is what it was. A very light story a predictable plot and an easy easy read. However as light as it was I really enjoyed it for what it was. The characters were interesting and at least Ms Siegal was able to visually tell the surroundings and places. I really did enjoy this a nice light break.

Sadly this book saw a tragic demise. One lunch break, one clumsy waitress, and one bowl of soup later

RIP my book, you served me well.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valerie Vane (aka Sunrise Rhapsody Miller) makes for an interesting protagonist. She's made mistakes and continues to make them as a newspaper reporter but she's struggling to do better.

This is a cross between chick lit and mystery and it took a while for the investigating to get going. Once it did the pace picked up. I'd read another book with this character but would hope the author would give up the overly coincidental solution.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clever but not quite as clever as it thinks it is. Another of the many gumshoe/hack mysteries inspired by Raymond Chandler. I would read another by her if it came from the library but would not plunk down my own cash.

[Laura (booksnob) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was entertaining but I am sure I missed a lot of the significance and underlying value of what the author was trying to do because I haven't seen nor heard of half of the B movies she was talking about. If I was a movie buff from the 1950-60's, I would have found the book more enjoyable. I am glad I read it, I learned a lot about Graffiti as an art genre.

[Kristy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book at all. At times it seemed promising, but I kept losing interest and it was a struggle to get through a book that was not all that large. I was relieved to have finally finished it, and I never like that feeling when I finish a novel. I always like to think, if there had been at least a few more pages; that is what I get after a good book.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An obits writer gets a call that one of the "suicide" cases she wrote up for a local grafiti artist was actually a murder.

I read this one while sick, which could be why I didn't get into it as much. The writing was lovely, but the story just didn't grab me.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun read by Nina Siegal. Valerie Vane is a journalist who claws her way to the top and after an incident, plummets down from a byline to an entry-level position in the obituary section. Then she receives an anonymous telephone call...

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, light mystery about a reporter who keeps messing up at a big NYC newspaper and becomes embroiled in trying to solve a murder invovlving a graffiti artist. Fellow journalists likely will enjoy it, despite its rambling nature.

[Paul Lima · Rating 1 out of 5]

First third of the book is kind of fun. Then it decides to get serious, and goes downhill fast. The journalism in the novel it totally unbelievable. Not recommended. Unless you want to read a third of a book that is good!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast, dynamic, slick and scintillating. Siegal will rivet you like a master welder, and entrance you like the angel who brings your dreams.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had no desire to finish this book but plowed through it hoping it would turn out well.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bridget Jones meets Philip Marlowe. It kinda works. Kinda.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this light novel...learned something about graffiti too...a fun read...ending seemed a little abrupt however

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smart chick lit with a crime/mystery angle. Captured the style and language of old film noir hard-boiled detectives. But with a female voice. Enjoyable.