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A Stella the Stargazer Mystery #1
A Love to Die for
MURDER IN THE STARS
Jane Smith quits her boring job, ditches her faithless boyfriend and employs her more unique talents to become Stella the Stargazer. Now she's offering horoscope advice for the lovelorn in a Denver newspaper.
The ink is barely dry on her first column offering advice to a lost soul looking for "a love to die for" when she stumbles upon the body of the owner of her favorite lingerie shop -- stabbed to death with a pair of scissors.
Add a police detective she almost liked before he accused her of murder, toss in her own uncanny sixth sense and an expressive pet chameleon -- and her future is a bit unpredictable... especially with a killer gazing at Stella.
Jane Smith quits her boring job, ditches her faithless boyfriend and employs her more unique talents to become Stella the Stargazer. Now she's offering horoscope advice for the lovelorn in a Denver newspaper.
The ink is barely dry on her first column offering advice to a lost soul looking for "a love to die for" when she stumbles upon the body of the owner of her favorite lingerie shop -- stabbed to death with a pair of scissors.
Add a police detective she almost liked before he accused her of murder, toss in her own uncanny sixth sense and an expressive pet chameleon -- and her future is a bit unpredictable... especially with a killer gazing at Stella.
- GenresMystery
219 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1994
31 people want to read
About the author
Christine T. Jorgensen
11 books5 followersAlso publishes as C.T. Jorgensen
Author of the mystery series Stella the Stargazer, about an astrologer and lovelorn columnist in Denver, Colorado, and writing as C.T. Jorgensen the Casey Jansen series, about a police detective in Ridgewood, Colorado.
Author of the mystery series Stella the Stargazer, about an astrologer and lovelorn columnist in Denver, Colorado, and writing as C.T. Jorgensen the Casey Jansen series, about a police detective in Ridgewood, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 6, 2025
A fairly good mystery as the bones to this novel but the main character sort of drove me nuts with her repeated acts of trespassing, burglary, and breaking and entering in her attempts to identify the perpetrator of several murders while alienating police investigators. I think there is true potential here for a successful series, but the investigative practices of Stella the Stargazer need improvement.
February 6, 2014
Picked up this cozy mystery, first published back in 1997. It was interesting to me that there were so few reviews for it on Goodreads, only 18. Seems to be a series that has been passed over. There are five books total in the series.
This first book sets up the premise for the rest of the series. Jane Smith is an accountant, who appears to have some sort of midlife crisis. She quits her steady, stable career, dumps her boyfriend and gets a job as a newspaper horoscope/advice columnist, reinventing herself as Stella the Stargazer. There is a paranormal element here, she has some psychic type abilities that she puts to use in her advice giving and… in a murder investigation.
The murder plot was well done with adequate characters and red herrings to make it difficult to solve. Stella/Jane is an interesting sleuth. She has enough fear and caution to balance her curiousness to make her character more real. You definitely get a sense of her human frailty. Her main sidekick is her pet Fluffy, a little chameleon, maybe a metaphor for her change?? There are humorous quips, literary references, romantic episodes and paranormal elements all included in this book. I quite enjoyed it and will look for another in the series to read.
This first book sets up the premise for the rest of the series. Jane Smith is an accountant, who appears to have some sort of midlife crisis. She quits her steady, stable career, dumps her boyfriend and gets a job as a newspaper horoscope/advice columnist, reinventing herself as Stella the Stargazer. There is a paranormal element here, she has some psychic type abilities that she puts to use in her advice giving and… in a murder investigation.
The murder plot was well done with adequate characters and red herrings to make it difficult to solve. Stella/Jane is an interesting sleuth. She has enough fear and caution to balance her curiousness to make her character more real. You definitely get a sense of her human frailty. Her main sidekick is her pet Fluffy, a little chameleon, maybe a metaphor for her change?? There are humorous quips, literary references, romantic episodes and paranormal elements all included in this book. I quite enjoyed it and will look for another in the series to read.
April 13, 2021
Not enough astrology to interest me, it was ok.
March 3, 2014
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
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August 30, 2016The mystery is a bit convoluted but the characters are interesting and have some potential for future stories. I do especially love the narrator, Stella Stargazer an astrological advice columnist formerly known as Jane Smith an accountant.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews