A Job to Kill For

Lacy Fields #2

by Janice Kaplan

Stunned when her Hollywood casting agent best friend is accused of murdering a billionaire's wife, decorator-to-the-stars Lacy puts her life on the line for answers, in an investigation that pits her against a crazed reality-show producer, a dangerously clever professor, and a bad-boy motorcyclist. By the author of Looks to Die For. 40,000 first printing.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Chick Lit, Mystery Thriller, Friendship, Adult

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2008

About the author

Janice Kaplan is the author of many popular books, including the New York Times bestseller THE GRATITUDE DIARIES and her most recent book, THE GENIUS OF WOMEN. Widely known as a journalist, television producer and magazine editor, she has also written or co-written bestselling novels including THE BOTOX DIARIES, THE MEN I DIDN'T MARRY and MINE ARE SPECTACULAR! as well as the mysteries LOOKS TO DIE FOR and A JOB TO KILL FOR.

Janice was the Editor-in-Chief of Parade Magazine and executive producer of the TV Guide Television Group, where she created and produced television specials that aired primetime on all the major networks. She co-authored the bestseller I'LL SEE YOU AGAIN and the non-fiction HOW LUCK HAPPENS. She began her career as an on-air sports reporter for CBS Radio and went on to be a producer at ABC-TV’s Good Morning America, where she won awards for investigative reporting.

She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and won Yale's Murray Fellowship for her writing.

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had some promise when it started out because of its humor, but I had trouble staying interested. I think the main problem was that the characters were shallowly developed. By the time I found out the killer, I was thinking, So what?

The ending was kind of a letdown too; I thought there should have been more details about what happens to the the people involved, particularly the killer.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was okay. It didn't really capture me, it was just something to have on while driving. It really annoyed me how much of a label whore she is. Constant talk about expensive brands that half I have never heard of and don't care about.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started off as a fun fluffy booked that I needed, but I'm on page 142 and DONE. Maybe because I just finished a really good mystery book that had the detective doing the work. What is not making sense is Cassey had on the Necklace when she died and now after she is dead they found the necklace on an aution. Lacy is annyoing the character and writing do not sync up.

[LeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light, cozy mystery with an interesting concept...an interior decorator solving murders. This is #2 and the most recent in the Lacy Fields series. I liked it enough to look for the first book, "Looks to Die For".

[Julius The Snow Leopard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ew some outdated book written by a lady who grew up infatuated with sex and the city. Judgy, tone deaf, skinny-shaming, body dysmorphia, constant labeling, and fantasizing about the perfect marriage all put into a flat mystery plot

[Teddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but a little too much of the brand-name-dropping for my tastes. The story was kind of cute.

[Cindy Grossi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever, refreshing cozy. I would read another.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Kari Gibbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Job to Kill For is the second book in the Lacy Fields Mystery series. I got the first book by being cheap (it was in a buy 3 for $5 bin) and I’m very glad for my cheapness because these are good books.

Lacy Fields is an interior decorator in Cali, her husband, a plastic surgeon. But she keeps getting involved in murders, good thing she has an eye for detecting.

I like these books because they are smooth, easy reads, but they also keep me turning the pages.

I like a mystery that I can figure out, but what’s the point of reading on? In the first Lacy Fields book, Looks to Die For, I had a hunch and was right, but in A Job to Kill For, no clue until the end. Kaplan does a good job of throwing out curve balls to keep you on your toes.

And much like Janet Evanovich with her Stephanie Plum series, what woman doesn’t want to read about a woman who straight up kicks butt and cracks the case? Its empowering, although I wouldn’t last a minute.

I mentioned these are easy reads, I started this book Sunday evening, immediately after I finished Son of a Witch (yes I know I am a chain reader). I read it Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday morning before work and both of those days before bed. Didn’t take me much time to get through it, but that doesn’t mean it was a good book.

I’m kind of torn about how to rate this book. If I gave half book marks, it’d be easy, a 3.5. But since I don’t, I think I’m going to go with a 3. If it would have made me laugh out loud, I’d give it a 4. Also, its not necessarily a book I think I’d read again, I don’t think there was much I missed, so, 3 it is.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty fun book I picked up off the new mystery shelves at the library. I had read the first in this series, Looks to Kill For and remembered liking it. It's more a 3.5 star because the writing's not great and it's not super engrossing, but it's still fun. I like it because the main character lives in LA and is married to a very successful plastic surgeon, but is sensible and down to earth. She is a mom to 3 kids (ages 17, 15 and 6) and has a good marriage which she describes a lot, which I enjoy, so it's definitely not a romance book in the sense that she is going to ultimately fall in love with someone "on the case". Anyway, the first kids were born during med school and in the first book that was explored a bit, so I felt a kinship with the character early on. :) Anyway, it's an easy read with a fun little murder-mystery plot, absolutely ZERO bad language and no sex either. Enjoy!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Lacy's first mystery much better, but this was fine. Lacy is an interior designer by day and falls into, as many woman do, detecting for friends as a sideline after various murders. Her client, Cassie Crawford, succumbs to poison right in front of Lacy during a final walk thru of her newly decorated penthouse. Her older, richer husband Roger has been seen with Lacy's best friend, Molly Archer and suspicion immediately falls toward them, inciting Lacy's urge to ferret out the truth. There are great, timely LA references and good characters throughout, making it an solid enough mystery.

[Laura Salas · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, I finally gave up on this book about 3/4 of the way through. It wasn't awful, but there was not nearly enough tension to pull me forward. I was listening to it in the car, but once I had other books on my iPhone, I drifted away from this one. Lacey Fields, the main character, is a bit whiny and isn't a very realistic character. I just couldn't connect with her. And I really found I didn't care that much about who killed the first victim, a young rich society wife, or the 2nd, a biker with a heart of gold. Lacey's relationships with her husband and kids felt totally forced to me...Just not my cup of tea, maybe.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would probably give this 2.5 stars if I had the option. The reasons I wouldn't go higher are that for someone who states several times how important her family is, Lacy doesn't spend much time with them. Of course, who would want to spend time with Ashley, her daughter, who is as manipulative as they come. Ashley is involved in a shoplifting incident that is peripheral to the plot, but she doesn't receive any consequences from her mother. In fact, I don't think Lacy even told her husband about it. The husband, by the way, is extremely patient as well as incredibly naïve. There were a lot of characters who were sometimes hard to keep straight and the ending seemed very rushed.

[Emilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

strange cosy... I mean - everything goes good, as I'd expect from every cosy mystery - suspects, situations, etc... past 3/4 of the book I am starting to wonder "who done it" as all the suspects are equally non-probable... and then just as if the author realized that the book should be going to the end - she packed more action in that ending than it was throughout the whole book, and suddenly whole bunch of secrets that no one was even suspecting that existed - came to the light and the whole mystery got solved within 10 last pages... little strange... although the whole thing pretty interesting :)

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice bit of mystery fluff. Lacy Fields is a decorator who has just finished a penthouse apartment for the new wife of a Hollywood millionaire. When the wife dies as she is visiting the apartment for the first time, Lacy has to get involved to clear her dear friend Molly who has been seen dining with the husband. And then it gets really involved. Lacy is an enjoyable character with a mostly normal home life; plastic surgeon husband and three children. This is the second in the series and I will probably try to find the first, Looks to Die For.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decorator to the stars Lacy Fields is shocked when the bride of a billionaire falls down dead in the apartment Lacy has just finished decorating for her. When she finds out that her best friend Molly has been seen with the billionaire and is a murder suspect, she determines to get to the bottom of this. The brand names come thick and heavy, probably great for the target audience, if not for me. Lacy uses her own brains and grit to get out of some bad situations. This seemed like a book I'd read before, but since I hadn't reviewed it when it was published, maybe not.

[Mac C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was thouroughly enjoying it until the end. After her child is kidnapped, and someone attempts to murder her, the protagonist just calmly talks to her husband and meets her best friend at a restaurant. Telling no one what happened to her? Calls the cops & leaves before they arrive? And let's her best friend hook up with a violent man without saying anything except to congratulate them? Come on!

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun 'cozy' mystery to read. I'd lean more toward 3.5 stars but as that isn't an option, I've rounded down to 3 stars. I couldn't round up to 4 because I felt that the main character allowed herself to be lead into a few too many situations that I found a little too hard to believe one could find themselves in. A good book for a vacation or a cozy cold afternoon.

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this book was just ok. I didn't care for what I considered to be instances of situational ethics, that weren't really addressed or changed. I didn't like the overall message. I did finish it, however.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay mystery, not sure that I'd go as far as to recommend it. It wasn't difficult to read, or even finish, it just wasn't compelling and there were a couple of situations where I had to roll my eyes because I thought that for certain I don't get L.A.

[Tammie McElligott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! I have a review up on my blog and recommend it if you are looking for a mystery that is also fun. Janice has a great voice and the charcter she created is very enjoyable!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay mystery featuring a glamerous wondermom interior designer detective. Ending was a surprise.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in reading a new mystery writer since I belong to Sisters in Crime and we're always on the lookout for new authors. I will read Janice Kaplan again.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mindless murder mystery.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character is a bit of a "label" snob. some of the brands she talked about, I had never heard of. But, the story is fun and I loved the dialogue.

[Sheena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sassy mommy lit with a great mystery!

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

A light-weight, white-bread who done it.

[Karna · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the very beginning there was too much emphasis put on labels. Got interesting near the middle.

[Mary Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute easy read. Lots of fun.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice light mystery that was enjoyable to read and well written