Stabbing Stephanie

Jane Stuart and Winky #3

by Evan Marshall

“In addition to a congenial cast of diverse characters, a realistic heroine with a vivid sense of humor and a lovable cat, Marshall offers provocative insights into the world of literary agents and vanity publishing.”—Publishers Weekly

In the delightful third installment in the series Kirkus Reviews calls "Miss Marple Lite," literary agent and part-time amateur P.I. Jane Stuart goes undercover at a local book publisher where they take the murder category too seriously...

Book agent extraordinaire Jane Stuart finally crawls out from under a stack of unread manuscripts. She starts a much-needed vacation, when her late husband's cousin, Stephanie, calls. Stephanie wants to know if Jane can do her a big favor. She’s about to start a new job in Shady Hills and wants to stay with Jane for a few days.

Jane agrees—it’s Thanksgiving, after all—and Stephanie has promised to use Winky as a model for an upcoming cozy cat mystery. Stephanie’s new job as book editor is at the hot new publishing house in house. Run by Shady Hills' very own jet-setter, Faith Carson and her dashing businessman husband, Gavin Hart, it specializes in celebrity bios.

No sooner does Stephanie unpack her file folders at the publisher than it’s obvious something fishy is going on. No one seems to be doing their job and they spend most of their time slamming doors. When Stephanie’s body is found in a Dumpster with a knife in her back, Jane goes undercover at the publisher to find the killer who doesn't care much for the finer points of punctuation.

Jane tries hard to keep her mouth shut so she can fit in among the beautiful blue bloods and literary snobs on staff. Someone there is a killer with an eye for more than just making the New York Times bestseller list. This polished murderer wants to turn Jane and her trusted tortie Winky into the next true-crime bestseller.

REVIEW OF STABBING STEPHANIE

3.45 average rating all editions, 83 ratings, 4 reviews, added by 153 people, 34 to-reads, 82% of people like it—Goodreads

4.5 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)—Amazon

“The Jane and Winky series is as cozy as a kitten – with tiny sharp claws.”—Jill Churchill

"A great book...Marshall has all the right tricks up his sleeve to keep his readers interested."—I Love a Mystery

"Jane Stuart is a Jane Marple for the millennium."—Kensington Publishing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Evan Marshall is president of The Evan Marshall Agency and author of The Marshall Plan® For Novel Writing (Writer’s Digest, 1998), an international bestseller on novel writing now in its 20th anniversary edition. He is the author of 10 commercially published mysteries including Manhattan Mysteries and Jane and Winky Suburban Sleuths series, named “Miss Marple Lite” by Kirkus Reviews. His books appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith. You can reach him at evan@evanmarshallagency.com.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, American, Cozy Mystery, Novels, Ghosts, Crime

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2000

About the author

Evan Marshall is president of The Evan Marshall Agency and author of The Marshall Plan For Novel Writing (Writer’s Digest, 1998), an international bestseller on novel writing now in its 20th anniversary edition. He is the author of 10 commercially published mysteries, Manhattan Mysteries Series and Jane & Winky Series which was named “Miss Marple Lite” by Kirkus Reviews. His books appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith. You can reach him at evan@evanmarshallagency.com.

Reviews

[Karissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's almost Thanksgiving and Literary Agent Jane Stuart is finally going to take a vacation--IF she can decide where she wants to go! But a phone call from Stephanie, her deceased husband's cousin, asking if she can do her a favor throws a wrench in the works. You see Stephanie has taken a job as a book editor for a publishing firm in Shady Hills and needs a place to stay for a while. Since she's family, Jane gives in and lets her stay. But Stephanie has barely started her new job when things feel hinky. She asks Jane to go undercover at the publishing house to suss out what's going on there. With her funky sidekick Winky the tortoiseshell cat, Jane throws herself into her new role and the mystery. After discovering not one, not two, but THREE bodies she finally pieces the clues together for a satisfying if not entirely surprising ending and finally takes the vacation!

The Jane Stuart and Winky mysteries are nice little jaunts, can be read quickly, have decent mysteries and usually very pleasing endings. Not my favorite but a rewarding read nonetheless.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, but that was it; too bad, because the premise sounded good. The POV is Jane Stuart who, with a bit of help from her cat, Winky, manages to solve murders. Stephanie is an unwanted guest who is in most of the book, still alive. If I were going to read mysteries where cats help solve them, I prefer The Cat Who... books, but by and large the only series I really enjoyed with an animal helper is the Chet and Bernie series.

Jane is a book editor, so this can also be counted as a book about books since we read about various authors/books she represents, etc. The author has worked in the publishing industry, so that's a plus.

[Rosalba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hola versione italiana del Giallo Mondadori : La stella d' oriente

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - Good

[Clyde Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

good....but ending was kind of "too pat".....I'll probably try and read more in series.