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Fiona Silk #1
Lament For A Lounge Lizard
As if it weren't bad enough being a failed romance writer with no sex life, poor Fiona Silk has to cope with the spectacularly embarrassing demise of her old lover, the poet, Benedict Kelly. It's exactly the sort of thing people notice in St. Aubaine, Quebec, a picturesque bilingual tourist town of two thousand. Now the police start getting nasty, the media vans stay parked on her lawn and the neighbours' tongues keep wagging in both official languages. Worse, someone's bumping off the other suspects. Can Fiona outwit a murderer in the mood for some serious mischief?
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Mary Jane Maffini
31 books162 followersAka Victoria Abbott with her daughter Victoria Maffini.
Mary Jane Maffini was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and has her BA (Hons) and MLS from Dalhousie University. After a career in libraries such as The Brewers' Association of Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, and a wonderful ride as a co-owner of Prime Crime Mystery Bookstore, she has settled into a life of crime, surrounded by her two miniature dachshunds, the ghost of her beloved Corgoid Smudge, and her long-suffering husband. She's a former President of Crime Writers of Canada, and a former member of the board of directors of the Canadian Booksellers Association. She's a frequent speaker on writing mysteries and on the importance of Canadian crime fiction. In real life, although she is a member of the Ladies' Killing Circle, she has never killed anyone.
Mary Jane Maffini was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and has her BA (Hons) and MLS from Dalhousie University. After a career in libraries such as The Brewers' Association of Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, and a wonderful ride as a co-owner of Prime Crime Mystery Bookstore, she has settled into a life of crime, surrounded by her two miniature dachshunds, the ghost of her beloved Corgoid Smudge, and her long-suffering husband. She's a former President of Crime Writers of Canada, and a former member of the board of directors of the Canadian Booksellers Association. She's a frequent speaker on writing mysteries and on the importance of Canadian crime fiction. In real life, although she is a member of the Ladies' Killing Circle, she has never killed anyone.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 1, 2013
Here's the thing - I love Camilla MacPhee. She's cranky, in-your-face, witty, sarcastic as all hell, and always catches the bad guy (usually with the help of her obnoxious ne'er do well secretary, Alvin). I've read the Camilla MacPhee mysteries by Mary Jane Maffini each and every time a new one has come out, since the first time I met her and thought, "Wow, now here's a lady with style."
This book? It's not a Camilla MacPhee mystery. I chewed my lip. I pondered. I bought (of course) and had her autograph it for me, but a small little voice said, "But what if it's not as good as Camilla?"
No worries. First off, Fiona Silk is just as fun a character, albeit in a strikingly different way. Fiona has similar sarcastic comments, but she tends to keep them as thoughts, and she's a pushover for a sob-story (or, indeed, for pretty much any request - she's missing the "just say no!" gene). She's a failed romance writer (and the parts where her "romance novel" is glimpsed by the reader are a real blast), living in the small fictional Quebec town of St. Aubaine, which is resoundingly familiar for those of us nearby another Quebec town, lemme tellya.
Someone offs a man she had an almost fling with eight-nine years ago, and leaves him naked in her bed, with a crazy-glue applied sly grin to greet her. Fiona's alibi of being three-sheets-to-the-wind, not to mention her passing out drunk when she saw him and not reporting it until the morning, leave her a little bit in the lurch. So, with the police after her, gossip lingering, and the media hot on her tail, Fiona has to get over being a pushover, before someone else pushes her over permanently.
Delightful, funny, and - as always - full of a razor sarcastic wit, Mary Jane Maffini once again delivers a grand little mystery. I do look forward to the next Fiona Silk... just please, a Camilla first?
This book? It's not a Camilla MacPhee mystery. I chewed my lip. I pondered. I bought (of course) and had her autograph it for me, but a small little voice said, "But what if it's not as good as Camilla?"
No worries. First off, Fiona Silk is just as fun a character, albeit in a strikingly different way. Fiona has similar sarcastic comments, but she tends to keep them as thoughts, and she's a pushover for a sob-story (or, indeed, for pretty much any request - she's missing the "just say no!" gene). She's a failed romance writer (and the parts where her "romance novel" is glimpsed by the reader are a real blast), living in the small fictional Quebec town of St. Aubaine, which is resoundingly familiar for those of us nearby another Quebec town, lemme tellya.
Someone offs a man she had an almost fling with eight-nine years ago, and leaves him naked in her bed, with a crazy-glue applied sly grin to greet her. Fiona's alibi of being three-sheets-to-the-wind, not to mention her passing out drunk when she saw him and not reporting it until the morning, leave her a little bit in the lurch. So, with the police after her, gossip lingering, and the media hot on her tail, Fiona has to get over being a pushover, before someone else pushes her over permanently.
Delightful, funny, and - as always - full of a razor sarcastic wit, Mary Jane Maffini once again delivers a grand little mystery. I do look forward to the next Fiona Silk... just please, a Camilla first?
June 1, 2015
I had a blast reading this novel. There is so much talent and unequivocal originality to praise, a superb sense of language duality and place, and the humour I hoped to find after falling in love with Mary Jane & Victoria Maffini’s incarnation, ‘Victoria Abbott’. The weakest fragment for me was the motive. Eight years previously, our protagonist was courted by a vulgar poet but opted out of an affair. She didn’t see him again but a lot hinges - stretches I’d say - on Benedict Kelly naming Fiona Silk as a lost opportunity he lamented.
To-do was made of a divorce in progress, whom the story could have done without. Lastly, I’m not a fan of a sour policeman stereotype. An intrusive teenager grew on me very slowly and wasn’t without significant roles. The story is about Benedict being deposited on Fiona’s bed, requiring scrutiny of the befuddled cottage owner. Pace, misleading layers and personages of plural plots, and danger all enter into this mystery. This is a professional novelist. There is no awkwardly filling pages, before revealing all in an amateurish fuselage. A veritable story progresses.
Everything is well done but for me, oh how I savour her abundance of detailed touches; especially the perfectly-tuned regional ambiance that Mary Jane created! My very favourite parts are the way Fiona's neighbour, Hélène says: "Oh là là"! I caught the numerous French insertions easily, because I spent elementary and high school in the French immersion environment! The tourist-haven Québec setting is one I would happily visit, with gorgeous specialty shop names like: ‘Forty Shades Of Green’. Uncanny but true, this was published well before E.L. James came out! Most hilarious is Fiona brainstorming for us, several ill-conceived romance novel blurbs, before crumpling them! Five stars most aptly reflect my pleasure.
To-do was made of a divorce in progress, whom the story could have done without. Lastly, I’m not a fan of a sour policeman stereotype. An intrusive teenager grew on me very slowly and wasn’t without significant roles. The story is about Benedict being deposited on Fiona’s bed, requiring scrutiny of the befuddled cottage owner. Pace, misleading layers and personages of plural plots, and danger all enter into this mystery. This is a professional novelist. There is no awkwardly filling pages, before revealing all in an amateurish fuselage. A veritable story progresses.
Everything is well done but for me, oh how I savour her abundance of detailed touches; especially the perfectly-tuned regional ambiance that Mary Jane created! My very favourite parts are the way Fiona's neighbour, Hélène says: "Oh là là"! I caught the numerous French insertions easily, because I spent elementary and high school in the French immersion environment! The tourist-haven Québec setting is one I would happily visit, with gorgeous specialty shop names like: ‘Forty Shades Of Green’. Uncanny but true, this was published well before E.L. James came out! Most hilarious is Fiona brainstorming for us, several ill-conceived romance novel blurbs, before crumpling them! Five stars most aptly reflect my pleasure.
July 4, 2012
This is the first of two in a series of mystery novels featuring Fiona Silk. It's set in rural Quebec with a cast of colourful characters.
The story was so-so, not overly exciting. The characters are likable ... except for Fiona's best friend, Liz, who is a doctor and annoying. I liked Fiona's sense of humour. And it was nice to read a book with characters my ages, rather than in their twenties or early thirties. I hadn't figured out who dunnit so the ending was a surprise and brought the story together.
It's an easy quick read and I'd recommend it if you aren't looking for anything too heavy.
The story was so-so, not overly exciting. The characters are likable ... except for Fiona's best friend, Liz, who is a doctor and annoying. I liked Fiona's sense of humour. And it was nice to read a book with characters my ages, rather than in their twenties or early thirties. I hadn't figured out who dunnit so the ending was a surprise and brought the story together.
It's an easy quick read and I'd recommend it if you aren't looking for anything too heavy.
June 14, 2015
I thought I would try this series, and I think I am done. I don't like the cutesy looking sharply at the world protagonist. (I am not describing this right, but it is a type of cozy protag that I have no affection for). Anyway, it is interesting that it takes place in a small village in Quebec (overtones of Louise Penney) but while the setting was dwealt on for a bit at the beginning, the author stops commenting on setting quite early on. A lost opportunity. I didn't care for any of the characters, blah blah blah.(I'm directing those blahs at me. I'm unable to form a coherent thought right now.) I will not be continuing with the series.
June 9, 2010
I didn't like Fiona Silk as much as Charlotte Adams, the main character in Maffini's Organizing series. Fiona Silk is a romance writer who fails at romance and who is being framed for murder. Someone put an ex-lover's body in her bed. Now the not so bright police think she's the prime suspect for some strange reason. There's a whole host of characters and Fiona tends to ramble on.
The one bright spot for me is her relationship with a 14-year-old character who seems a lot more competent and likable than Fiona.
The one bright spot for me is her relationship with a 14-year-old character who seems a lot more competent and likable than Fiona.
December 25, 2010
As if it weren't bad enough being a failed romance writer with no sex life, poor Fiona Silk has to cope with the spectacularly embarrassing demise of her old lover, the poet Benedict Kelly in her bed. It's exactly the sort of thing people notice in St. Aubaine, Quebec, a picturesque bilingual tourist town of two thousand. Now the police start getting nasty, the media vans stay parked on her lawn and the neighbors' tongues keep wagging in both official languages. Can Fiona outwit a murderer in the mood for some serious mischief?
February 24, 2010
This book was an excellent choice to read during the 2010 Winter Olympics as it is set in Ottawa, Canada.
The mystery begins right off and keeps you guessing with the sleuth as to why and what was happening.
The Characters are likable and interesting. I found myself wanting to know 'well what is going to happen next?' A good feeling at an end of a book.
The mystery begins right off and keeps you guessing with the sleuth as to why and what was happening.
The Characters are likable and interesting. I found myself wanting to know 'well what is going to happen next?' A good feeling at an end of a book.
September 23, 2007
LAMENT FOR A LOUNGE LIZARD by Mary Jane Maffini
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Mystery, 2003, 271 pgs
TIME/PLACE: Early 2000's; St. Aubaine, Quebec
CHARACTERS: Fiona Silk/romance writer
COMMENTS: Fiona comes home to find a former lover dead in the bed -- the poet Benedict Kelly.
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Mystery, 2003, 271 pgs
TIME/PLACE: Early 2000's; St. Aubaine, Quebec
CHARACTERS: Fiona Silk/romance writer
COMMENTS: Fiona comes home to find a former lover dead in the bed -- the poet Benedict Kelly.
March 6, 2009
Oh my, I do love Fiona Silk, the protagonist of this series by Mary Jane. She describes herself as a failed romance writer with no sex life. But...her ex is found dead in her bed. And a great teenage "assistant"... I'm a sucker for adolescents!
February 8, 2009
interesting and fun!
August 6, 2010
I truly enjoyed Fiona Silk and look forward to the next installment in her "interesting" life.
November 10, 2013
Fiona Silk and crew are a great addition to Mary Jane Maffini's repertoire.
December 12, 2009
Mary Jane Maffini has a wonderfully fresh voice. A very fun read!
July 2, 2014
Darn you MaryJane Maffini I read it straight through until 01h30!!!! Best one yet!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews