Death Was the Other Woman

Written by Linda L. Richards

Narrated by Joyce Bean

As the lawlessness of Prohibition pushes against the desperation of the Depression, there are two ways to make a living in Los Angeles: join the criminals or collar them. Kitty Pangborn has chosen the crime-fighters, becoming secretary to Dexter J. Theroux, one of the hard-drinking, tough-talking PIs who pepper the city’s stew. But after Dex takes an assignment from Rita Heppelwaite, the mistress of Harrison Dempsey, one of L.A.’s shadiest—and richest—businessmen, Kitty isn’t so sure what side of the law she’s on.

Rita suspects Dempsey has been stepping out and asks Dex to tail him. It’s an easy enough task, but Dex’s morning stroll with Johnnie Walker would make it tough for him to trail his own shadow. Kitty insists she go along for the ride, keeping her boss—and hopefully her salary—safe. However, she’s about to realize that there’s something far more unpleasant than a three-timing husband at the end of this trail, and that there’s more at risk than her paycheck.

Richly satisfying and stylishly gritty, Death Was the Other Woman gives a brand-new twist to the hard-boiled style, revealing that while veteran PIs like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe spent their time slugging scotch and wooing women, it may well have been the Girl Fridays of the world who really cracked the cases.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jan 8, 2008
• ISBN: 9781423349730

Linda L. Richards

Linda L. Richards is the editor and cofounder of January magazine (www.januarymagazine.com) and a regular contributor to The Rap Sheet (the rapsheet.blogspot.com). Mad Money, her first work of long fiction, was nominated for the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel. Death Was the Other Woman is her hardcover debut. She lives near Vancouver.

Reviews for Death Was the Other Woman

[gagirl101 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this mystery. It was given to me as a Christmas present. I didn't think much of it at first but it grows on you.It's an easy read. A mystery that keeps you entertained and questioning until the end.I couldn't put this book down to be honest. I thought it had a good ending.~TJ

[auntieknickers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As you may have guessed from my love of the Algonquin Round Table folks, I very much enjoy books set between the wars. I thought this one was quite good and I found the character of Kitty (no! Katherine!) Pangborn quite believable and one I'd like to hear more about. In general, I felt Ms. Richards did a great job in giving the flavor of the times. For example, although I've spent time in LA I was really not aware of there having been a lot of oil wells there in the early 30s, but this was the case.

This is in some ways a noir mystery, complete with hard-drinking private detective and other aspects of the genre, but the fact that it's narrated by Kitty moderates the noirishness to a level I could live with. The setting in 1931 Los Angeles is well-researched and the characters are ones I look forward to getting to know better.

[ombwarrior47 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this mystery. It was given to me as a Christmas present. I didn't think much of it at first but it grows on you.It's an easy read. A mystery that keeps you entertained and questioning until the end.I couldn't put this book down to be honest. I thought it had a good ending.~TJ

[reannon_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lately I haven't had many of those serendipitous finds you get while browsing a shelf of books. I usually put holds on books I Know I want to read, and there are enough books out by authors I know that I like that I don't often browse the shelves, and when I do, I rarely pick up a new author. But I did the other day pick up this book, it looked intriguing. fortunately, it WAS intriguing, and I really enjoyed the book. It is set in the early 1930s in Los Angeles. Katherine Pangborn was a daughter of wealth and privilege until her father lost all in the stock market crash and committed suicide. Katherine gets a job with a private eye in LA named Dexter J. Theroux. Katherine does some of the investigating when Dex is out of town.The book takes on the stereotypes of hard-boiled PI novels , and goes from there. Dex is right out of a hard-boiled novel until he tells Katherine some of what happened to him in WWI in France. Behind everything is the pall of the Great Depression, and the desperation of many. Yet the overall story is of a woman finding her strength. But it is also a fun book with an interesting plot. This is apparently Richard's second novel, and I'll be looking for her work from now on.