Revenge of the Cootie Girls : A Robin Hudson Mystery

Description

Now executive producer of Special Reports, Robin Hudson is feeling (relatively) settled. Okay, she's bored. In an effort to feel useful, she has taken under her wing a new intern, wide-eyed small-town girl Kathy Loblaws, and invited her along on a Girls' Night Out. It's Halloween, and Kathy doesn't show--but telephones from a strange man's closet. Aided by her pals, Robin must track down her errant charge through one long night of murder and mayhem, costumes and concealed weapons, men who are not what they seem (are they ever?), and unsettling dj vu. For Robin slowly comes to realize that the search for her missing intern is really a deadly trip into the past, fueled by an old curse. Sparkle Hayter's rapidly growing cult of fans will relish the return of Robin Hudson, her smart mouth, her wild hair, and her motley collection of insane girlfriends. Hayter, who has defined the screwball mystery genre, has one of the freshest voices in mystery writing today. * Hayter's first novel, What's A Girl Gotta Do?, won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for best first mystery. Nice Girls Finish Last was nominated for best novel
* The Last ManlyMan, Hayter's new mystery, will be published by William Morrow in Spring 1998

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Customer Reviews

It's Cute, Though Not As Good As Her Other Books
Start with one of the other Robin Hudson books if you've never read her before - you'll be a little more patient with this one if you are familiar with the character. Overall it's an entertaining read - won't change your life - but not all books will.

2008-10-21 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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I wasn't a bandit queen, I was a bit of a medieval kick-butt warrior princess.
After reading other reviews, I'm anxious to get my hands on more of Hayter's work. I thought this was great, especially the last 30 pages or so. The granny bit is hilarious. So, if this is everyone's least favorite? I can hardly wait to read what the others rave about.

Yes, it's introspective. No, it's not so much about the mystery. But those of us who've recovered from a bout of the cooties (and have a bit of a Julie in their lives) understand.

2008-07-29 (middle bit of Illinois) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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More memoir than mystery
This book is the least "mystery"-like of the Robin Hudson series and was a little hard to get through. I read all the books in the Robin Hudson series while waiting for the next Stephanie Plum book to be released -- I was looking for something with the humor, romance, sexual tension and mystery of the Plum series. Of all the books in the Robin Hudson series, the first one (What's A Girl Gotta Do?) comes the closest to capturing those elements. The other Robin Hudson books are lacking in the romance and sexual tension areas. All of them are funny, with some zany characters or situations. This one has some of the more memorable laugh-out-loud scenes!

2007-03-28 (Alameda, CA, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 2

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Good writing style, less than stellar plot line...
Back to some amateur female detective genre... This time it's Revenge Of The Cootie Girls by Sparkle Hayter. I picked up some of her work earlier and liked it, so I thought I'd keep reading. In this case, it's a good thing this wasn't the first book of hers that I read. It might have been the last. This one just didn't click for me.

Robin Hudson, now an executive producer for the studio she works at, is ready for a Girls Night Out event on Halloween. She invites her best friends as well as an intern who works for her. When the intern doesn't show up at the appointed meeting place, Hudson gets a little concerned. She ends up stumbling onto what appears to be some sort of charity event where her intern is going from place to place, and is then given a clue for the next location. Since the questions are about Hudson, she thinks it's some sort of benefit. But the clues get more bizarre, the locations more risky, and additional people start showing up who don't quite look like they're into "charitable events". Hudson thinks it's all part of something put on by an old school chum (a fellow "cootie girl"), but even that gets complicated. The story works up to a life or death showdown at the end.

I'll give the book an average rating as I like Hayter's writing style and imagery. For story and plot, it'd be a lot lower. The story line is muddled and doesn't move much, and far too much time is spent reexaming Hudson's years as a school outcast. At the end, I'm not quite sure who was doing what, much less why. I sincerely hope for better stuff to come, as I still have a couple more of her books to get to...

2004-07-02 | Duffbert (Portland, OR United States) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 3

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Revenge of the Cootie Girls: A Robin Hudson Mystery
Very disappointed in this book...

It really started off well... But then the mystery part of it completely dropped off and turned into a life story about Robin Hudson rather then a Robin Hudson Mystery...

It's a good read, but definitally not a very good mystery...

2003-10-20 (Colorado Springs, CO) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 2

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What's a Girl Gotta Do? (A Robin Hudson mystery)

Description

Poor Robin Hudson. Her husband has left her, she's been demoted at work and a blackmailer knows some of her worst childhood secrets. Just when things can't possibly get worse--they do. She becomes a suspect in a brutal murder and must turn reluctant gumshoe to find the real killer and clear her name.

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Customer Reviews

So disappointed
Had high hopes for this book but couldn't even stick to my "Read 50 pages before you decide" policy. Pitched it into the second hand bag. Don't waste you time or money.

2009-09-21 (Eastsound, WA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 1

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Not Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series
I read all the books in the Robin Hudson series while waiting for the next Stephanie Plum book to be released -- I was looking for something with the humor, romance, sexual tension and mystery of the Plum series. Of all the books in the Robin Hudson series, What's A Girl Gotta Do? comes the closest to capturing those elements of the Plum series. The other Robin Hudson books are lacking in the romance and sexual tension areas. All of them are funny, with some zany characters or situations, though!

2007-03-28 (Alameda, CA, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Sharp and Funny
One of the funniest books I've ever read with a heroine who is flawed by trying hard to improve (with sometimes disastrous results). When Robin Hudson gets a phone call froma strange man who claims to know personal secrets about her, she agrees to meet him at her company's costume party. But he shows up dead. Her subsequent investigation takes her, and us, through the backrooms of TV news and the maze of gender politics. Very funny.

2006-07-12 | qckz (usa) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Pales in comparison...
Having read the first in the Robin Hudson series, I must admit I am disappointed. Originally drawn to this genre by Janet Evanovich and later Katie Munger, I was expecting the kind of tongue-in-cheek, leg-slapping, laugh-out-loud hilarity I had grown so fond of. As much as I devoured Evanovich and Munger, completely unable to put down their books, starving for more from each author, I had to force myself through Hayter's first effort.
It's not a bad story, mildly amusing at times, but not funny. It occupies the mind, but doesn't feed it and leave it hungry for more. I'm sad when I've finished an Evanovich or Munger...sorry that it's over. I don't get that from this book.
Maybe I'm spoiled. But call me spoiled and disappointed. I bought the entire Robin Hudson series with high hopes. Now I'm wondering if I'll even read the rest...

2004-12-14 | Helpful Votes: 5 | Rating: 2

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Her first book may be her best...
I finally got the chance to read Sparkle Hayter's first book What's A Girl Gotta Do? I must say, it's probably one of her best...

Robin Hudson is a soon-to-be divorced journalist who has been shunted off to the tabloid story department of the TV network she works for. One day she gets a message from a private investigator revealing a lot of personal/intimate information about her that she thought nobody knew. But before she can meet with the guy to figure out what he wants, he's murdered in such a way that it looks like she could be the killer. The more she picks at the story, the more she finds out, and it looks like a number of the personalities at the station were also investigated and blackmailed. While she's trying to stay alive, stay out of the bed of a co-worker, and deal with her soon-to-be ex and his pregnant fiancee, she also has to do an undercover story at a sperm bank posing as the wife to her slimebag boss.

This is a wacky story with funny, snide, and sexy characters. This book sets a lot of the background color for many of her future Robin Hudson novels that I've already read. This may well be my favorite of all her novels, and it will be interesting to see if her future work can work back up to this level.

2004-11-28 | Duffbert (Portland, OR United States) | Helpful Votes: 5 | Rating: 4

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Bandit Queen Boogie

Description

A LITTLE ITALY, A LITTLE FRANCE, A LITTLE CRIME, A LITTLE ROMANCE

Meet Blackie and Chloe, two best friends who decide, over tequila shots at the campus bar, to spend the summer after graduation backpacking through Europe. Blackie wants to go a little crazy—drink, smoke, flirt, meet men, have a romance or two. Chloe wants to nurse her broken heart and bury her nose in a book. One is dark and boisterous, the other blond and quiet. Together, they are an irresistible combination to men . . . married men, to be exact.

The girls upgrade their accommodations from hostels to hotels when they let the men who’ve been wrecking their trip finance their fun. Accepting these cheaters’ invitations to their hotel suites, Blackie and Chloe beat them at their own game and make off with cash and whatever valuables are at hand while the men sleep it off. It’s the perfect crime (no married man would want to explain why he had two young coeds in his hotel room, now would he?) until they hit the wrong mark in Monte Carlo. When their latest “victim” turns up dead, the gig is up . . . and the Bandit Queens are on the run.
Chloe and Blackie’s ride through Europe gets a whole lot wilder with a bevy of wacky characters in hot pursuit of the two women who were last seen with the dead man and his golden statue. Will they be arrested, strain their friendship, or worse?

Bandit Queen Boogie is a wild goose chase of mistaken identity and international intrigue. If only every trip to Europe was this much fun.

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Customer Reviews

A really fun read!
This story of two friends' travels through Europe is a lot of fun. The characters are interesting, the plot twists and turns are many, and there were plenty of places that made me laugh out loud. A quick, enjoyable read!

2007-08-10 (RI, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Was it my gender?
My wife made fun of me for reading this book because it's pink (and I'm color-blind and couldn't tell).

I've read almost all of her other books. In general they're all pretty good. But this one sort of confused / bored me. It's got the "girls out of country go wild thing" going on but it just never really seemed to develop beyond that to me. Oh well, maybe her next book will pull me in better.

2006-05-25 (Arlington, TX) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 3

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Definitely a different novel for Hayter...
With my reading of Sparkle Hayter's latest book, Bandit Queen Boogie, I'm now up to date on her writings. And I must say, this one is unusual... It's difficult to describe the plot, as there are several wacky subplots that seem unrelated but converge at the end...

Blackie and Chloe, two friends who appeared mismatched but understood each other, decide to head off to Europe to help Chloe forget a relationship. While over there, they find out that they have a knack for running cons that separate men on the prowl from their money. That's the main thread. In initially unrelated subplots, you have an Indian crime boss who's Ganesh god statue is stolen with something of value stashed inside. There's a rebellious heiress that skips out on court-ordered rehab and is trying to meet up with her boyfriend so they can run off together. A reporter who's apparently on the edge is over in Europe on a company-ordered "vacation" and is stripped of a story he's been working on. And believe it or not, all these things end up meshing at the end. The girls are thought to have killed the son-in-law of the crime boss after he stole the statue. They are being pursued unknowingly by his hired goons. The reporter is trying to come up with a blockbuster story, and he's going to try and uncover the story of the heiress. The heiress is on the run but her boyfriend has apparently dumped her and taken off with her money. Chloe is mistaken as the heiress traveling with a Canadian friend, so everyone wants to find her. Neither of the girls know much of what is transpiring. There's a few more subplots there, too... But any more would give things away, and it's just too confusing to try and explain anyway...

This is a strange novel. If you like crazy stories going off in different directions, and situations where peoples' lives intersect with each other in unusual ways, then you'll most likely enjoy this read. If you want a logical plot with believable story lines and rational scenarios, then this one will drive you up the wall. I think I enjoyed the writing more than the story, but your mileage may vary...

2004-09-11 | Duffbert (Portland, OR United States) | Helpful Votes: 7 | Rating: 4

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Naked Brunch: A howlingly funny novel of love run wild

Description

Annie Engel hasn’t been feeling herself lately. With good reason. A mousy secretary by day, she’s been morphing into a werewolf at night. In the morning, she’s not quite sure what she’s been up to, but she knows she’d like to do it again. She soon discovers that her odd dreams and strange hangovers are actually the remnants of a night out on the prowl.

But Annie’s predatory activities have not gone unnoticed, and soon she is being pursued by one hapless reporter, a psychiatrist who wants to save her from her beastly impulses, and another (guy) werewolf who captures her heart. Who is a nice werewolf to trust? Get ready for a manic, madcap chase through the dank underbelly of the big city, a place where no one seems to sleep and the scents of fear and desire are always in the air.

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Customer Reviews

Very Enjoyable!
Nice, entertaining read with a creative plot. I wouldn't call it "howlingly funny" but it was cute. Great for chapter reading when relaxing before bedtime or on the beach. Easy to put down and easy to pick back up.

2008-10-21 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Great read
I've done the whole "Bitten" route. Read all of Laurel K. Hamilton's stuff. This book definitely is a better read. Hayter takes the familiar werewolve plot line and makes it both fun and interesting.

I'd also recommend her other works as well.

2006-02-12 (Arlington, TX) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Different Kind of Beach Read
An offbeat werewolf tale, lighthearted but also dark in equal measures. recommended.

2005-08-03 | qckz (usa) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Great fun!
One day, Annie Engel wakes up after having had the wolf dream again. There's blood on her chest and face, and she feels sick. After throwing up watery rust-colored vomit, she realizes that lodged in her teeth is a piece of something that looks and smells like raw meat, which is really odd, because she's a vegetarian. Then she sees the news about a man's throat being ripped out by a killer dog.

Annie isn't the only one who wonders what's going on. The New York branch of the Potenza family, an old werewolf clan now devoted to helping werewolves overcome their Lycanthropic Metamorphic Disorder (an inherited trait), worries about "free werewolves" and decides to track her down. So does Jim Valiente, a free werewolf who had been associated with Potenzas until the female werewolf he loved died during treatment.

As the killings increase, the pressure on the Mayor and Police Commissioner to find the serial killer intensifies. So does the pressure on Sam Deverall, a TV news reporter who was on his way down until he got some inside information on the killings.

After a bit, Annie doesn't know who to trust, Marco Potenza and his (completely) human wife, the male werewolf she had hot sex with in Central Park, the Potenzas' "enforcer"?
Hayter has written a delightful fantasy of werewolves in New York, at the same time skewering all sorts of targets: media, politicians, mega-conglomerates, and artsy, pretentious twenty-somethings. Her characters are believable, and it is fun to watch the meek inherit the earth, so to speak, as some characters change and grow, and others get their comeuppance.

If you are writing a werewolf novel, you have to deal with the fact that your protagonist is killing people and you have to find a way to make him sympathetic in spite of that fact. Hayter passes this test with flying colors. She also has a quite credible explanation for why Annie hadn't transformed earlier. A funny, sweet, romantic horror story.

2005-07-03 (Chicago, IL USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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I didnt want to... but I do
I picked up this novel, a departure from the Robin Hudson series, and wanted to love it. 20 pages in, I decided that Hayter had failed me terribly and tossed the book aside. Months passed and without a new Hudson book to appease me, I again picked up Naked Brunch. Still hated it. I read and re-read the reviews here at Amazon time and again and thought about how everyone must be reading some chapters that were left out of my copy. How could these people love this book so much? The one negative review I read still failed to execute the horrible justice that I felt Naked Brunch deserved.

Again months passed and STILL no new Hudson novel. So, on the third try I discovered something. I hadnt seperated myself from the series that I felt so protective of. Hayter had betrayed Robin Hudson and this new Annie Engle person was weak and pathetic, werewolves are a ridiculous choice of topic, and who did this Dear Tweets person think he was?

On that third try, and almost a year after reading anything about Robin Hudson, Tomayo, Mrs. R and the gang, I realized that Hayter had actually written a beautiful book and I had wasted months bashing it because I was expecting someone else to be in its pages. I wonder now if I should seek therapy for my charachter attatchments, but first, this:

This is not a Robin Hudson book and it doesnt pretend to be. Theres no need to re-tell the plot as several have already done so. What you should know is the book is quick paced, funny, but not in a hilarious way, and not chick-litesque at all. The charachters are brilliant and stick with you long after the book ends and all have a fascinating story to tell.

The truth is I want to live in Hayters world. As with the Hudson books, Sparkle Hayter makes our city a more magical place. And while reading her, and for a long time after, you notice things differently, and wonder if the guy next to you on the bus could be smuggling a dangerous chemical agent in that brown bagged bottle or may even be a werewolf.

2005-06-21 (Chicago, Il USA) | Helpful Votes: 6 | Rating: 5

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The Last Manly Man (Robin Hudson Mysteries #4)

Description

Newswoman Robin Hudson finds that life actually seems to be going right for a change. But it isn't long before a good deed for a strange man leads her into a bizarre murder investigation-and into a secret world of men she never knew existed. A testosterone-filled hunting expedition, libidinous chimps, a convention of drugged feminists, and a mysterious chemical known as Adam 1: what better way for a girl to take a look at the sexual stereotypes, social conditioning, and mad science that obsesses us all? A perfect blend of mystery and mockery, as well as an unorthodox love letter to men, The Last Manly Man brings Robin one of her most unusual cases yet.

"[Hayter's] casual observations on New Yorkers and their loony obsessions have just the right dash of caustic wit." (The New York Times Book Review)

"The Last Manly Man is satire at its best: witty, wise, and oh, so relevant. Sparkle Hayter's novel . . . is an absolute hoot!" (Susan Isaacs)

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Customer Reviews

4th in the series
I had read the first three books of this series quite a long time ago. I'm not sure why this fourth book ended up stuck in my TBR pile for so long, nor why I never picked up the fifth.

Reporter Robin Hudson begins this story in a great place--she's been made the head of Special Reports at the All News Network, and her love life is looking up. Then she encounters an apparently disoriented man in a hat. The man hands her his hat and makes a couple of nonsensical statements before he's whisked away by a couple of men in a limo.

When an unidentified body turns up, she's sure it must be the man in the hat. Suddenly, everything seems to be going wrong. Her division is on the line, and Robin needs a story bigger than the Man of the Future series she's been working on to save it. And she suspects she's--again--in the middle of a murder case.

The more she investigates, the more complicated things get, what with militant environmental activists, missing bonobo chimps, extremists in the war between the sexes, and somebody seems to be out to get her for something she hasn't even done.

The story is full of twists and turns and a lot of humor. I think I'll have to look for The Chelsea Girl Murders.

2008-11-23 | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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"sparkling," frantic satire
Sparkle Hayter has penned an exhilarating, rousing romp through NYC, full of zany adventures and loony characters. I loved the novel's rollicking pace. The dialogue, specifically the witty comments made by Robin Hudson separate this from any other novel of this genre I have read. I couldn't wait to read what Robin would say next.

This is an outstanding satire on modern relationships and issues or just life in general. Literacy aside, what makes the novel are so many off-beat characters and frantic plot twists. You never know what's around the next corner on this playful ride.

2008-05-07 | maximus (Murfreesboro, TN USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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Thoroughly Satisfying
My first experience of this series gave me everything I could hope for: suspense, excitement, laughter, and nourishment for my curiosity. It's a convincing thrill ride through the parts of Manhattan life that aren't usually shown in magazines (and I have reason to know). It's an intriguing look at how an underground movement might covertly operate. There's insight into politics at a big network (which the author has reason to know).

What I found most fascinating, though, was the interworkings of coincidence, and the heroine's ability to pull together seemingly diverse happenings, until a pattern emerges-the focus on the things you can find out if you just Pay Attention. The heroine is intelligent, courageous, and thinks like a woman-with both halves of her brain.

There is a satisfying, life-like feel to this book that really made me feel that I had been along for the adventure, and the exploration of the possibly diabolical uses of modern technology is timely and chilling.

2005-12-25 (New York, NY United States) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Much better than her last one...
In hopes that her next work would be better, I read and finished The Last Manly Man by Sparkle Hayter while on vacation this week. It was definitely better than the last novel of hers, so I'll keep her on my favorite author list.

In this story, Robin Hudson is approached by a man who she doesn't know, but who gives her a hat and an address before being abducted off the street by some thugs in a limo. She attempts to find the address to return the hat, but it's bogus. A couple of days later, the guy turns up dead in the waters off Coney Island, and she wants to figure out what happened. A number of people now appear to be after her, and they think she knows some secrets that were passed on by the dead guy. Throw in animal rights activists, vegetarians, missing horny bonobo chimps, and radical feminism (yes, it all fits), and the story gets wacky, crazy, and deadly at the end.

I continue to enjoy the craziness of the story lines that Hayter puts out, as well as the attitude of the lead character as she tries to steer clear of dead bodies and develop some type of relationship with any guy she can find. While this isn't a "deep" novel with a moral or anything, it is a fun read that will provide a few hours of entertainment.

2004-07-19 | Duffbert (Portland, OR United States) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

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Tipsy, Titillating Tall Tale
Robin Hudson, newswoman, seems headed down the path to glory when she's sidetracked by a wandering amnesiac who hands her a hat. And down the rabbit hole she goes.

It's one zany scene after the other, full of witty dialogue and off-the-wall humor. When you're not laughing, you realize your faithful heroine is up to her lipstick in trouble.

Hayter puts together a fun tale of mystery and intrique with imagination and flair. Her protagonist is smart, the plot fanciful and fun. And besides, there's a cat in the book, and who can go wrong with a cat?

The downside is that the action was a bit hard to follow, and the clues and red herrings were so plentiful that I gave up trying to guess the outcome. But if you like your mysteries spiced with fun and frivolity; if you like your heroine just as spicy, then "The Last Manly Man" is for you.

2003-04-20 (Magnolia, Texas USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 3

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The Chelsea Girl Murders (A Robin Hudson mystery)

Description

When a fire forces TV executive Robin Hudson to vacate her apartment, she and her cat, Louise Bryant, take shelter in the legendary bohemian hostelry the Chelsea Hotel. But then a smoky-eyed art dealer dies on her doorstep, and our ever-reluctant heroine is drawn into a homicide investigation. Is the murder related in some way to the star-crossed and irritable young lovers who have appealed to Robin for help? Or to a deadly catfight between rival lovers of the victim? To sort things out, Robin must brave the whole downtown scene: guerilla artists, jealous women, Zen bodybuilders, gouty widows, and befuddled tourists. And to make matters even more complicated, Robin herself seems to have fallen accidentally in love.

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Robin Hudson has reason to believe that the only cosmic order ruling her existence is Murphy's Law. What else could a woman think when her pious, next- door neighbor's electric Jesus display shorts out and burns down their East Village apartment building? Bad enough that she's just returned from a disastrous PR trip for TV network WNN. Who knew that touching Thai children's heads put a curse on them, or that in Russia, an even number of flowers is appropriate only for a funeral, not for a dinner party? Who knew that certain colleagues are plotting to oust her from the network, and that Pierre, her recent French fling, isn't calling. Now she's homeless. It's a good thing her friend Tamayo has offered her the use of an apartment in the famed artists' haven, the Chelsea. A little peace and quiet in an artistic setting is just what Robin needs.

But when a teenager named Nadia shows up on Tamayo's doorstep eager to be reunited with her fiancé, courtesy of Tamayo's underground lovers' railroad, Robin finds herself playing nurse to a spoiled-rotten Juliet. And when Nadia goes missing before her Romeo (Rocky) arrives, the next person at the door is enough to cross anyone's stars: Gerald Woznik--art dealer, lecher, and all- around cad, who stumbles across the threshold and inconsiderately dies.

Between finding Nadia, feeding Rocky, and fending off the police, Robin embarks on a one-woman campaign to solve the woes of the world--and opens a sizeable can of worms. What was socialite Grace Rouse doing clinging to the Chelsea fire escape the night Gerald was murdered? Why is art doyenne Miriam Grundy lying about meeting Nadia? And who is the "Baby" that everyone is talking about?

More comic novel than mystery, The Chelsea Girl Murders takes its readers on a rollicking jaunt through the Big Apple. Whodunit isn't nearly as important as what's-Robin-gonna-do-about-it, and some of her solutions are pricelessly funny. As in her previous Robin Hudson outings (Revenge of the Cootie Girls, Nice Girls Finish Last, What's A Girl Gotta Do, The Last Manly Man), Sparkle Hayter's observations on New Yorkers and their loony obsessions have just the right dash of caustic wit. Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum can add another star to the pantheon of Northeastern femmes formidables. --Kelly Flynn

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Customer Reviews

Eye Opener
Enjoyed the tale, read it in about three hours, appreciated the style and the way it all hung together, found many aspects very amusing, especially the climax of five nuns and Ms Hudson chained together in the back of a van.. also very educational for me into the life styles of people I do not come across.. do not understand how the residents of The Chelsea can pay for their accommodations, or how the hotel permits unregistered guests to shack up in various rooms! But also an insight into the American female mind, no wonder families rarely stay together in that country, it is all about getting quick excitement and immediate satisfaction for oneself! What about doing something with ones life that is worthwhile? None of the characters in the book had a structure apart from the fellow in retirement from Liverpool... not far from where I was born... OK! These comments are too serious! I will certainly read more of her work. (I came across this in a hotel library whilst on holiday in Menorca).

2006-10-29 | mesmh (scotland) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Not as good as the others
I really enjoyed Sparkle Hayter's other book, Naked Brunch and picked up all of her books. This one to me was not as tight as the earlier books in the series IMO. I still liked it, enjoyed taking another journey with Robin, but it didn't do as much for me. I definitely like the Nice Girls Finish Last a bit more.

2006-02-14 (Arlington, TX) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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Might be the best in her series...
In keeping with the Hayter streak I've been on of late, I started and finished The Chelsea Girl Murders by Sparkle Hayter. This is probably one of the more serious Robin Hudson novels to date...

Robin Hudson's apartment burns down, and she's forced to take refuge in a friend's apartment at the Chelsea Hotel. The Chelsea is a quirky historic hotel that caters to artists and celebrities. Anyway, a runaway girl also shows up at the apartment, apparently with the approval of Hudson's friend. This girl is trying to escape an arranged marriage. There's also a young man who shows up, and Hudson naturally thinks that those are the two lovers. But each of them keeps disappearing, and Hudson is trying hard to find them and reunite them. Meanwhile, someone is murdered on Hudson's doorstep, and quite a few residents have a reason to have wanted him dead. The two plotlines start to converge, and Hudson finds herself the target of killers who are mixed up in the whole affair.

As all Robin Hudson novels, the story is quirky and funny. But this seems to have a more serious element in it, and isn't quite as offbeat as the others. This could possibly be my favorite novel in the series.

2004-07-23 | Duffbert (Portland, OR United States) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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Another Sparkly tale
"The Chelsea girl murders" by writer Sparkle Hayter is the fifth in a series of mystery novels about Robin Hudson. The only series I've ever gotten into as a mystery reader. Sparkle's writing is intelligent and witty. Even with the myriad assortment of characters throughout the story, they all serve a purpose and Sparkle is so good at making them all have meaning and not add confusion.
Robin's apartment building burns down, and she takes shelter at the "Chelsea". An out of town friend left her a key to her place there, and Sparkle takes advantage. Little does she know what she's about to get herself into. As she seems to do in all the stories. It is still extremely entertaining and a laugh out loud book.
What I love most about this book is Sparkle's witty dialogue, and how she chose the illustrious "Chelsea hotel" as her set.
This is worth reading if you like funny/mystery stories. Robin Hudson is a character I always look forward to reading more about.

Eileen F.

2004-04-18 | crzybookmoovielover (Seekonk, Massachusetts) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Unique in setting and characters
I like how Sparkle Hayter throws amateur detective Robin Hudson into a ridiculous situation involving a murder and then has her figure her way out of it. Most mysteries are more straightforward, less wacky, and not as interesting. In my novel, the humor/adventure story "Bounties", I too have a female main character. And like Sparkle Hayter, I keep the plot going with humor, but of a different sort. A lot of her humor is in the wacky characters, whereas I try to generate laughs with funny dialogue and some physical humor. But hats off to Sparkle Hayter for choosing such a unique setting for a mystery.

2003-02-28 (Northern Virginia) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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