Book of the week: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB by Susan McBride

It may not seem fair to mention the books of a good friend, but I do it often and I’m not going to stop now. Susan McBride’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB is the newest and best entry in her Debutante Dropout mystery series. Andy Kendricks, comfortably supported by a trust fund, designs websites for charities and other worthy causes. She’s an artist, too. Andy has finally fallen for a guy, and oddly enough, it’s someone even her wealthy and proper mother approves.

Brian Malone, attorney and straight arrow, is not happy when he’s asked to escort a friend to a stripper bar for a bachelor’s fling. But since Brian is a good guy, he accompanies his bud, though he’d rather be with Andy.

The next thing Andy knows, the television news is featuring Brian’s car with a dead stripper stuffed in the trunk. Brian is nowhere to be found. The only other people who want to help Andy find him are Brian’s ex girlfriend, and Andy’s mother. The police seem intent on nailing the murder to Brian, not unreasonably. But Andy knows her man, and he’s not the kind to kill anyone.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB is McBride at her best: lively, endearing, funny, and with moments of genuine suspense.

BLOG

I’m hearing birds chirping outside, I sweated for the first time this year Thursday afternoon, and the lawn needs mowing (note to self: call teenage boys next door). What does that mean for a writer? Well, actually, nothing. We have to write all year no matter what the weather is doing outside. But lots of us are filled with the desire to write something different. Shake things up a little.

That may take the form of killing off a main character (Hah! Take THAT!) or it may be as mild as writing a short story for an anthology about something you’ve never tried. A werewolf story, maybe. But sometimes this desire to stretch can be a fairly drastic one. One of my friends has written a Big Book. This is what the industry calls a long suspense novel, one with the potential to make a lot of money for some lucky publisher. Big Books require a lot of research, usually – but not necessarily -- involving guns and foreign travel and exotic weapons of mass destruction. This bug hasn’t bitten me yet, but I admire and pity the ones it has. A writer with the skills might decide to write a graphic novel or a movie script. Some of us bloom out with a new series, or at least a new character.

It’s a form of mental and creative housekeeping, I think. We want new curtains, and maybe a new kitchen. Some of us want to move to a bigger house altogether, leaving the old neighborhood behind.

I’m still happy with the old neighborhood, rest assured. But I do want new countertops (maybe a short story?) and new faucets in the bathrooms . . . . hmmmm . . . maybe a new major character?

--Charlaine Harris