Confessions of a Red Herring

March 15, 2018
Accused of murder by her PR firm, an ex-reporter must fight what's either the worst luck ever or an unseen enemy to uncover the real villain.You'd think that being asked to sleep with a client for the sake of public relations would be the worst thing that could happen at Alexandra Vlodnachek's job with Coleman & Walters. Nope; not even close. Things happen fast after Alex tells Everett P. Coleman exactly what she won't do at work. Coleman is killed, and the police question Alex, who points out that although her boss was out of line, she was more likely to file a complaint with HR than stab him to death. Alex returns to the office after her questioning to find a whole new world, in which the entire office, starting with Mrs. Everett P. Coleman, holds Alex responsible for Everett's death. Alex is summarily fired and accused of using her PR job as a pretext for writing an exposé, since she used to be a reporter. When she arrives home seeking a respite, Alex finds that her brother, Nick, has shown up to stay with her with his bride, the apparent grifter Gabby, at his side. It's hard to know what trouble Alex needs to tackle first--clearing her name or clearing out her house--but things go from bad to worse when a bounced check makes it clear that someone thinks Alex's week hasn't been hellacious enough. With the support of her longtime best friend, Trip, and Alex's grandmother Baba, along with the sometimes-hindering help of Nick and Gabby, Alex sets out to clear her name by finding out who had reason to kill Coleman.This kickoff to a planned new series could have used a little more planning in character introduction and development. While everyone is interesting, there's a little too much of everything, making it hard to follow along and buy into the heroine's dizzy world.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 15, 2018
Accused of murder by her PR firm, an ex-reporter must fight what's either the worst luck ever or an unseen enemy to uncover the real villain.You'd think that being asked to sleep with a client for the sake of public relations would be the worst thing that could happen at Alexandra Vlodnachek's job with Coleman & Walters. Nope; not even close. Things happen fast after Alex tells Everett P. Coleman exactly what she won't do at work. Coleman is killed, and the police question Alex, who points out that although her boss was out of line, she was more likely to file a complaint with HR than stab him to death. Alex returns to the office after her questioning to find a whole new world, in which the entire office, starting with Mrs. Everett P. Coleman, holds Alex responsible for Everett's death. Alex is summarily fired and accused of using her PR job as a pretext for writing an expos�, since she used to be a reporter. When she arrives home seeking a respite, Alex finds that her brother, Nick, has shown up to stay with her with his bride, the apparent grifter Gabby, at his side. It's hard to know what trouble Alex needs to tackle first--clearing her name or clearing out her house--but things go from bad to worse when a bounced check makes it clear that someone thinks Alex's week hasn't been hellacious enough. With the support of her longtime best friend, Trip, and Alex's grandmother Baba, along with the sometimes-hindering help of Nick and Gabby, Alex sets out to clear her name by finding out who had reason to kill Coleman.This kickoff to a planned new series could have used a little more planning in character introduction and development. While everyone is interesting, there's a little too much of everything, making it hard to follow along and buy into the heroine's dizzy world.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.