Faked to Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Series #2) » (Reprint)

The Barnes & Noble Review
As manager of one of America's largest mystery bookstores, talented writer Dean James keeps his finger on the pulse of the mystery field. The hero of his delightfully offbeat Simon Kirby-Jones series (Posted to Death) has good reasons of his own to keep the metaphorical blood flowing: He's a writer, too...and a vampire. Simon isn't out to bleed any of his potential readers, though, as medical science has conveniently provided a pill that takes care of all his nutritional needs. Instead, between needing only three hours of rest a night and saving all the time his kind once spent hunting for blood, Simon devotes himself to writing -- with a vengeance. He publishes in several different fields, under several different names -- and he keeps that secret more carefully in the closet than his sexual preferences. When his public persona, a noted historian and historical biographer, is invited to speak at a weeklong writer's conference hosted by the eccentric heiress of a local earl, it's more than any socially ambitious vampire can resist. But flattery turns to fury when Simon learns that one of the other speakers is a fake who's impersonating one of Simon's own reclusive alter egos. To make matters worse, it turns out the imposter is in the habit of blackmail -- but not good enough at it to avoid getting herself killed. For once, someone who thinks writing is murder isn't exaggerating! Sue Stone

Publishers Weekly

In last year's well-received Posted to Death, James introduced a unique amateur sleuth: Simon Kirby-Jones, a respected historian and mystery author (under female pseudonyms), an American living his dream in a cozy English village-and a gay vampire, who controls his vampirism by popping pills. The fun continues as Simon, along with his adoring young aide, Sir Giles, attends a crime writer's conference at Kinsale House presided over by its domineering chatelaine, Lady Hermione. To his astonishment, Simon discovers that the featured speaker purports to be one of his nom de plumes, Dorinda Darlington. The thoroughly nasty literary agent shared by all should be the murderer's object, but she has too much on her clients, and it's the Dorinda imposter who ends up squashed by a stone urn pushed from the terrace. The often flippant humor, overdone British slang and superior posturings of the book's self-absorbed detective may not be to every taste, but fully developed characters and a well-designed plot amply compensate. (Apr. 8) FYI: James is the manager of Houston's Murder by the Book, as well as the author of two Southern mysteries, Cruel as the Grave and Closer than the Bones. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.