Dead Is the New Black by Christine DeMaio-Rice

The coffee, unusually, is spilt – which is not like Jeremy, she thinks.

When Laura arrives at her desk to find coffee waiting for her, she tells us, she knows that Jeremy must be already there, because he is in the habit of buying coffee for them both on his way to work. The murderer appears in the first few chapters. The clues are thrust at us in a way we should be able to pick up – but almost certainly won’t. The handling of the plot is all we could ask for. And Cangemi, the cop, is a much cleverer detective than we are led to expect at the beginning. Stu becomes more likeable the more we see of him. Laura’s sister Ruby is a bright contrast. (She wonders herself if she would have dared to allow their relationship to develop if she hadn’t believed he was gay – because then there would have been a risk that it might become serious.) So we feel sympathy for her from the start, and at the same time realise that we are in the hands of a writer who can give us characters with depth. Laura, we learn straightaway, is hopelessly attracted to Jeremy. Laura and her work mates, particularly Jeremy St James, are vividly drawn. The sophisticated atmosphere takes us by the throat from the first page. Christine DeMaio-Rice knows a lot about her background, and this makes the book especially fascinating and enjoyable to read. Rex Stout set several of his books here and Marjorie Allingham’s marvellous The Fashion in Shrouds is similarly set in the London fashion scene.

Set in the New York fashion world, it immediately attracted my attention. It’s also a plus if the setting is interesting and is presented accurately in a way which tells the reader a lot about it, without dumping too much information.ĭead is the New Black fulfils all my requirements. The characters should not be mainly policemen, unless we are allowed into their private lives, although the occasional cop whom we can get to know is fine. The plot should be fast moving, full of twists and turns, and with a central character or characters who are easy to like. To me a classic of the genre should have wit, imagination, and a puzzle element with fair play clues presented to the reader in a cleverly misleading way.

Labelled ‘Crime Stories,’ they have become more and more police procedural/ serial killer in nature. Of recent years, these have become harder and harder to find. I’ve been a fan of the classic detective story all my life. Dead Is the New Black Reviewed by Gerry McCullough Withou further ado, here’s Gerry on Christine. Christine will be back with us soon with a follow-up, but meantime, it being Wednesday and all, Christine’s book drew the short straw for dissection by everyone’s favorite reviewer, Gerry McCullough.

Dead Is the New Black by Christine DeMaio-Rice