Laughing Can Kill You
He who laughs last, laughs longest.
Unless he's dead.
When romance author Hazel Rose is dropped by her publisher, she sees herself
heading down a path strewn with has-been authors. While disappointed, Hazel won't give up without a fight-she signs up for a mystery-writing class, thinking that crime fiction will jumpstart her career.
But what's a mystery-writing class without a mystery? So when Randy Zimmerman, an obnoxious classmate given to laughing at others' expense, is murdered, Hazel tackles the case. Solving a real-life murder will surely lend authenticity to her creative writing.
She recruits her book group pals to help with the investigation. Trouble is, there are more suspects than they bargained for-even Hazel herself, who endured Randy's thumbs-way-down review of her writing, had a motive.
A second body drives the stakes higher, and Hazel doubles her efforts to find who's behind the murders, unearthing secrets that a killer would go to any lengths to keep hidden.
Will Hazel succeed? Or will this be "The End" for her?
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A thoroughly enjoyable cozy
When romance writer Hazel Rose decides to turn her latest romance plot into a murder mystery, she has no idea that she will soon be embarking on a real-life murder investigation.
Author Maggie King has hit all the proper notes for an enjoyable cozy mystery in this third installment in the Hazel Rose Book Group mysteries. There are a reasonable number of suspects - enough to keep the reader guessing, but not so many that one loses track of the possibilities. There is misdirection. There are subtle clues planted along the way.
The story is well written and moves at a good pace to a satisfying climax. All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable cozy mystery in the best tradition of Agatha Christie. - Phyllis Entis, author of the Damien Dickens Mysteries
Suspects abound in this clever whodunit...but who's going to have the last laugh? - Amy M. Reade, USA Today bestselling author
Maggie King's inimitable detective, romance author Hazel Rose, is back for another installment of Ms. King's book group mystery series. The story begins with Hazel moaning to a friend that's she's been dumped by her publisher, and then she must suffer the indignity of attending a book signing by a group of mystery authors. There she meets Randy Zimmerman, a true jackass, who will soon end up dead.
Naturally, Hazel herself comes under suspicion, so she feels she has to investigate the murder. Because of Randy's abrasive personality, there is no shortage of suspects. Much of the story from this point on consists of witty repartee with the various persons of interest as Hazel travels about the city. As with the other books in the series, Laughing Can Kill You is set in Richmond, Virginia. The author's long familiarity with her hometown enables her to bring her setting to vivid life, making it an important character in its own right.
Laughing Can Kill You has all of the elements of an excellent cozy mystery-an amateur sleuth with an interesting profession, a detailed setting, an intricate plot with a logical and satisfying resolution, and a host of oddball characters, each of whom had had ample reason to have committed the crime. It proved to be a great read. - Amazon review
