Come, meet some of the finest crossover artists writing today, successfully combining the genres of science fiction and mystery."

Kate Jasper is attending a reading at a local bookstore with her sweetie, Wayne Caruso, when she becomes involved in yet another murder investigation. (Some people have all the luck; Kate is not the kind of person that you ever want to, say, attend a Tupperware party with.) The bookstore owner, Ivan Nakagawa, is a friend of Wayne's, and they are there as much as a gesture of support as for the literary discussion they are hoping to enjoy.

All hopes of a quiet literary evening are shattered, however, when one of the featured authors slumps in her seat during another author's reading. Bored herself, Kate assumes Shayla Greenfree is rude enough to be openly sleeping; that is, until she doesn't awake for her turn, and it is obvious that she is never going to get up again. An anonymous gift, a jeweled bracelet, appears to be the murder weapon.

And the suspects? There is a room full of potential suspects. Was it a rival author, jealous of Shayla's success? A disgruntled fan? An unstable store employee? Ivan asks Kate and Wayne to investigate, to help clear him and his store, and as much as Wayne hates Kate's snooping, this time he also hates to turn down a favor to a friend.

I like Kate, and I absolutely adore Wayne, but I think this one was just too light and cozy for me. None of the other characters come alive, and even the humorous situations, such as the unwelcome houseguest and the attack of skunks, didn't really feel all that amusing. The mystery was satisfactory, but there just wasn't that much here to get my teeth into. It isn't so much anything I disliked that make me suggest second thoughts about reading this one, but rather the absence of anything to make it compelling.

--Jeri Wright