Jaine’s best friend Khandi is getting married, leaving Jaine feeling out of sorts and neglected. An afternoon of torture, otherwise known as swimsuit shopping, introduces Jaine to struggling actress, Pam. Pam likes Jaine and invites her join the PMS Club. All of the members met at a local gym and get together every week to drink margaritas and gossip.

Jaine likes most of the members. Of course there is Pam, but also Colin, the token gay guy, Rochelle, the hostess who makes a killer guacamole, Ashley, the breast augmented shopaholic, and Doris, the sassy 60-something divorcee. Then there’s Marybeth. Marybeth is an interior designer whose relentlessly perky optimism, not to mention her mean streak, has a way of grating on everyone.

Still, it’s going quite well, and Jaine feels like she’s found some new people to hang out with. That is until the second meeting of the club. After Rochelle finds the smoking gun, Marybeth confesses to having an affair with her husband. Then she helps herself to a big scoop of Rochelle’s guacamole and drops dead! Turns out someone dumped peanut oil in the killer guacamole and Marybeth was deathly allergic.

Naturally Rochelle is the prime suspect, which Jaine has a hard time accepting. So in between putting her cat, Prozac, on a diet, keeping up with her parents’ emails, holding a writing class at the local senior center and going after a writing job in a swanky Los Angeles Bank – Jaine decides to investigate on her own.

Levine’s credits include writing for several television sitcoms, and it shows in her books. The dialogue is zippy, the action fast paced, and she keeps her stories lean. This latest book only clocks in at 245 pages, but the author doesn’t skimp on the mystery and even with several sub plots the book never feels overstuffed. It hums along at a good clip, and even with a limited number of suspects, there are plenty of red herrings, motives and possibilities.

The subplots help keep the story light and breezy. Whether it is obnoxious writing class member, Abe Goldman’s new girlfriend, or the fact that the vet says kitty Prozac is getting too fat, it all adds to the fun. Some of the best moments involve Jaine’s desire to land the writing job with the bank, only to be constantly embarrassing herself in front of the hunky guy she’s interviewing with.

Fans of the series will find more of the same, and like this reviewer will probably zip though this new entry in less than 24 hours. Newcomers need not worry, as Levine’s is one of the rare mystery series that stands alone very well. Of course now after zipping through The PMS Murder, this reviewer now has to wait another year for the next entertaining entry. Frankly, as far as downsides go, it’s not a bad one to have.

--Wendy Crutcher