A BIGGER BIT ABOUT THE LATEST BOOK Murder Can Crash Your Party May 2008. Obsidian paperback. Now Available! Her career and her love affair with boyfriend, Nick, are both in free fall. So when Manhattan's pudgiest PI, Desiree Shapiro, is invited to give a talk at a mystery writers' convention in Connecticut, she figures a day or two away might do her some good, and she accepts. (Even though she's more than a little shaken up at the mere thought of speaking before an audience.) To Desiree's surprise, her presentation is a hit. But she receives an even bigger surprise the following morning, when eccentric author Belle Simone approaches her with a truly bizarre proposition: If Desiree can solve Belle's unpublished whodunit, she'll be paid an astonishing $24,940! Desiree soon becomes engrossed in Belle's tale of adultery and deceipt, which culminates in a mysterious death at a birthday celebration in a posh Manhattan penthouse. But the real mystery is why anyone would give her such an exorbitant sum to solve a case that exists only on paper… or does it? (And what kind of figure is $24,940, anyway?) ADVANCE PRAISE FOR MURDER CAN CRASH YOUR PARTY "[This] murder mystery within a murder mystery will keep readers on their toes right from the beginning . . . filled with delightful characters, a realistic romance, and a touch of humor that keeps things on the lighter side."    —Darque Reviews "A fascinating intellectual whodunit…refreshing and fun."    —Harriet Klausner, Genre Go Round Reviews Read an excerpt.