Last time I moved house I offloaded the mass of mystery paperbacks I'd accumulated, keeping only my classic mysteries and a sparse handful of other books. Two of the books I kept were Melodie Johnson Howe's [b:The Mother Shadow|3372633|The Mother Shadow (Claire Conrad & Maggie Hill #1)|Melodie Johnson Howe|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1267964900s/3372633.jpg|3412101] and [b:Beauty Dies|3372632|Beauty Dies (Claire Conrad & Maggie Hill #2)|Melodie Johnson Howe|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1256077652s/3372632.jpg|3412100] - books I'd purchased because they were sold as the female answer to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.It's been some time since I read those books, but I remember fruitlessly looking for a third in the series, and wondering why it was the series I really liked always seemed to end prematurely.This is a collection of (unrelated) short stories drawing strongly on the author's knowledge of life as a Hollywood actress. Enjoyable, and in their way bleakly cynical, I'll be picking up the longer book due out later this year - and probably working the two earlier books into my reading schedule.
