Die, Decorator, Die: A Novel of Murder, Greed and Interior Design

by Franklin H. Levy

Book Overview

Introducing Buzz and Ally Levin, the sexiest comedy-mystery duo since Nick and Nora Charles.Buzz is a Yuppie Boston lawyer, whose wit is as sharp as his Mont Blanc pen. Ally is his career-savvy... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1597775916
• ISBN13: 9781597775915
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Phoenix Books
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Die, Decorator, Die

If you like witty dialogue, a fast paced plot, and sub-plots, you'll love this book! The leading characters are a lawyer and his decorator wife. The victims are a strangled decorator left in a bathtub in a 'Decorators Show House' and another decorator who's been hit in the head with a hammer and is in a coma. The partner of the dead decorator has been arrested and has asked the lawyer to represent him. From there, you are led through lots of paths and meet a lot of people, some of whom are very strange. It's entertaining, amusing, and enjoyable. Well worth the reading.

Murder and Mystery And So Much More!

What a Fun Book! Die, Decorator, Die by Franklin H. Levy, is a whodunit that will keep you guessing until the very end! "Criminal law operates in a simple world--the prosecutors and police try to put people in jail, my minions and I try to keep them out...This is how the struggle between good and evil is played out in post-Biblical times." (p. 76) Meet Buzz Levin, a defense lawyer who has dreams about what Clarence Darrow thinks of him as a lawyer! And thanks to his wife, Ally, he has just taken on a case that "had everything--bimbos, bodies, buggery and bail." (p. 62) Ally is an interior decorator, plus "Aphrodite...to his Groucho Marx." (p. 202). So when she calls him from her work site: "Get over here right away--somebody tried to kill Megan...Someone bashed her head in with a hammer or something. The police say we're all suspects and you're my alibi. Besides, the place is full of police and there's an ambulance, so shouldn't there be a lawyer? (p. 33) He responds, "I'm on the way. Don't let anyone who looks like they can afford me confess until I get there." (p. 33) You got it! Almost-like-George-Burns-and-Gracie-Allen comic routines run throughout this novel. Yes, there's murder and mayhem and great investigating, but the underlying comedic interplay oftentimes trumped the mystery and suspense for me! Needless to say, Ally also ensures that Buzz becomes the defense lawyer for Barry, of Barry and Bruno, gay partners, the latter of which was also murdered the day Megan's head was bashed! I'm sorry, folks. I promise that there is an excellent whodunit full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing as to who did do it, to the very end. But you must admit that what I've shared ensures that this book is not just another great mystery! Plus you get great interior decorator tips throughout the book such as: ALLYN SAYS The best designers make custom lamp shades which often have a pink silk liner to soften the light. Levy gave me more than a cozy mystery, wonderful, funny characters, a puzzling whodunit, with interior design tips. He wrapped it up in the latest fabric for a must-read! I just know you, too, will enjoy this one! G. A. Bixler

Die Decorator Die

Levy's Die Decorator Die is wonderful. He reminds me of my favorite author Nelson Demille. Rarely do I laugh out loud when I read but there were a number of occassions when I couldn't control myself. I can't wait for his next book!

Laugh out loud funny!

This is a fairly light-weight and image conscious work that succeeds in being laugh out loud funny. The dialogue and settings are entertaining, and the characters are well-drawn caricatures of themselves. They take the stereotypes of their professions and social status and either turn them inside out or exaggerate them to the point of hilarity. Buzz, the socially conscious criminal defense / divorce lawyer who has a conscience and a sense of humor that create all sorts of existential crises for him is married to Ally the absurd and intelligent down to earth interior designer. Add in the live-in housekeeper who neither cooks nor cleans but does have a Bloomingdale's account and a couple of low life clients (or high life clients with more ambition than sense) and you have a great cast of characters... From a market/demographic perspective if you like the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich this novel will be right up your alley. The humor is the meat of the story with a fairly straightforward mystery as the background. If you enjoy laughing at the characters in books, and prefer that they be laughing along with you, this is a great read!

A Sexy Mystery

Levy, Franklin H. "Die, Decorator, Die: A Novel of Murder, Greed and Interior Design", Phoenix Books, 2008. A Sexy Mystery Amos Lassen Nick and Nora have to step aside for a new mystery couple Buzz and Ally Levin. Buzz is a Boston lawyer, a yuppie and very clever, witty and smart. He is married to Ally, an interior decorator whose is not only beautiful but also very intelligent. When the Boston Designers Annual Show House competition begins, their worlds come together. Ally takes the competition very seriously and Buzz tries to stay out of her way as best he can. For the first time the show house is opened for a designer's preview and when this happens two surprises come up--a decorator is found murdered and another is in a coma after an attack. What ensues is great fun for the reader. A suspect who appears to be innocent is charged with the murder and assault and Buzz jumps in determined to solve the case and rescue his client, the man charged. As he begins to solve the mystery. Buzz finds himself in scandals, love triangles as well as power struggles--all having to so with interior design. There is a cast of characters that is wild and full of color and you could possibly glean an idea for later use in your own decorating. I fell in love with this book and I do not read many mysteries. Hopefully this will be the start of a series.