Ask any mystery author what books she read as a kid, and there’s a 99.79 percent
chance she’ll answer, Nancy Drew. But after everyone else grew up, I was still
hanging out—every day—with the intrepid girl detective and her chums. It was my
job, because I was a Nancy Drew book editor.
Nancy was the perfect crime solver. Maybe a bit too perfect:
uber-intelligent, brave, clever, popular, and stylish in that polished way. She
also had a wealthy, doting father who consulted her on his legal cases, a cool
car, a handsome, Ken-doll boyfriend, and a housekeeper who never let cooking or
dirty laundry suck up Nancy’s valuable investigation time. But off the case, I’m
not sure Nancy was a ton of fun. That’s why she needed her best friends George
(“Go-for-It!”) Fayne and Bess (“Let’s-Not-and-Stop-for-a-Donut”) Marvin.
When I created my odd-couple sleuths, Summer Smythe and Dorothy Westin—aka The
Ladies Smythe & Westin—I wanted them to be equal partners. Sure, Summer is a
twenty-something party girl camping out in an upscale Florida retirement
community, and Dorothy, her friend and neighbor, is a seventy-something widow.
But when it comes to solving murders, they pool their strengths and weaknesses.
Summer acts before she thinks. The daughter of a LA movie mogul, she’s had some
recent bad luck, and she’s camping in her late grandma’s condo while she figures
out how to fix her life. A confirmed sun-and-surf girl, she’s athletic and
effortlessly pretty, with a knack for attracting men and trouble. But sleuthing
is something she’s good at, and those who think she’s clueless are dead wrong.
(Detective role model: Cameron Diaz, if she switched careers.)
Dorothy Westin thinks before she acts. Practical, fit, and neatly-dressed, she’s
also well-read, sharply observant, and unfailingly diplomatic—a handy skill to
balance her dry sense of humor. Dorothy misses her late husband and daughter,
and found life rather dull at ritzy Hibiscus Pointe, until she teamed up with
Summer to solve murders. Dorothy has a head for puzzles and a strong sense of
justice. (Detective role model: Jessica Fletcher.)
In PERMANENTLY BOOKED,
the Ladies’ second case, Summer and Dorothy start a book club to lure the killer
of a dedicated librarian. At the start, Summer isn’t much of a reader, but she
knows how to throw a party. Dorothy prefers to focus on the more literary
aspects of book club. Neither is perfect, and they take turns rescuing each
other from sticky situations and nefarious villains. I like to think that Summer
and Dorothy both grow personally, as well as sleuths, with every shared case.
But together, the Ladies Smythe & Westin make a kick-butt detective
team—because crime solving with a fifty-fifty partner (no offense, Nancy) is
just plain fun!
Readers, do your favorite sleuths work alone, or are they team
players?
Lisa Q. Mathews was a lifeguard, a competitive figure
skater, and a book editor before she started writing mysteries. She once edited
the Nancy Drew series and wrote for Mary-Kate and Ashley and
The Lizzie McGuire Mysteries. She was also Creative Director at Random
House Children’s Books. Mom to three grown kids, Lisa lives in New Hampshire
with her husband and a busy Golden Retriever pup named Farley. Like her
co-sleuths Summer and Dorothy in The Ladies Smythe & Westin series,
she loves swimming, rich desserts, romantic comedies, and above all a good
mystery. To learn more about Lisa, please visit her website at LisaQMathews.com.
The first rule of the Hibiscus Pointe book club is don't talk about the
murder
Semi-reformed party girl Summer Smythe is finally feeling at
home at the Hibiscus Pointe Retirement Community. All that's left to do is
replace her late grandma's massive book collection with a TV. Donating them to
the community library is the perfect solution—until she finds the librarian
buried in books. Literally.
Summer and her sleuthing partner, longtime
resident Dorothy Westin, can't imagine who would want to kill poor, dedicated
Lorella. Soon, they're on case and the Hibiscus Pointe book club is the perfect
cover for their investigation.
A murdered librarian is headline news in
south Florida, and even outsiders, including an oddball professor and a pair of
dueling authors, are eager to join the once-dull group. But one menacing member
has Dorothy and Summer bookmarked for the morgue. If the Ladies Smythe and
Westin don't nab the killer fast, the Hibiscus Pointe book club may be reading
their obituaries next.
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