Rating: 
Summary: I love Paige Turner. I love this series so far.
Review: I read the second in the series before this one, and I think the second was a bit better, but I was not disappointed at all with this one.
Korean War widow Paige Turner (and yes, people comment on her name, particularly since she works for a real crime stories magazine) lives in 1954 or so in Greenwich Village (NYC). Although she wants to be a writer for the magazine, she is stuck being underpaid and undervalued because she's a woman. She decides to write a story for the magazine and then they'll be able to see how talented she is. So when a woman she has met briefly is murdered, Paige goes to work trying to find out enough about the crime to write a story about it.
Needless to say, she's busy investigating the case in no time at all, which puts her at some peril from a variety of people, including but not limited to the murderer.
WHat I liked best was the sense of time and place, but the endearing characters are a close second. You really feel like you're right there and that these are people you know (Paige has a beatnik neighbor Abby who is her sounding board and able helper, not to mention offering her refuge when it gets too dangerous for Paige to be alone in her apartment).
This is probably a woman's mystery (is that a fault?) because it really does describe a world where women's choices (but only if she was single) were limited to nurse, secretary, or teacher. I look forward to reading more in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Approach to Mysteries
Review: If you read the two Paige Turner mysteries, I suggest reading this book first and then Murder is a Girl's Best Friend; that's the order they were written in.
These are great mysteries set in the 1950's with a feisty young woman writer for a detective magazine trying to solve murders herself. Mercilessly teased by her male co-workers because of her name, Paige Turner takes matters into her own hands and tells her stories in humorous and detailed ways. She has strong character and will plunge ahead in her wild schemes even though she's usually terrified. The thoughts that go through her mind are so charmingly appropriate.
The disappointing aspects of these books are the inappropriate uses of the Lord's name, occasional swearing, and Paige's oversexed best friend, Abby. Abby is a cool character except for her 'loose' ways. Nonetheless, the books keep you very interested and you can't help but to fall in love with Paige.
Rating:
Summary: A Great little Mystery!
Review: It's 1954 and Paige Turner, a young widow, is working at Daring Detective magazine. She fetches coffee for the guys and is assigned the stuff that the guys are too lazy to do themselves. It's a thankless job and Paige dreams of becoming a writer for the magazine, if only her boss would let her write! What she needs is a good mystery story. If she could find one then she could write the story and her boss would see that she is a good writer and let her join the writing staff which is made up purely of men. So she puts up with all the jeers about her name and all of the sexual innuendos and scours the papers daily for the perfect crime to write about.Twenty-four year old Babs Comstock is found dead, strangled with a child's Hopalong Cassidy jump rope and Paige immediately, secretly, begins to investigate. She learns that Babs was mixed up in a shady modeling agency, an escort service and perhaps even the mob! ***REVIEW:I read this book in a day and a half because I could not put it down! Paige is a wonderful heroine, tough when she needs to be but also human with human emotions and fears. Amanda doesn't try to turn her into a superhero. 1954 was a different time and I imagine that not much was said about sexual harrassment in the work place still I found myself hoping that she would at least give those two bozos that she works with a piece of her mind. I hope that this becomes a series!
Rating:
Summary: A chatty gossipy little mystery
Review: It's 1954 in New York City. Paige Turner (yes, that is really her name), secretary at Darling Detective magazine, is determined to write an investigative story that will propel her into the ranks of magazine writer. Then young model Babs Comstock is found murdered. Paige finds Babs' photo in the Darling Detective files. Using the photographer's mark on the back of the photo as her first clue, Paige starts investigating. But as she follows up clue after clue she keeps running into Detective Sergeant Dan Street, who is also Darling Detective police advisor. He threatens to tell her boss of her extracurricular sleuthing if she does not quit the case. Does this stop our spunky young lady? Of course not! Her investigation leads her to Union Square, Times Square, Hell's Kitchen, Schrafft's, & the Copacabana among other places. But she has serious doubts about her abilities to continue her investigation after gang members attack her, the Mob ransacks her apartment, and a very angry old friend of Babs stalks her. Bolstered by her beatnik neighbor, Abby, Paige perseveres, shares her information with handsome Dan Street, and walks right into a situation that threatens her very life. Murderers Prefer Blondes is a gossipy and chatty little mystery. You can't help but cheer on this charming sleuth especially when she has her own self-doubts. And the name-dropping throughout the story will keep you smiling. Also recommended: Nancy Martin's Blackbird Sisters series, Jill Churchill's Lily & Robert Brewster series
Rating:
Summary: A chatty gossipy little mystery
Review: It's 1954 in New York City. Paige Turner (yes, that is really her name), secretary at Darling Detective magazine, is determined to write an investigative story that will propel her into the ranks of magazine writer. Then young model Babs Comstock is found murdered. Paige finds Babs' photo in the Darling Detective files. Using the photographer's mark on the back of the photo as her first clue, Paige starts investigating. But as she follows up clue after clue she keeps running into Detective Sergeant Dan Street, who is also Darling Detective police advisor. He threatens to tell her boss of her extracurricular sleuthing if she does not quit the case. Does this stop our spunky young lady? Of course not! Her investigation leads her to Union Square, Times Square, Hell's Kitchen, Schrafft's, & the Copacabana among other places. But she has serious doubts about her abilities to continue her investigation after gang members attack her, the Mob ransacks her apartment, and a very angry old friend of Babs stalks her. Bolstered by her beatnik neighbor, Abby, Paige perseveres, shares her information with handsome Dan Street, and walks right into a situation that threatens her very life. Murderers Prefer Blondes is a gossipy and chatty little mystery. You can't help but cheer on this charming sleuth especially when she has her own self-doubts. And the name-dropping throughout the story will keep you smiling. Also recommended: Nancy Martin's Blackbird Sisters series, Jill Churchill's Lily & Robert Brewster series
Rating:
Summary: Can Paige solve the murder and write the story?
Review: Paige Turner is secretary at Daring Detective magazine. She wants to become a staff writer, but the year is 1954 and women are not treated well. Most of the men at the magazine expect her to make the coffee. One day when she calls in sick and the coffee doesn't get made (well, duh, she's not there!), they don't know what to do. Paige takes a lot of ribbing from her co-workers about her name. She is looking for that one story that she can investigate and write, hoping that it will be published in the magazine. One day while she is clipping articles from the local papers for her boss, she spies a story that grabs her interest. She recognizes the picture of Babs Comstock, but not the name, on a story. Babs was strangled with a Hopalong Cassidy jump rope. Babs had had high hopes for the big screen. She had been trying to get modeling jobs, thus her picture had come across Paige's desk some time ago. Paige decides to begin looking into Babs' life and try to determine who could have killed her and why. She interacts with Detective Dan Street who is running the investigation. She is surprised to find she is very attracted to him. Paige is a widow. He is divorced. Her friend Abby keeps encouraging her, but Paige is quite leery. Paige soon finds that Babs (really Wanda Wingate) was involved in some unsavory activities. Paige also finds herself in some dangerous situations. She ends up on the roof of her building, with very little clothing on, hiding out during one of those situations. This is such a terrific book. It is the first I have ever read by this author, but it won't be the last! I can't wait to read the second book in this series. Paige and Abby are great friends. They are very well written characters and interact wonderfully. The author has really captured the time period as well. I found it difficult seeing Paige treated so terribly at work, but then I had to keep reminding myself that's what it was like back then. The story moves along at a fairly good pace and the setting is described very well. I found the mystery to have plenty of red-herrings so that I had trouble figuring out who did it. That's the way I like it. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Can Paige solve the murder and write the story?
Review: Paige Turner is secretary at Daring Detective magazine. She wants to become a staff writer, but the year is 1954 and women are not treated well. Most of the men at the magazine expect her to make the coffee. One day when she calls in sick and the coffee doesn't get made (well, duh, she's not there!), they don't know what to do. Paige takes a lot of ribbing from her co-workers about her name. She is looking for that one story that she can investigate and write, hoping that it will be published in the magazine. One day while she is clipping articles from the local papers for her boss, she spies a story that grabs her interest. She recognizes the picture of Babs Comstock, but not the name, on a story. Babs was strangled with a Hopalong Cassidy jump rope. Babs had had high hopes for the big screen. She had been trying to get modeling jobs, thus her picture had come across Paige's desk some time ago. Paige decides to begin looking into Babs' life and try to determine who could have killed her and why. She interacts with Detective Dan Street who is running the investigation. She is surprised to find she is very attracted to him. Paige is a widow. He is divorced. Her friend Abby keeps encouraging her, but Paige is quite leery. Paige soon finds that Babs (really Wanda Wingate) was involved in some unsavory activities. Paige also finds herself in some dangerous situations. She ends up on the roof of her building, with very little clothing on, hiding out during one of those situations. This is such a terrific book. It is the first I have ever read by this author, but it won't be the last! I can't wait to read the second book in this series. Paige and Abby are great friends. They are very well written characters and interact wonderfully. The author has really captured the time period as well. I found it difficult seeing Paige treated so terribly at work, but then I had to keep reminding myself that's what it was like back then. The story moves along at a fairly good pace and the setting is described very well. I found the mystery to have plenty of red-herrings so that I had trouble figuring out who did it. That's the way I like it. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, intelligent, a great read
Review: This is a great 'fun' read for when you're looking for something not too heavy but definitely not a book that insults your intelligence. The period milieu is quite authentic (I checked with some people who lived through the 50's), Paige is a great heroine-- smart, resourceful and energetic, the kind of girl you'd want as a friend. It seems to me the author had a lot of fun writing this and it shows; I know I had a lot of fun reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Peter deVries Would Be Proud
Review: This is truly comic art -- comic detective art, intricate Dick Tracy art tossed together with Superman, the unprepossessing Clark Kent in Lenny Zimmerman with his dark hair and "bottle-thick glasses." Heroine Paige Turner is delightful as would-be detective in this spoof on detective stories, and still Matetsky holds the reader in real suspense right up to the end. I don't know if she has invented a new genre or taken an existing detective story approach farther, faster and funnier than it's been taken before, but this book is delicious.
Rating:
Summary: Peter deVries Would Be Proud
Review: This is truly comic art -- comic detective art, intricate Dick Tracy art tossed together with Superman, the unprepossessing Clark Kent in Lenny Zimmerman with his dark hair and "bottle-thick glasses." Heroine Paige Turner is delightful as would-be detective in this spoof on detective stories, and still Matetsky holds the reader in real suspense right up to the end. I don't know if she has invented a new genre or taken an existing detective story approach farther, faster and funnier than it's been taken before, but this book is delicious.
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