Die, Decorator, Die by Franklin H. Levy

I really wanted to like this book. I love mysteries, I love home decor- the combination seemed like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, I could not warm to the narrator Buzz Levin, an aging lawyer who sees himself as a modern day Nick Charles. Buzz tries so very hard to make everyone else see this connection that his supposed wit falls flat, and the entire tone of his narration often seems forced.

This could have been a fun, light summer read, a mystery wrapped up in the cut-throat world of decorating, but it just wasn't. The decorating tips were silly, the story was cluttered with secondary characters that had little if any impact on the plot, and the mystery itself was never fully fleshed out until the solution was presented out of absolutely nowhere.

This book was obviously written as the first of a series, but I for one will not be on the lookout for future volumes. A little more focus on this first book could have launched a successful and enjoyable franchise, but this offering tried too hard to be too much, and ultimately fell flat.