Bought book five first and had to own the rest. The first three are (in order): Sweet, Savage Death; Wicked, Loving Murder; and Death's Savage Passion. The fifth Patience "Pay" Campbell McKenna book is Once And Always Murder. Like the previous books, Rich, Radiant Slaughter gives the reader a hard eyed-look at what writers must endure, particularly romance writers. This time Pay and her best friend, best-selling romance writer Phoebe Damereaux, are part of a book tour to benefit the homeless. The tour is complicated by Phoebe's morning sickness and -- of course -- murder. Make that plural. Is the killer the dangerous popular author, Christopher Brand, who once stabbed a bookstore clerk in Tacoma (with a penknife)? How about the filthy rich Jonathon Lowry with the interesting method of avoiding having to pay income tax? Perhaps you favor the holier-than-thou Tempesta Stewart? Pay thinks her eight-year-old adopted daughter, Adrienne, is too young to be around murder. Adrienne disagrees, but the killer is going to put a lot of people in grave danger before the story's end.

As with the other books in this series, the descriptions are delightful. Perhaps a couple will help you decide if this book is for you: "She was dressed in full Phoebe Damereaux regalia that morning, even though it was barely seven o'clock and we were on a train. Floor-length jade-green velvet caftan, nine strands of twenty-four-inch rope diamonds, diamond globe earrings big enough to use as crystal balls, ostrich feather hair combs in her wiry black hair: at the terminal in Baltimore there would be press, and Phoebe would be ready for them."

"The mainstream press likes to pain romance writers as pink, fluffy little things, with dithering brains and vague smiles and a passionate desire to please. Amelia Samson was five-ten and weighed two-forty. She had spent her twenties running a mangle in a steam laundry, in the days before all that was automated. The muscular development of her shoulders and upper arms was awesome. She looked like a linebaker--or would have, if she hadn't been wearing a beaded Worth traveling suit just as well-armored and well-constructed as she was herself. Christopher Brand worked out with weights two hours a day seven days a week. Amelia could have crumpled him up like a piece of paper."

If the copy you buy doesn't have the dust jacket, don't worry. You won't have missed much. The dark background had a rectangle with a pair of blue-fingered hands inside. Each forefinger had a blue beam like a searchlight coming from it and the beams crossed each other. Yawn.

The heroine of the story is crime novelist and amateur sleuth Pay McKenna who is the product of dancing classes, boarding schools, coming-out parties and high tea. The plot centers around Pay's return home to get married. While there she encounters several eccentrics and a string of murders which promises to grow.

The author writes about an environment she obviously knows well and the mood throughout is light.

This is a very witty book set mostly in rural Connedticut. One of the best features of the novel is the description of old families and old money in Litchfield County. There are interesting bits of information on seventeenth century land grants, genealogy, family cemeteries and at least one hilarious ancestral history. The plot is tight and easy to follow with a surprise ending.

This book was my introduction to the Patience "Pay" McKenna series by Orania Papazoglou (who writes the Gregor Demarkian series as Jane Haddam). After I finished it, I had to get the earlier books: Sweet, Savage Death; Wicked, Loving Murder; Death's Savage Passion; and Rich, Radiant Slaughter.

Pay has gone home for her wedding, so aside from her best friend, Phoebe(of course), we don't get the usual serving of romance writers and publishing problems. That's all right. Pay's McKenna relatives are the kind of people who are fun in fiction, but... If your family makes them seem sweet and normal, you're probably going to be reading this book from a nice psychiatric ward. For example, Pay tells us that her Great-Aunt Felicia always reminded her of Queen Elizabeth I the day she ordered Essex executed. The section where the family argues about whether or not Uncle Ephram deserves to be buried in the McKenna graveyard is not to be missed, especially when Aunt Cordie goes into her act.

Tommy Dick the local policeman is sure that Damon Rask of the House That Looks Like a Hovering Flying Saucer is a killer. Is he right? Why is there an odd little strip of land between the old Chistleworth and Deverton properties? What does it have to do with the plot? Is Pay going to be able to keep from getting killed long enough to have her wedding? Is her mother going to be able to refrain from killing her in-laws? What about Phoebe's baby on the way, first met in Rich, Radiant Slaughter? Go ahead and find out. It's a short read and a merry one.

Papazoglou's strong suits are her descriptions of wacky characters and authentic local scenes. Among the idiosyncratic people we meet in this story are a fifty-five year old tattoed, coccaine-addict ex-prostitute and a thirty year old virgin famous for writing the sexiest books in the romance field. I should also mention the kleptomaniacal cat. The best New York descriotions include a special Greek restaurant and a trip through parts of 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue.

In this Papazoglou novel Patience McKenna is a romance writer attending The Third Annual Conference of the American Writers of Romance. A series of murders begins and Patience has to solve them in order to prove her own innocence. The mystery is a puzzle which includes a locked door and several clues to put together. The latter are mentioned as the story unfolds and then the solution is fully explained at the end.

The five titles are, in order: Sweet, Savage Death; Wicked, Loving Murder; Death's Savage Passion; Rich, Radiant Slaughter; and Once And Always Murder. I have a few of the author's books written as Jane Haddam. These are lighter and funnier in tone. Except for the fifth book, they all skewer the publishing business, particularly Romance. (Now you know where the strange titles come from.)

The exerpt stops before the acid really starts. You should enjoy what Pay McKenna tells us she did with a past issue of "Writing". The descriptions (and dialog) are what make this book so much fun to read. You have unpleasant characters, losers, eccentrics, and insights into Romance Writers, not to mention the Hazards of Becoming/Being a Writer.

So who killed Michael Brookfield? Was it his Abusive Aunt Alida? One of his brothers? His aunt's right-hand woman, the terribly perfect Felicity Aldershot? Marty the Comptroller? Mrs. Haskell the Irate Client? Ivy the even more seriously screwed client? There is something definitely rotten at Writing Enterprises, and its not just their advice (or even Michael's corpse). If it weren't for her best friend, Phoebe, McKenna would love to walk out on it all.

Don't let the boring cover fool you. Even the original Crime Club dustjacket with the partial view of a person whose neck is wrapped around three times by a black ribbon with red hearts on it was more interesting -- and more fitting for such a funny book.

The story, which started off with a rather long prologue, was rather slow-paced at the beginning. While like most thrillers involving psychopathid killers, there were some description on the victims and the way they were stalked. Unfortunately, the effects of more making the story more exciting and captivating were lacking. However, nearing to its conclusion, the tempo picked up, with the last portion of the story that was both unexpected and fast-paced. This is the only time that made me couldn't put down the book. There are some points which don't seem to connect or make sense. For example, how can having John Kelly on television prevent him from clearing Tom Burne of the accusation?