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I had to do a separate post for Jennifer Crusie's Agnes and the Hitman, because a.) it was not included in the omnibus and b.) it's not just a Jennifer Crusie book, it was co-written with military suspense author Bob Mayer, and c.) it is SLAPSTICK MURDER BANANAS. Think, like, The Sopranos meets Bringing Up Baby.
Our Heroine in Agnes and the Hitman is a food columnist who writes under the name Cranky Agnes, who is about to get married to a mediocre dude in order to land an amazing house and a great line of best-selling co-written cookbooks.
Suddenly: a guy turns up and attempts to kidnap her dog!
In response, Agnes accidentally murders him by hitting him on the head with a frying pan!
Unfortunately, Agnes has qualms about calling the police, as this not the first time that Agnes has hit a guy in the head with a frying pan.
(THERE IS SO MUCH MURDER IN THIS BOOK.)
Anyway. Instead of the cops, Agnes calls in her lovable gangster faux-uncle, who subsequently calls in his actual nephew, a stoic hit man. Shane the hit man is supposed to watch out for Agnes until they figure out why criminals keep turning up at her house and attempting to murder her and/or kidnap her dog.
MEANWHILE, Agnes is mostly just annoyed because all these criminals, gang members, hit men, and murder are getting in the way of her real goals: catering a perfect wedding for the daughter of her best friend, mob princess Lisa Livia!
Further plot points include catering mishaps, a million-dollar missing mob necklace, Lisa Livia's mob-widow mother's ongoing attempts to sabotage the wedding, a mysterious murder bunker/basement in which Lisa Livia's mob-widow mother may or may not have murdered Lisa Livia's mobster father, Agnes' accidental adoption of a confused teenage gangster who initially turned up as part of the chain of would-be-murderers in her house, the health inspector's legitimate concerns about all this catering being done in a house which has so very recently had so much murder in it, and the surprise arrival of a lonely flamingo in a box.
Oh, and to add to the chaos, Shane the stoic hit man and his partner (a slightly older, more philosophical hit man who's along for the ride) are engaged in an ongoing battle with their OWN murder assignment. However, Shane also helps Agnes get a new air conditioner and thoughtfully runs various catering-related errands without being asked, so everyone is agreed that he's a good egg really. And, to be honest, he does come off as one of the most endearing Jennifer Crusie romantic prospects I've encountered thus far!
This entry is cross-posted at Livejournal from http://skygiants.dreamwidth.org/453923.html. Please feel free to comment here or there! There are currently
comments on Dreamwidth.
Our Heroine in Agnes and the Hitman is a food columnist who writes under the name Cranky Agnes, who is about to get married to a mediocre dude in order to land an amazing house and a great line of best-selling co-written cookbooks.
Suddenly: a guy turns up and attempts to kidnap her dog!
In response, Agnes accidentally murders him by hitting him on the head with a frying pan!
Unfortunately, Agnes has qualms about calling the police, as this not the first time that Agnes has hit a guy in the head with a frying pan.
(THERE IS SO MUCH MURDER IN THIS BOOK.)
Anyway. Instead of the cops, Agnes calls in her lovable gangster faux-uncle, who subsequently calls in his actual nephew, a stoic hit man. Shane the hit man is supposed to watch out for Agnes until they figure out why criminals keep turning up at her house and attempting to murder her and/or kidnap her dog.
MEANWHILE, Agnes is mostly just annoyed because all these criminals, gang members, hit men, and murder are getting in the way of her real goals: catering a perfect wedding for the daughter of her best friend, mob princess Lisa Livia!
Further plot points include catering mishaps, a million-dollar missing mob necklace, Lisa Livia's mob-widow mother's ongoing attempts to sabotage the wedding, a mysterious murder bunker/basement in which Lisa Livia's mob-widow mother may or may not have murdered Lisa Livia's mobster father, Agnes' accidental adoption of a confused teenage gangster who initially turned up as part of the chain of would-be-murderers in her house, the health inspector's legitimate concerns about all this catering being done in a house which has so very recently had so much murder in it, and the surprise arrival of a lonely flamingo in a box.
Oh, and to add to the chaos, Shane the stoic hit man and his partner (a slightly older, more philosophical hit man who's along for the ride) are engaged in an ongoing battle with their OWN murder assignment. However, Shane also helps Agnes get a new air conditioner and thoughtfully runs various catering-related errands without being asked, so everyone is agreed that he's a good egg really. And, to be honest, he does come off as one of the most endearing Jennifer Crusie romantic prospects I've encountered thus far!
This entry is cross-posted at Livejournal from http://skygiants.dreamwidth.org/453923.html. Please feel free to comment here or there! There are currently
comments on Dreamwidth.