Box Office Poison
Linnet Ellery, Book #2
By Phillipa Bornikova
ISBN #: 9780765326836
Author’s Webiste: http://melindasnodgrass.com/
Facebook — Melinda M. Snodgrass
Twitter — @MMSnodgrass
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Valerie
Synopsis:
What happens when exquisitely beautiful elves start getting all the roles in Hollywood? Human actors sue, that’s what. In a desperate attempt to keep the squabbling inside the Screen Actors Guild from going public, the president of SAG forces the two sides into arbitration.
Enter Linnet Ellery, a human lawyer working for a vampire law firm, to serve as arbitrator. Linnet discovers that there are sinister forces at work in Tinsel Town determined to shatter the fragile peace between elves, vampires, werewolves, and humans. Someone has been coercing famous elven actors into committing sudden and terrible acts of violence against humans in a series of tragedies that could turn the tide of public opinion against all the supernatural Powers.
During the course of her investigations Linnet realizes that a puzzling secret surrounds her, and that a strange power has been affecting the very course of her life. . . . (Goodreads)
Review:
I’ve never read a book that mixes mystery, law, Hollywood, and fantasy together before. That is what makes Box Office Poison so unique, as well as the fact that I didn’t realize the fact that Box Office Poison is the second book in the Linnet Ellery series until writing up this review! That’s how well the author Phillipa Bornikova summarized the first book. Of course, I kind of wish I had known that before because now I can’t exactly read the first book, This Case Is Gonna Kill Me.
The major reason that I docked Box Office Poison two stars is because I figured out who that “someone” is. Yes, I solved the mystery halfway through the book. And yes, I solved it correctly. Now, mystery books are supposed to be mysteries, not books where the plot is kind of easy to predict. Not that I didn’t enjoy the book, but it wasn’t nice to get through all the pages that are supposed to be suspenseful.
Linnet is a smart girl. I’m not just saying that because she’s the main character or anything. I’m saying that because her narrative is filled with classy vocabulary and witty banter and everything that’s smart and lawyer like. She’s a lawyer, of course she has to be smart. However, lawyers don’t have to solve mysteries, and she did. That’s saying something.
There are many characters in Box Office Poison. Sometimes it’s hard to remember who is who, especially when you haven’t read the first book. If five characters are introduced all at the same time, surely you can’t expect me to remember them all! Unfortunately, I feel like the author did.
I can’t say for sure if the facts about Hollywood and actors and actresses written are true or not. They sure do make sense though! For example, it makes sense that waiters at restaurants would suck up to everyone, as they don’t know if you’re a casting agent or major star or who else. Then the facts about the actors themselves, let’s just say it’s all very interesting.
I don’t know if I’ll pick up the next book in the series, but I sure do recommend reading the first book in the series if you plan on reading the second! (And stop rolling your eyes, someone had to make that mistake!)
