Death of a Gigolo by Laura Levine, 235 pages

After a dry spell, freelance writer Jaine Austen’s life is suddenly full of romance. For one thing, she’s reconnected with her ex—though her cat, Prozac, isn’t happy about it. And Jaine’s also got a new ghostwriting gig, working on a steamy novel called Fifty Shades of Turquoise . . .
 
Daisy Kincaid is in her sixties and heiress to a fortune. Now she wants to make a name for herself as a romance author . . . with a little help from Jaine, that is. As Jaine labors away on love scenes, she gets to know the wealthy woman’s gentleman friend, her household staff, and her social circle—every one of whom is horrified when Daisy falls under the spell of a much younger stud named Tommy, a rude, crude lothario who’s made himself a fixture in Daisy’s Bel Air mansion.
 
After Tommy and Daisy shock everyone by announcing their engagement, it doesn’t take long for someone to stab him in the neck—with the solid gold Swiss Army knife that Daisy gave him as a gift. The challenging part is trying to narrow down the list of suspects. Jaine’s going to have to put a bookmark in that love story and focus all her creative talent into untangling a tale of money and murder . . .

Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge by Laura Levine, 248 pages

Freelance writer Jaine Austen is feeling festive about spending Christmas house-sitting at a posh Bel Air mansion, accompanied by her friend Lance and her cat, Prozac. But when a grumpy neighbor gets himself iced, she’ll have to find the culprit or she may spend the New Year in jail . . . 
Scotty Parker is a former child star who once played Tiny Tim, but now he’s grown up into the role of neighborhood Scrooge. He cuts the wires on his neighbors’ Christmas lights and tells local kids that Santa had a stroke. And his miserly, bah-humbug attitude lasts year-round—a fact known all too well by his current wife, his ex-wife, his maid, and many more.

Scotty thinks he can stage a comeback with the screenplay he’s working on (The Return of Tiny Tim: Vengeance Is Mine!), and Jaine’s been reluctantly helping him edit it. So when Scotty is bludgeoned with a frozen chocolate yule log and the police start making a list of suspects and checking it twice, Jaine’s name is unfortunately included. True, she’s been under some stress, with Lance trying to set her up on dates and her fickle feline taking a sudden liking to someone else—but she’s not guilty of murder. Now she just has to prove it, by using her gift for detection and figuring out who committed this holiday homicide.

This is always a nice, fluffy mystery to read. My favorite part is always the emails from her parents.

Death of a Neighborhood Witch by Laura Levine, 261 pages

The Jaine Austen books are always some of my favorite mysteries, especially when I need a laugh. No matter what her intentions, things always fall apart, usually in a totally embarrassing way. One of the highlights of the books are Jaine's emails from her parents. This book had me hopeful that Jaine would find a romantic interest, but of course it didn't work out. I would like to see her start dating someone and not have it fall apart. These are well worth the read, though much more enjoyable if you start from the beginning.

Pampered to Death by Laura Levine, 228 pages

Jaine Austen has been given a week at a luxury spa by her friend Lance as a thank you for saving him from murder charges. Unfortunately, when Jane gets to The Haven, she discovers it's actually a diet spa, not something this Ben & Jerry fanatic is looking forward to. Before Jaine has a chance to leave, one of the fellow guests is discovered killed. Who had it out for this not-so-nice B-list starlet? The better question is, who didn't? Jaine must discover the killer is she wants any chance of getting to eat a real meal again, or she may have had her last pint of Chunky Monkey ever.
These books are always hilarious, Jaine has my outlook on food, curves, exercise, and life in general. I always enjoy the subplots featuring the emails from her parents. I wholeheartedly recommend this mystery series if you enjoy murder with a hefty side of humor.