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Author Harley Jane Kozak booklist (click here)

Book Review By Melissa Cookson
Dating Dead Men by Harley Jane Kozak

Wollie Shelley is a greeting card artist and owner of a small greeting card store. Her brother, who is in a mental hospital, calls her to tell her that a murder has occurred. Wollie believes this is probably another one of his delusions, so it takes her a while before she goes to visit him. Besides, she's got worries of her own. First, she wants her shop to get upgraded, which means that it has to be absolutely perfect for the extremely strict inspection process. Second, she's part of the research for a book on dating and has to date forty men in sixty days. When she does go visit her brother, however, she stumbles upon a dead body. Soon after that, she gets kidnapped by an attractive and charismatic man. The mob and others are after this man, who Wollie calls Doc, because they believe he knows the location of some valuable merchendise. They're willing to kill to get it, and they believe Wollie is involved as well, because they saw her with Doc.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - very humorous
Time/era of story:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - breaking up mobsters
If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted... - hunted by killer/stalker

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
The antagonists are: - US mafia

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - West
City? Yes
City: - Los Angeles

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - descript of kissing
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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