The Jinx

From Booklist Just as investment banker Rachel Benjamin is poised to enjoy a week in Boston mixing a little business with a lot of pleasure, the "Jinxing Gods" strike again. First she discovers that her new boyfriend, Peter Forrest, seems to be too interested in his lovely new "assistant." Then one of Rachel's clients, Sara Grenthaler, is savagely beaten, quite possibly by the same serial killer who has been murdering prostitutes in the Boston area. To undo the havoc wrecked by the Jinxing Gods, Rachel, with a little help from her four best gal pals and sexy college professor Jonathan Beasley, sets out not only to discover what connection, if any, there may be between the assault on Sara and the takeover attempt of her family's media company but also what, if any, connection remains with Peter. After debuting in The Pact (2004), Rachel returns for another smart and saucy adventure in sleuthing and romance in Sturman's second fresh, funny, and fabulously amusing chick-lit mystery. John Charles Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved Review ". . . well-placed cliffhangers, a careful distribution of motives and unexpected twists promise readers light, satisfying suspense." -- Publishers Weekly "_Sex and the City_ meets Agatha Christie! Jennifer Sturman's an exciting new voice in mystery fiction." -- Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries "Sturman's debut is a rare delight, and her sharp, sassy writing is wonderfully addictive." -- Booklist on The Pact Rachel Benjamin's life might look glamorous, but she has worked into the early morning on more nights, cancelled more weekend plans and slept in more Holiday Inns in small industrial towns than she cares to count (standard practice in the business of mergers and acquisitions). And that picture of her on the recent cover of Fortune? It inspired a reprise of her grandmother's favorite lecture, the one titled "You don't want to be one of those career gals, do you?" (Other popular hits include "Have you met anyone nice?" and "I just want to go to your wedding before I die.") But this week Rachel's job is taking her to Boston, where in between work obligations she plans to squeeze in quality time with her promising new boyfriend. They've just hit the six-month mark and things are going so well, Rachel's not even worried anymore that she'll jinx it. There are just a few little problems: Her friend's been attacked and a serial killer is on the loose -- and the two might actually be related. Oh, and her promising new boyfriend? He seems to be squeezing in quality time with his new gazelle-like, model-material colleague.... Now Rachel's making like Miss Marple again, trying to track down her friend's assailant -- not to mention get a clue about her relationship. When she stopped worrying about jinxing things, did she jinx everything? At the outset, Rachel seems to be in a successful relationship (for the first time) with her long-distance boyfriend, Peter. Happily, work takes both of them to Boston for a week; but then the bodies start piling up. Rachel has a big to-do list: thwart the takeover of her client, Grenthaler Media; discover who attacked the prime shareholder; and give up on love, permanently, if she can't find out why Peter is spending so much time with his beautiful director of development