Book Review: Death By Chick Lit by Lynn Harris - Page 2

Of course, merely doing the opposite of what's expected is not really subversion; it's just reaction. Fortunately, Harris goes beyond these small rebellions and reminds us she's writing lit, no qualifier necessary, with the way she handles the elements of any good story: conflict, character development, suspense. The story's chief conflicts — apart from the murder mystery that serves as a framework for the novel — are relational, and they don't issue from madcap misunderstandings, but from the protagonist behaving recklessly, dishonestly, and arrogantly. Furthermore, the people she loves don't address her poor behavior by becoming withdrawn and sullen, giving Lola the opportunity to basically ignore them while being nagged occasionally by the thought that something's wrong, and she should probably get around to fixing it. Lola's loved ones tell her off, ask her what the hell is going on, insist that she talk things through with them. (Lola, like Harris, is a former advice columnist, and her published edicts about healthy conflict resolution are often thrown back in her face.)

Thus, relationship problems are actually solved by communication — which, if you think about it, is pretty rare in commercial fiction. Certainly in chick lit, the problems usually stem from information the protagonist doesn't have about her significant other — to wit, that he's either a lying jerk deep down or a practically perfect man who's simply given the appearance of being a lying jerk, because he had to remain secretive about some elaborate project he was preparing in her honor. As soon as the truth is revealed, all is instantly hunky dory. But in Death By Chick Lit, relationship problems issue from self-centeredness and poor communication, just like they do in real life, and they're solved by introspection and respectful arguments, just like they are (when they're solved at all) in real life. That's a pretty big knife to the heart of "chick lit" right there.

Speaking of which, there's the whole murder mystery thing. The book opens with Lola stumbling upon the body of fellow chick lit writer Mimi McKee, her throat slashed with a martini glass. From there, we learn that a serial killer is targeting popular authors in the genre, so Lola goes into Nancy Drew mode while wondering why the killer apparently doesn't think she, as the author of a novel called Pink Slip, is worthy of, say, a spike heel to the jugular. As a mystery plotter, Harris is quite competent — which may sound like faint praise, but really, it's not easy, especially when it's not the primary purpose of your book. Put it this way: I figured out who the killer was just early enough to be pleased with myself but not so early that all the suspense was wrecked — which is exactly what you want when you're reading a mystery — and there were at least a handful of twists I never saw coming. (Without spoiling the book, I'll say that one of those twists is an enlightening comment on the distinction between fiction written by women and "chick lit" as a marketing concept.) The thing is, Death By Chick Lit isn't just a mystery any more than it's just chick lit; it's a character-driven novel about ambition, relationships, friendships, and fame. The fact that Harris hung all that on a good, solid mystery is just gravy.

Article Author: KateHarding

KateHarding became a blogcritic the same week as another Kate (C.) Harding. Weird.

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