The Temporary Detective

Reviewed by Jen Blood

July 31, 2012

Joanne Lessner’s The Temporary Detective is one of those novels you just don’t want to stop reading, with characters well drawn and sympathetic enough to easily carry a full series. In the series opener, the quirky, delightfully headstrong Isobel Spice has just landed a temp job for which she is seriously under-qualified. She doesn’t let that stop her, though, basically steamrolling the hapless James Cooke — her supervisor at the temp agency — into letting her take on said job. Within hours, a very-disliked member of the staff turns up dead… And, of course, Isobel is the one to find her. What follows from there is a fun, clever whodunit with Isobel at the helm as she attempts to keep her new job, maintain her safety, and find the bad guy.

There are a number of things that make this novel a true gem, among them Lessner’s deft writing hand, sharp wit, surprisingly complex characters, and a clear understanding of Isobel’s world as a struggling actress new to the bright lights of Broadway. Add to that the kind of chemistry that just leaps off the page between Isobel and James, and you have a mystery well worth your time. Through all of that, I was also particularly impressed with the author’s ability to move seamlessly from comedy to romance to amateur sleuthing while simultaneously handling deeper issues like James’s very recent sobriety with a sensitivity uncommon to the genre. With that said, don’t mistake this for a novel with a deeper message; Lessner is delightfully irreverent throughout. This is an easy read that I cruised through in a couple of days, and I recommend it highly for anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries with a healthy dose of romance and a hint of New York edge.