Naked Once More

Naked Once More (1989) Elizabeth Peters (Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries)

How old is this book?

This old.

Jacqueline proceeded on her way, pleased but wondering how the young officer had known who she was. She couldn’t be the only handsome middle-aged lady with green eyes and auburn hair driving a car with New York plates and a Mondale-Ferraro sticker on the bumper.

I read this ages and ages ago, after I found it in the used book store. And I never found any other books in the series used. But eventually I found them as ebooks, and eventually the final book went on sale.

Interestingly, it was ahead of it’s time in many ways.

She hoped her lack of glamour would get the point across to St. John, though she would have scorned to make herself unattractive for that reason alone. The messages some men professed to read in sexy clothes and makeup were pure wishful thinking. By their archaic standards, the only garment that didn’t give them a reasonable excuse for rape was the all-enveloping robe and face veil of fundamentalist Moslem countries.

It was as fun as I remember. Over the top at times, certainly, but that’s part of its charm.

Jacqueline started the engine. “Good-bye, Mr. Spencer. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this.”

“Oh, I doubt that. I’ll bet you could if you tried.” He stepped back.

What makes the story is Jackqueline’s wit combined with her self-awareness. She recognizes when she is being ridiculous and goes on to own it.

Jacqueline settled herself behind the gate on a folding stool she had brought with her, wondering why the hades she was wasting her time on this side issue. Could it be— was it possible— that she was just plain nosy, as some people had claimed? Yes, it was, Jacqueline decided.

I admire that in anyone, but it’s more fun when it’s a middle aged woman who knows her own mind.

The people who yearned for the good old days might not have enjoyed the reality; good old days before penicillin and heart surgery, social security and minimum wages.

Not to mention air-conditioning, imported chocolates in every supermarket, and the demise of the corset. So far as Jacqueline was concerned, they could keep the good old days.

Oh. Right. There is a mystery here.

Seven years earlier best-selling author Kathleen Darcy disappeared. Now enough time has passed that she has been declared dead, and her heirs are looking for someone to write the sequel to the book that made her famous (and millions of dollars).

Since Jacqueline loved the book, she decides to put herself in the running once she learns who the other candidates are–not because she believes she can write the book Kathleen Darcy could have written, but because she’s worried that most of the other candidates would do a terrible job of it.

It’s very still, but it’s also fun, and I enjoyed it very much.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Rating: 8/10

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