Laura Levine Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Jaine Austen Books
Publication Order of Anthologies
| Candy Cane Murder | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Gingerbread Cookie Murder | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Christmas Sweets | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Author Laura Levine is a popular American novelist of the cozy mystery genre, who is particularly famous for writing the ‘A Jaine Austen Mystery’. Laura used to write novels from a very long time, however, she did not become a novelist any time soon. She has drawn inspiration from the works of famous authors like Agatha Christie, Anne Tyler and Joe Keenan. Laura has also worked on a number of sitcoms such as Three’s Company, The Love Boat, Mary Hartman, The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley and The Jeffersons and Mary Hartman. Her creation of the Frank Berry General and Count Chocula cereals has brought a lot of fame for her. Apart from writing novels, Laura Levine loves to spend some quality time in reading, gardening, walking and swimming. She began her Jane Austen series with the publication of her first novel named This Pen for Hire in the year 2002. Since then, Laura has been dedicated enough to publish at least one book in the series every year. She says that she considers herself lucky to be a writer of the Mystery and Thriller genres as all her novels are based on these genres and have increased her popularity to a greater extent.
Laura was born in the year 1943 and was brought up in Brooklyn, New York, United States. She graduated from the Barnard College before going on to become an established author. It was during her years in the Barnard College that she had begun pursuing her hobby in writing stories and novels. After completing her graduation, Laura began working as a reporter and photographer at a small newspaper agency. The agency was so small that she had to get her photos developed in a local camera shop. She tasted fame for the first time in her life when she created the Frank Berry and Count Chocula cereals for the General Mills. This was followed by another job as a sitcom writer after the invention of television. During her stint as a sitcom writer, Laura worked on a number of popular shows of that time. Later, she got married to a business journalist named Mark Lacter or Mr. Hubby as he is lovingly called by Laura. Mark went on to become one of the reputed businessmen of Los Angeles and provided a lot of encouragement to Laura to continue with her writing career. Famous authors Agatha Christie, Anne Tyler and Joe Keenan are among her favorite authors in the Mystery, Drama and Comedy genres respectively. Other than writing, Laura loves to pursue hobbies in gardening, reading, swimming and walking. Her prosperous writing career has allowed her to be nominated for the Writers Guild Of America Award for her stint as a television sitcom writer.
The first novel of the Jane Austen mysteries was published in the year 2002 by the Kensington publishing house. The novel was titled ‘This Pen for Hire’ and was based on the life of the main character named Jaine Austen, who was a hippy writer and a jack of all trades kind of man. The novel was set in Los Angeles, California, United States and introduced the character of Jaine Austen as well as the other prominent characters of the series. In the opening plot of the novel, Jaine Austen is introduced as a writer who earns her livelihood from the steamy personal ads that she writes frequently, She does not seem to be needed by anyone except Howard Murdoch, who was set on a date by Jaine Austen. With the passage of time, Howard begins to maintain distance from Jaine and finds a new love. However, the situation takes an interesting turn when his new love is murdered on the Valentine’s Day and Jaine Austen find herself to be the prime suspect of the crime. She begins to carry out her own investigations in order to clear her name of the crime that she believes she has not committed. Before that, Jaine used to live a satisfying life as a writer-for-hire and penning personal ads and love declarations. But, when she gets framed for the murder of the lover of Howard Murdoch, being his former lover, she begins to freelance as a detective for free of cost in order to find the real killer who had killed the victim and framed her for the crime. Previously, Howard had hired her to write a love letter that proclaimed his undying love for his lover Stacy Lawrence, who was an attractive aerobics instructor with a gorgeous body. Jaine realizes that Howard has never met Stacy and tries to set him up for a date for herself. With the goal of having Howard as her lover instead of Stacy’s, she sneaks into his house and begins to send pitching woo on Howard’s behalf.
Jaine becomes happy that her attempts have landed Howard a date with Stacy. However, her success is short-lived as she finds out that Stacy is murdered on her very first date with Howard on the Valentine’s Day. Howard becomes the prime suspect of the murder and Jaine is not able to gulp the fact that Howard can commit a murder even though he looks a little bit eccentric, awkward and odd. Her investigations lead her to the fact that there were many suspects who had the motive of killing Stacy. She is required to find valid proofs against the killer and prove the innocence of Howard before the killer becomes aware of her stint and become a threat for her too. The novel went on to be nominated for the Lefty Award in the year 2003. The second novel of the series was published in the year 2003 by the Kensington publishing house. The novel was titled ‘Last Writes’. The novel shows Jaine Austen as working as a writer for a sitcom Muffy ‘n Me and occasionally carrying out investigations to solve several mysteries. Her stint as a sitcom writer takes a twisting turn when the leading man of the show gets murdered. The leading man named Quinn Kirkland was believed to a womanizer and had a number of jealous co-stars. Jaine’s investigations lead her to a number of suspects with the prime motive of killing Quinn. The list of suspects included one of the jealous co-star, several ex-lovers and one of Jaine’s best friends Kandi.
Book Series In Order » Authors »
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Is there a audible version of murder gets a makeover?
If so where can I get it?
I absolutely love listening to these.
Debbie
I started reading Joanne Fluke’s books last year. When it was time for Candy Cane Murder, I was pleasantly surprised to find your Jaine Austen mystery. I am 65, retired, from 2 jobs and I am enjoying my free time to now read. Thank you for giving me back my passion. I plan on reading all about Jaine. The comedy that you sprinkle in so very often is wonderful. ( I was voted female class clown) so I enjoy the humor! Thanks again!
I love Laura Levine’s books! I have read all but a couple that I am looking for now. I hope she keeps the books coming forever!