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Announcing the new Fifi Cutter mystery "Crazy Fool Kills Five" due out May 2008!

Sneak preview of "Crazy Fool Kills Five"

Reviews of "Crazy Fool Kills Five"

Fabulously 40 & Beyond: Review of "Crazy Fool Kills Five"

"Fifi Cutter is back and packing an attitude in the latest installment of an entertaining and quirky mystery series...Gwen Freeman has a natural writing style that is breezy and effortless..A myriad of twists and turns lead to a surprising and very LA style conclusion."
Jaimie Bell, Front Street Reviews

Genre: MYSTERY
Title: CRAZY FOOL KILLS FIVE
Author: GWEN FREEMAN

If you like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, you 're going to love Fifi Cutter, the equally spicy and laugh-out-loud funny protagonist in Crazy Fool Kills Five. Not only that, but this moonlight author, who dayjobs as a lawyer, is pretty much on par with John Grisham in terms of writing terrific courtroom drama. Fold in some off-beat supporting characters, plenty of action, hints of romance, a page-turner plot, and a little family dysfunction (via her half-brother and reluctant side-kick, Bosco)—and you've got a truly fun read. In fact, it was so much fun, I read it in one sitting, while kicking back in a beach chair facing the Atlantic Ocean.

The main jist of the plot goes like this: a disgruntled ex-employee of a small charter plane outfit, hijacks and crashes one of their planes. Including himself, the "crazy fool" kills five. Sound like perfect fodder for a personal injury lawsuit? Sure! Enter your slick attorney, a Los Angeles legend, who's looking to get some $60 million for wrongful death out of the charter outfit. That's where Fifi comes in; the lawyer hires her to dig up facts. However, what might seem to be simple litigation ends up being a springboard—catapulting Fifi onto a roller coaster ride of extortion, kidnapping, murder, and more. With her reader-friendly style, the author moves this character- driven mystery right along, serving up just the right balance of mayhem and humorous quirky stuff—stuff like Fifi's penchant for overpriced low-fat snack foods, organic cream of potato soup, things like that.

Like I said, Gwen Freeman, the author, is also a lawyer, a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School. And get this: in real life she represents death row inmates and actually obtained relief for the longest resident of California's Death Row! Whoa! No wonder she's pens such authentic courtroom dialogue. Not only that, but she also did one helluva job of capturing the flavor of the City of Angels, too. That's probably because she currently resides in LA. In fact, she lives right near Dodger Stadium.

Highly Recommended by reviewer: Jan Evan Whitford, Allbooks Reviews

Published by: Capital Crimes Press ©2008
ISBN 13: 978-0-9799960-0-9
ISBN 10: 0-9799960-0-7
Trade paperback, 286 pages
Cover Price: US $14.99
Feb. 2007

The First Fifi Cutter Novel (in stores now):
"Murder... Suicide... Whatever..."

When Bosco, my freeloading brother--make that half brother--showed up on my front porch, I should have followed my first instinct and slammed the door. But he said Uncle Ted had been murdered and there might be money in it for us. Truthfully? I didn't even know we had an Uncle Ted.

Cindy Chow, a librarian, 03/28/2007

A reviewer
Gwen Freeman debuts one of the funniest, original, mysteries in recent years with the uniquely titled Murder… Suicide…Whatever… Fifi Cutter is a mixed raced, recently unemployed, twenty-something who doesn’t speak to any of her family members. This is mainly because the house she inherited from her beloved and deceased father was gutted of its furniture by her calculating social climbing mother, her policeman half-brother accuses her of stealing his share of the inheritance, and her other mooching half-brother has just shown up on her doorstep asking for shelter and help investigating the murder of their uncle, Ted Hefferman. The fact that Uncle Ted wasn’t really their uncle and that they aren’t investigators doesn’t bother Bosco a bit, and his ever-present charm and Fifi’s need for an income has them impersonating grief counselors as they navigate through the extremely murky relationships of the Obermeyer & Schlefly insurance firm. While Bosco cages free meals and tries to figure out a way to get a television, Fifi has her Truck L’Orange attacked by homeless people, her home is broken into, and someone leaves her a dismembered rat. Fifi proves to be a vastly entertaining and likable character despite the fact that she is virtually friendless and estranged from her family. Freeman writes with a breezy style that carries the reader along with a fast-moving plot that leads to an unpredictable, yet completely appropriate, ending. Fifi’s amusingly frank assessment of herself 'overly frizzy hair that protects her from breaking glass, a big nose, curveless body' hides a vulnerability that peeks out despite her best attempts to hide it. Fans of Janet Evanovich will appreciate Freeman’s light and fun style. Here’s to hoping that the Fifi Cutter Mystery becomes a long running series the sequel soon to follow.

"A wonderful and quirky fusion of Janet Evanovich and Agatha Christie."
-Troy Cook, 47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers

"Murder...Suicide…Whatever…, gives the reader realistic characters, a super plot, and great dialogue, all with tremendous humor. If readers don't like and root for Fifi Cutter, they don't have a pulse."
-John Foxjohn, Code of Deceit and Journey of the Spirit

"Pithy descriptions and crisp dialog, sprinkled liberally with humor are the key ingredients for this delightful romp through LaLa Land. You're gonna love Freeman's Fifi Cutter."
-Allen Wyler, Deadly Errors and Dead Head

I fell in love with her heroine, Fifi Cutter—couldn’t put the book down. Fifi’s acerbic wit, rapidfire dialogue, and off-the-wall situations will win you over.
-Sheila Lowe, Poison Pen

There is a sly sophistication lurking behind the laughter created by Fifi Cutter, the scrappy heroine of Murder…Suicide…Whatever…, the witty debut novel of Gwen Freeman. This first in her mystery series may be set in the guise of a traditional locked-door, but Ms. Freeman wrestles a generation of self-absorbed Los Angelinos flat to the mat before they know the match has begun.
-Robert Fate, Baby Shark and Baby’s Shark’s Beaumont Blues

Fifi Cutter has outrageous ’tude. She is the most entertaining amateur sleuth since Stephanie Plum. Fifi and her mismatched sibling fumble their way through the investigation of an apparent heart attack victim—a guy found in a locked room. Although Ms. Freeman begins from a standard whodunit set-up, this is not your Aunt Mabel’s mystery.
-Bruce Cook, Phillipine Fever

Murder, Suicide, Whatever is available in bookstores now.

Read a sample chapter of "Murder, Suicide, Whatever"

To contact Gwen, please visit our contact page.

Read Fifi Cutter's blog at MurderShop.

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