cover image Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words

Sara Hammel. Sara Hammel, $15.95 trade paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-692-07673-6

Journalist Hammel (The Underdogs) mines her years of reporting on celebrities for this strong novel that stars a celebrity reporter who just may be a murderer. Hammel switches between Augusta Noble’s work as a stringer for pop culture magazine CelebLife on a “quest to interview exactly 107 celebrities” and her past with her best friend, Caroline Rain. Augusta’s interview quest is her chosen means to recover her memory of what exactly happened after she arrived in Caroline’s apartment months ago to find her friend barely alive after being attacked by one of the two men in her life. Caroline’s boyfriend at the time, wealthy chocolate heir Joe Lannells, died at the scene, and it is possible that Augusta’s memory loss conceals her own culpability in his death. Her memory stubbornly refuses to return as she works for CelebLife, first in London and then L.A., writing juicy stories and receiving pearls of wisdom and the occasional rude response from beautiful people ranging from royals to musicians and Hollywood A-listers. In London, she meets and is charmed by fellow reporter Alexander Matten, who she learns is also attracted to her and is an actual viscount. Hammel wraps up the memory recovery and crime plotlines a bit abruptly, but readers will enjoy Augusta’s attempt to understand herself.[em] (BookLife) [/em]