Handbags and Homicide (Haley Randolph Mystery Series Book 1)

This is a GREAT 1st Novel in a Series!! I'm always anxious about purchasing a hardback when it is a 1st in a series....but this one absolutely hit the spot!! I laughed until I almost cried!! My husband also asked what in the world could be so funny!! Course I was reading it in bed also....not something I normally do!!Haley is a World Class Shopper....no matter how LITTLE MONEY she has/or is able to get!! Thank Heavens that this is so very funny....and about such important things as designer handbags!! I love them also...I just can't afford them comfortably. I would rather buy more books I guess!!This is a must read!! I can hardly wait for the 2nd in this series. I hope she doesn't make us wait too long!!

I really liked this book. It was fun to read and I liked the setting and the characters. The only thing I didn't like was the shopaholic immature attitude Haley had. When an adult is overdrawn at the bank, they don't generally buy a dozen designer handbags....even at wholesale. I understand that was her personality, but she never even used the purses after she bought them. I get it that she's facing financial reality, but I'd like to see a fun Haley somehow have used her purses to become solvent at the bank. It would have shown growth. I will read more from this author as I enjoyed the writing style immensely

I call this type of book "light and fluffy". Thankfully, I was in the right mood (earlier in 2014) and it had some funny moments.I understand from the author's website that she "got the idea for the Haley Randolph mystery series set in the world of retail when her daughter, a college student, took a part-time job in a department store. After hearing the stories about problems with management, customers, and co-workers, Dorothy (Howell) was reminded of how brutal a retail job can be. So brutal, in fact, that she decided, 'This would make a great book!'After getting the inside story from her daughter, and a tour of the store's stock room, the character of Haley Randolph was born. The 'handbag' aspect of the mystery series comes from the author's passion for designer purses."The author's website also states, "She's (character Haley Randolph) edgy, sassy, and like many of us, she just can't seem to catch a break." I don't think the author's definition of edgy and sassy and my definition of edgy and sassy are the same. I'll probably try one more in the series just for fun but it will be awhile.

This is a story about a “me generation” rich girl, Haley, who has to deal with murder, and, of course, real life. She has a job, a really good one, but doesn’t realize that knowledge and hard work is needed to keep the job. She is certain that just dressing for success will get her a job on the floor above with the managers. Before too long finds herself maxing out all her credit cards so that she has to take a dreaded second job, one that actually requires work, in order to pay for the clothes and accessories needed, in her mind, to keep the first job. Haley is forever hopeful that just by dressing stylish she will eventually be moved into a higher paying position in her first job. The two jobs collide when she has to deal with murder (second job) and her “me generation” approach to life (first job).This is a very cute story. You will laugh at the pancake and flapjack episode. Of course she has her side-kick, i.e., well-grounded girlfriend to make sure she keeps somewhat level headed, but the girlfriend can’t be around 24/7. And that’s when the fun begins. Haley’s fantasies forever rage.Will you like this book? Yes, a resounding yes. I will buy the next in the series, just for a good laugh. And, if the author’s next book is as funny as this one, I will continue reading in this series.

I have to admit that I have an ax to grind: my daughter is the assistant manager of a Kohl's (which appears to be the chain after which Holt's is modeled), and I know the long, hard hours she works and how much more difficult an employee like Haley Randolph would make her job. It's just wrong.Haley, a ship without a rudder, basically falls into a dream job, working in the accounting department of a huge, prestigious law firm (Angel fans, you may think Wolfram & Hart but without vampires & demons!). Visions of Louis Vuitton organizers and red leather Notorious purses like Drew Barrymore's friends carry dance in her head as she schedules lunch dates & pedicures between doing a little actual work for the firm. Her bank overdraft & huge credit card bills don't worry her at all. And then she is put on administrative, unpaid leave.Now that things are really rough, she takes a job at Holt's department store. Of course she pays no attention at orientation, hides from customers, naps in the stock room, and is the employee from he**. But she meets her dream man, who just happens to be the owner of the chain. And she finds a dead body in the stockroom, when she's taking the abovementioned nap, which makes her a suspect. And she learns that she was let go from the law firm for suspicion of embezzlement!Haley is not really a bad person. She's not mean or cruel, and, in fact, she will stand up for some of the employees who become her friends. She tells the truth to Ty about his store when no one else will, although she lies about just about everything else. However, she is lazy, shallow, arrogant (when she revisits the law firm, she seems the attorneys and their staffs dressed in designer clothing and thinks "This is where I belong; these are my people!"), thoughtless, careless, a poor daughter, and a truly bad driver, which is a cardinal sin to me, as I work for a major insurance company!Like Becky Bloomfield in Sophie Kinsella's far superior Shopaholic books, she will eventually get things straightened out, if only temporarily. She clears her name and finds the real killer. However, Becky does use her brains and charm, which Haley seems to be lacking. The book has little humor and is an unrealistic depiction of the workings of a department store, even a middle-market one like Holt's (or Kohl's).