A Perfect Manhattan Murder by Tracy Kiely

Nic and Nigel, the gender-swapped, modern day Thin Man couple, are back for another fast-paced, quip-exchanging mystery. This was VERY loosely based on "Another Thin Man" but don't think that if you know the movie, you'll be on an inside track to figure out the murderer. This book is very fairly clued though and you should probably be able to figure it out.
Nic and Nigel are back in New York City to watch her friend Penny's new play. They are also seeing a third friend, Harper who is married to, Dan, the play critic for Vanity Fair. Nic and Nigel aren't excited about a dinner with Dan and Harper since the man is an egotistical bore. Harper just had their baby six months ago but Dan couldn't care less. He's even rented a "weekend apartment" so that he can work without having to listen to the baby cry.
When Dan turns up dead in the apartment, Harper is the most obvious suspect, though far from the only. He angered a lot of people with his reviews; he was working on a book that was going to be an expose of sorts and threatened to reveal a lot of people's secrets. And it's possible he was having an affair.
If you liked the first book, you'll certainly like this book. If you like books that are fast, fun, and fluffy with rapid-fire dialogue a la The Thin Man (sometimes quoted directly from the movie), you'll like this book. I don't think having seen the movies is a must, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

Four stars
This book comes out May 8
Follows Killer Cocktail 

Killer Cocktail by Tracy Kiely

Nicole "Nic" and Nigel Martini, like the second "Thin Man" movie, have returned home to California. The book opens with them on the Oscars' red carpet with their Bull Mastiff, Skippy. He is handed off to their assistant DeDee. Later that night, DeDee is attacked, beaten nearly to death. Could the intruder have been after the home movies that Nic and Nigel found in their attic? The behind-the-scenes films done by the producer's daughter seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest. <i>A Winter's Night</i> was a movie that captured the hearts of a generation, not especially because former child star Melanie Summers died while filming the movie. It also launched several stars and set up the producer and director as major Hollywood players.
Rumors have always swirled around the movie. Could it be that these tapes haves something to do with Melanie's death?
Just a teensy bit below the first book in this series (story is a bit slim, WAY too many people to keep track of) but still a fun story.

Three and a half stars.
Follows Murder with a Twist
Followed by A Perfect Manhattan Murder
Comes out May 8, 2016

Murder with a Twist by Tracy Kiely

I got the second book in this series, made it half-way through and realized I wanted to start from the beginning. Even with the nausea-inducing reading caused by an ebook that wasn't well-edited (nothing I did would make all of the font stay on one page so I had to keep flipping back and forth), this was a decent story. I misjudged the murderer because I relied too much on the "Thin Man" movies that the characters are based off of.
In this case, it was Nicole "Nic" Martini who is the former detective (NYPD rather than private) and Nigel who is the offspring of a wealthy family. Nic is still the fearless detective who solves the case, however, it is still the male (Nigel) that retains much of the humor and the borderline alcoholism.
Nic has been asked to track down the profligate husband of Nigel's cousin Audrey (shades of the second movie in the series). When he ends up dead in the men's room of the Ritz, a lot of people would be relieved except that Audrey is found standing over him with the knife in her hand.
A fun story and worth reading.
Three and a half stars
Followed by Killer Cocktail