Trashy Chic by Cathy Lubenski

Bertie Mallowan loves to report the hard-hitting news. But when her job as a reporter has her off the hot stories and more into the “fluff” as talks of more lay-offs circulate, Bertie realizes that she needs a change. A break. Something. So two days after she interviews Robert Bellingham, the sleaze-ball money-maker turns up dead, and Bertie assigns herself to figuring out who killed him. It’s not quite that easy, as over the years Robert has made not only a lot of money, but just as many enemies. Could it be the wife? The kids? The gardener? Bertie makes it her mission to crack the case, and the payoff would be an insider’s story that would surely save her job at the newspaper. But will a second murder and an attack on Bertie scare her away from the Bellingham murder scoop?

Trashy Chic by Cathy Lubenski was a kooky mystery novel with a fun cast of characters. I could relate to Bertie when she frustrated about her job and then worried she might lose it all together. Bertie had a great sense of humor, especially when it came to making up lies to her editors. Her friends were fun to read about, particularly Kate who owns the dog kennel. The mystery had me thinking until the end, trying to figure out alongside Bertie who the killer was. I did have some troubles making a solid connection to the story. I was never really invested in the chapters or felt like I just had to get to the end. Maybe the characters were just a bit too off the wall for me, I’m really not sure. I did keep getting tripped up over Bertie’s age, she seemed to act a lot younger than she really was, and that kind of bothered me throughout the story. It was still a fun book to read but not a favorite of mine.