Simona Griffo--the Italian-born, New York-based food and murder expert--is worried about losing her soft creative job at her ad agency, of being pushed upstairs with "the Living Dead, account executives who get to work at 8 a.m. in ironed suits and crisp hair, trailing antiseptic deodorant smells. I thrive in the late-starting, garlic-breath, T-shirt-and-jeans department." She certainly does. Simona's latest misadventure takes her cooking and crime-solving skills into the world of high fashion, where one of Griffo's clients is in danger of losing her company and her freedom. As usual, there's a great-looking recipe at the end of the book--this time for something called Shmatta Pasta, which I'm making tonight. Past Griffo gourmandizings in paperback include The Trouble With Going Home, The Trouble with Thin Ice, and The Trouble With a Hot Summer.

From Publishers Weekly
In her new adventure (following The Trouble with Going Home), Simona Griffo calls on her native Italian wits and independence to unravel a puzzling murder in Manhattan's garment district. Simona, whose day job is with an uptight advertising agency, is hired by aging (and some say, declining) designer Roberta Riddle to investigate the murder of Phyllis Striker, her fitting model who apparently, over the years, had antagonized just about everyone in her prestigious firm. Roberta hopes that her business partner, Charlie Angelo, whose bloody fingerprints are discovered at the crime scene, will be cleared. Simona's lover, New York Homicide Detective Stanley Greenhouse, is also working the case, and the parallel investigations bring friction to their relationship and danger to Simona, whose relentless curiosity brings on some of New York's more determined muggers. Having hired Dimitri, an enterprising taxi driver, for protection, Simona interviews a colorful, voluble crew of suspects (a tailor, a seamstress, the building owner) and uncovers a Byzantine web of bribery, blackmail and pure malice going back 30 years. The labyrinthine scheming diminishes the impact of Crespi's zesty characters in their vibrant city setting, deflating a tale that might otherwise have kept the reader on pins and needles. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA. Summer vacation in the Hamptons, New York, comes abruptly to an end for Simona Griffo and her partner, Dmitri, when they are hired by Bud Warren to solve the murder of his wife, Polly. By evening of that day, Simona and Dmitri have been hired by Laurie Warren to find Bud's murderer. Working on the double case, the partners fish about for clues, only to catch several large red herrings and a heap of bad luck for themselves. In a whopper of an ending, they catch the criminal. Crespi describes the area's natural beauty and attractions in alluring detail, complete with vacationing celebrities. Simona, originally from Italy and now working in advertising, and Dmitri, an illegal Russian alien, offer a new definition of "odd couple." Although they share housing, each pursues romantic involvement with other people. Their contrasting lives add a unique flavor to the plot. Indeed, Simona talks about Italian food and recipes throughout the story. The secondary characters are equally interesting and proves to be distracting for both sleuths and readers as the investigation proceeds. Various subplots crisscross the main story line, complicating matters but never totally obscuring the search for the murderer. Crespi keeps the story flowing at full force into the surprise ending. This mystery offers kooks, cooking, and killing, and will appeal to teens who like Diane Mott Davidson's "Goldy Bear" mysteries.?Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Crespi is also known for her imaginative titles (e.g., The Trouble with Moonlight). Series sleuth Simona Griffo, an Italian transplanted to a New York advertising agency, investigates a murder for dress designer Roberta Riddle. Police have detained Roberta's design assistant for the killing, but Roberta believes that the murder ties in with several previous nasty pranks. The sleuthing Simona, cohabiting with the detective in charge and accompanied by an engaging Russian bodyguard, still attracts several mugging attempts before she unmasks the culprit. Quick-moving prose, good garment-district atmosphere, and a heady mixture of skeletons in the closet make this a recommended title.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ad exec and amateur sleuth Simona Griffo is trying to take a week off in the Hamptons, but one, possibly two, murders move her in other directions. In a story as lazy and easy to take as a summer afternoon, we follow Simona, her improbable Russian partner Dimitri, and a varied cast of characters--boyfriends, ad people, detectives, local residents and businesspeople--as they try to track the truth behind the recent death of advertising hero Bud Warren and that of his ex-wife, a year past. Although James Brady's Further Lane is richer in Hamptons color and Simona remains curiously distant despite the first-person narrative, there are a number of good touches here. The list of characters contains tag lines that provide setting and clues, and Simona delivers lovely throwaway comments about food (biting into a sun-dried tomato and "instantly feeling at one with happiness") and a deep knowledge of seemingly meaningless Italian proverbs. Good beach fare, especially if you're headed to bonacker country. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

From Kirkus Reviews
Looks like designer Roberta Riddle's comeback collection for Riddle Solutions has a bumpy road to travel before it reaches the spring/summer show in Bryant Park. Somebody's Krazy-Glued the restroom door locks at Roberta's Seventh Avenue offices and made her presents of dead roaches and stabbed rats. And now her fitting model, Phyllis Striker, has been brained on the premises by Roberta's own jade Buddha--and the cops have picked Roberta's new partner, Charlie Angelo, as the #1 suspect. So Roberta offers a $5,000 bonus to ad designer Simona Griffo if Simona, who spends more time detecting than laying out double-page spreads anyway, will exonerate Charlie by getting the real killer. She'd think twice if she knew that the path to the killer will not only take Simona (at odds as usual with her NYPD roommate Stan Greenhouse) through a maze of fashion-maven zanies--from Riddle sample-maker Flossie Sarnowski and her son Jerry, whose keenest eye is for the horses, to lingerie designer Ernest Gold, a.k.a. Mr. Nite; she'll end up turning an awfully inquisitive eye on a fatal accident that bound Phyllis to Roberta nearly 30 years ago, and getting mugged twice and treated to a broken leg even before the final confrontation with the killer. Sprightly, sunny, and gossipy: a welcome return to form after the ill-advised introversion of The Trouble with Going Home (1995). An appendix gives a brief history of the New York fashion industry and a lasagna recipe that'll make it harder to fit into any of those clothes. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
New York Fashion Week is only days away and SimonaÂ’s new client and friend is desperate to finish the collection she hopes will bring her back to fame. Then her fitting model and muse is found murdered in the ladies room. SimonaÂ’s live-in detective boyfriend, in charge of the case, warns her to stay away, but Simona isnÂ’t about to lose a client or let down a friend. Except her boyfriend isnÂ’t the only one who wants her off the case. On the way home one evening, Simona is attacked. Dmitri, a Russian cabdriver, arrives on the scene just in time and Simona hires him to be her bodyguard, which doesnÂ’t do her much good. Attacked a second time, she ends up in the hospital more determined than ever to find the murderer.

Ambitious new partner, angry tailor, overly-protective sample maker, grateful seamstress, jealous competitor—the suspects are many. Only when Simona delves into the past does she arrive at the truth, but not before risking her life again, this time on the runway of Bryant Park. Fashion Footnotes and a recipe for Schmatta pasta are included. “A fast-paced thriller with a convincing fashion background and a cast of characters big enough to fill…a Prada bag.”
—Suzy Menkes, The New York Times Book Review “This is a clever little novel with lots of insider bits about high fashion and snappy characters.”
—Margaret Cannon, Toronto Globe and Mail “Sprightly, sunny and gossipy: a welcome return.”
—Kirkus Reviews “Griffo is an engaging personality: determined, charming and willing to go the extra mile. She might be bloody and bruised, but she is unbowed. I met a heroine whose new adventures I’ll seek out.”
—Roberta Alexander, Contra Costa Times

From the Publisher
Camilla T. Crespi delivers her best mystery yet, in which Italian sleuth and gourmet cook Simona Griffo must solve a murder in the heart of New York City's fashion world.