Description:

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Jasmine Callihan, her father, and stepmother are vacationing in Las Vegas at the posh Venetian Hotel. All the 17-year-old really wants to do is sunbathe by the pool, write in her journal, and attempt to be a Model Hallmark Card daughter, all the while avoiding her perfect cousin Alyson and her Evil Hench Twin, Veronique. Her plans go awry, however, when a small boy and his cat make Jas a central character in a murder investigation. Soon Jass best friends come from LA to join her adventure and all attempt to solve the murder of Len Phillips, business manager of world-famous photographer Red Early. Teens will enjoy Jas and her friends hilarious dialogue and will be entertained by Jaffes inclusion of footnotes to the plot twists on each page. While the story is somewhat convoluted and often defies credulity, the book does offer some fascinating characters and plenty of amusement for fans of this genre._–Kathryn Childs, Morris Mid/High School, OK_
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. Seventeen-year-old Jasmine (Jas) has wanted to be a detective since first grade, but her nose for trouble, as well as her penchant for dusting for fingerprints with eye shadow, drives her father crazy. He forces her to leave a plum police internship behind to go to Las Vegas for the family's summer vacation, but the city turns out to be "an EXCELLENT place to engage in amateur crime fighting." It isn't long before Jas and her three vacation-crashing friends are embroiled in a mystery involving a famous model, her family, and a three-legged cat. Jas, who narrates in breezy first person, is likable, quick-witted, and extremely funny. Her friends are dazzling, quirky quipsters; though they occasionally blend together, as their dialogue is limited to flippant comments, they provide amusing, if sometimes distracting, running commentary. Don't look for plausibility here--everything is irrepressibly larger than life--but readers able to check their disbelief at the door will have a great time. Krista Hutley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved