Eichler, Selma

PERSONAL: Married; husband's name Lloyd.

ADDRESSES: Home—NY. Agent—Stuart Krichevsky, Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Inc., 381 Park Ave. S., Ste. 914, New York, NY 10016.

CAREER: Freelance writer.

WRITINGS:

"DESIREE SHAPIRO" MYSTERY NOVELS

Murder Can Kill Your Social Life, Signet (New York, NY), 1994.

Murder Can Ruin Your Looks, Signet (New York, NY), 1995.

Murder Can Stunt Your Growth, Signet (New York, NY), 1996.

Murder Can Wreck Your Reunion, Signet (New York, NY), 1997.

Murder Can Spook Your Cat, Signet (New York, NY), 1998.

Murder Can Singe Your Old Flame, Signet (New York, NY), 1999.

Murder Can Spoil Your Appetite, Signet (New York, NY), 2000.

Murder Can Upset Your Mother, Signet (New York, NY), 2001.

Murder Can Cool Off Your Affair, Signet (New York, NY), 2002.

Murder Can Rain on Your Shower, Signet (New York, NY), 2003.

Murder Can Botch Up Your Birthday, Signet (New York, NY), 2004.

Murder Can Mess Up Your Mascara, Signet (New York, NY), 2005.

Murder Can Run Your Stockings, Signet (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to anthology And the Dying Is Easy, Signet (New York, NY), 2001.

ADAPTATIONS: Murder Can Spoil Your Appetite was adapted as an audiobook, Blackstone, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Selma Eichler's lighthearted mystery series, which Harriet Klausner described in Best Reviews online as "cerebral" and "cozy," features overweight Manhattan private investigator Desiree Shapiro. Shapiro is a likeable, forty-something woman who is unconcerned that her full-figured body is not socially acceptable; she enjoys a double scoop of Haagen Dazs ice cream as much as she does solving a mystery. Reviewers have noted that the murder mystery in each of Eichler's books is not always the most intriguing part of the story, as the author spends a good deal of time on Desiree's relationships, her interest in food, and her observations about living in New York City. For some critics, this has proved to be a sticking point. For example, Dawn Goldsmith, reviewing Murder Can Spoil Your Appetite for Crescent Blues Book Views, felt that the book is "bland." Other critics, however, enjoyed the author's laid-back style. For instance, in a Crescent Blues Book Views as-sessment of Murder Can Singe Your Old Flame, Stephen J. Metherell-Smith described the novel as a "kind of 'bare bones' mystery," while still finding it to be "an easy-to-read and enjoyable novel."

Reception of more recent "Desiree Shapiro" mysteries has often been positive. A critic for Publishers Weekly, reviewing Murder Can Upset Your Mother, praised "Eichler's all-too-human, wacky private investigator," as well as the book's "witty repartee and zany characters." Klausner, writing in MBR Bookwatch, declared that Murder Can Mess Up Your Mascara is "a fine Manhattan cozy that fans of the series will enjoy."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Baldwin Ledger (Baldwin City, KS), March 5, 1999, review of Murder Can Wreck Your Reunion, p. 13.

I Love a Mystery, June, 1996, review of Murder Can Stunt Your Growth, pp. 22-23.

MBR Bookwatch, February, 2005, Harriet Klausner, review of Murder Can Mess Up Your Mascara.

Publishers Weekly, December 21, 1998, review of Murder Can Singe Your Old Flame, p. 65; February 12, 2001, review of Murder Can Upset Your Mother, p. 189; February 25, 2002, review of Murder Can Cool Off Your Affair, p. 48; January 10, 2005, review of Murder Can Mess Up Your Mascara, p. 44.

Romantic Times, February, 2005, Cindy Harrison, review of Murder Can Mess Up Your Mascara, p. 82.

ONLINE

Best Reviews, http://thebestreviews.com/ (February 7, 2002), Harriet Klausner, review of Murder Can Cool Off Your Affair.

Book Browser, http://www.bookbrowser.com/ (January 24, 1998), Harriet Klausner, review of Murder Can Spook Your Cat.

Crescent Blues Book Views, http://www.crescentblues.com/ (May 6, 2002), Dawn Goldsmith, review of Murder Can Spoil Your Appetite and Stephen J. Metherell-Smith, review of Murder Can Singe Your Old Flame.