Jaffe, Michele 1970- (Michele Sharon Jaffe)

Personal

Born 1970. Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1991, Ph.D. (comparative literature), 1998.

Addresses

Home—Las Vegas, NV. E-mail—michele@michelejaffe.com.

Career

Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, staff member; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, instructor in Shakespeare.

Writings

FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Bad Kitty, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2006.

Prom Nights from Hell, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

ROMANCE NOVELS

The Stargazer, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1999.

The Water Nymph, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Lady Killer, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Secret Admirer, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Bad Girl, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Loverboy, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2004.

OTHER

The Story of O: Prostitutes and Other Good-for-Nothings in the Renaissance (dissertation), Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1999.

Sidelights

Michele Jaffe earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature, then abandoned academia to pursue a career as a romance novelist. In an interview for Beatrice online, she explained of her surprising shift in career goals: "It first started when it became startlingly clear that I didn't want to be an academic. But I loved doing research, I loved what I was studying, and I wanted another outlet for the fascinating facts that I was finding, the interesting people I was meeting in my research." Set in the Renaissance, her novels The Stargazer, The Water Nymph, Lady Killer, and Secret Admirer comprise a series that follows the romantic exploits of six male cousins, while Loverboy moves into mystery as Jaffe details the exploits of an F.B.I. agent battling a modern-day serial killer.

In The Stargazer Jaffe transports readers to Venice, where Bianca Salva stumbles across the body of Isabella Bellochio, who was stabbed with a dagger belonging to aristocrat Ian Foscari. Having received a note from Isabella, Ian goes to visit her and, walking in just as Bianca pulls the dagger from Isabella's lifeless body, assumes Bianca to be the killer. Won over by her claims of innocence, Ian brings Bianca to his castle and gives her one week to prove that she is no killer. As a cover-up he tells everyone that she is his fiancée, which pleases his family since they want him to be married. Bianca, the daughter of a doctor, agrees to the ruse as long as she can perform an autopsy on her murdered friend. As Bianca and Ian work to find the true murderer, they fall passionately in love. Booklist contributor Patty Engelmann concluded of The Stargazer that "Jaffe's characters are intriguing, and the plot's many twists and turns are wonderfully entertaining."

The Water Nymph is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Crispin Foscari, the earl of Sandal, is dismissed from his position as part of the queen's secret service after being accused of treason. He has two weeks to discover the identity of the person making allegations against him. During his investigation, Crispin meets Sophie Champion, a businesswoman who has questions about the suspicious death of her father. As the paths of Crispin and Sophie cross, they develop a mutual admiration and love for each other. In her Booklist review, Margaret Flanagan described The Water Nymph as "fast-paced historical fiction fairly crackling with passion and suspense."

Secret Admirer and Lady Killer are also set in London, England, in the late 1500s. In Secret Admirer Lady Tuesday Arlington discovers that painting the scenes of her deathly nightmares helps her to deal with them, but when her husband is murdered her dream paintings incriminate her as the killer. Investigator Lawrence Pickering begins to believe that Tuesday is not the real killer and falls in love with her. At the same time the murderer sets his sights on Pickering. As Lady Killer opens, it is three years since Miles Loredon killed the vampire of London in front of numerous witnesses. When Lady Clio Thornton finds the body of a woman that appears to have the marks of a vampire bite, she approaches Miles with her findings. As Clio and Miles work to solve the case, they fall in love, despite the fact that Miles is betrothed to Clio's cousin. Reviewing Secret Admirer for Romantic Times online, Kathe Robin claimed that the author "creates a masterful and highly suspenseful mystery with enough red herrings and stunning surprises to keep any fan enthralled," going on to dub Lady Killer "a compelling, hard-to-put-down read."

In the novels Bad Girl and Loverboy Jaffe turns from romance to the thriller genre. In Loverboy she introduces Imogen Page, a federal agent who sees life differently due to an unusual medical condition called synesthesia. Because she has the ability to translate what she sees and hears into tastes, Imogen is unusually sensitive to her surroundings. She uses her gift as head of the F.B.I.'s Cognitive Sciences unit, where it comes in handy as she tracks down a brutal serial killer known as Loverboy. After kidnaping his victim, the brazen five-time killer creates collages of his planned crime scene, then sends them to police in advance of his deadly attack. When a brilliant nuclear physicist seems to be the subject of the latest collage received by Las Vegas police, Imogen is called in and must channel all her concentration into deciphering the clues imbedded in the sinister work. A Kirkus Reviews writer called Loverboy's female sleuth "smart, tough, and cute as a button," and in Booklist Joanne Wilkinson wrote that Jaffe salts her plot with "fascinating secondary characters, plenty of sprightly sexual banter, … and plot twists aplenty."

In Jaffe's first novel for teen readers, Bad Kitty, readers meet seventeen-year-old Californian Jasmine Callihan, the novel's narrator and a girl whose dream has always been to become a detective. Her wish comes true while she and her family are vacationing at Las Vegas's Venetian Hotel, for she quickly finds herself knee-deep in mystery. After being attacked by a frightened three-legged cat, the accident-prone teen disrupts a nearby wedding celebration, then becomes enmeshed in a murder that points to the husband of a famous model. Helped by the model's eight-year-old son, as well as by her three newly arrived friends from back home, Jasmine sets to work, her amusing banter fueling a plot that a Publishers Weekly reviewer characterized as "confusing" but "cinematic." Noting the presence of a suitable love interest and the appeal of Jaffe's "quirky characters," the critic predicted of Bad Kitty that teen mystery fans "will likely find themselves quickly clawing their way through this fun novel." Calling Jasmine's unique narrative voice "the book's greatest asset," a Kirkus Reviews writer added that Jaffe's sometimes confusing storyline "manages to hang onto its fizz until the enjoyably twisty ending." In addition to the "hilarious dialogue" among the teen friends, readers "will be entertained by Jaffe's inclusion of footnotes to the plot twists on each page," explained School Library Journal contributor Kathryn Childs, the critic adding that Bad Kitty provides "plenty of amusement" for mystery buffs.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 1999, Patty Engelmann, review of The Stargazer, p. 1581; June 1, 2000, Margaret Flanagan, review of The Water Nymph, p. 1857; May 1, 2004, Joanne Wilkinson, review of Loverboy, p. 1510; January 1, 2006, Krista Huntley, review of Bad Kitty, p. 84.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2006, Karen Coats, review of Bad Kitty, p. 359.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2000, review of The Water Nymph, p. 511; April 1, 2004, review of Loverboy, p. 288; January 15, 2006, review of Bad Kitty, p. 86.

Library Journal, May 1, 1999, Kim Uden Rutter, review of The Stargazer, p. 110; October 1, 1999, review of The Stargazer, p. 51; May 15, 2000, Kim Uden Rutter, review of The Water Nymph, p. 125.

Publishers Weekly, June 7, 1999, review of The Stargazer, p. 71; June 21, 1999, "Love Ain't What It Used to Be," p. 26; May 1, 2000, review of The Water Nymph, p. 50; May 20, 2002, reviews of Lady Killer and Secret Admirer, p. 53; May 3, 2004, review of Loverboy, p. 168; January 30, 2006, review of Bad Kitty, p. 71.

Renaissance Quarterly, autumn, 2000, David Marsh, review of The Story of O: Prostitutes and Other Good-for-Nothings in the Renaissance, p. 906.

School Library Journal, February, 2006, Kathryn Childs, review of Bad Kitty, p. 132.

Seventeenth-Century News, fall, 2000, Edward H. Thompson, review of The Story of O, pp. 232-235.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2006, Amy Alessio, review of Bad Kitty, p. 487.

ONLINE

Beatrice Online,http://www.beatrice.com/ (September 5, 2002), interview with Jaffe.

Michele Jaffe Home Page,http://www.michelejaffe.com (May 20, 2007).

Romance Reader Online,http://www.theromancereader.com/ (September 5, 2002), Cathy Sova, review of The Stargazer.

Romantic Times,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (September 5, 2002), Kathryn Falk, review of The Stargazer; Kathe Robin, review of The Stargazer, The Water Nymph, Secret Admirer, and Lady Killer.