Rating: 
Summary: Totally Whacky
Review: I think I love everything about Sam Jones except her casual, recreational abuse of drugs. ...But despite being turned off by this "heroine's" drug use, I totally enjoyed the dialogue, plot, subplots, characters and Sam's whacky, profane conversation with the reader. Sam is totally funny, totally non-linear and totally "hip". ...I think you could say she is the anti-Bridget Jones. Summary of plot: Sam makes (affectionately dubbed) "Thing II" for large bank and becomes friend of Bill, security guy. Gala night of the sculpture's unveiling, sweet Bill says some bizarre things & then subsequently meets untimely end. Sam's detectival curiosity goes into overdrive. She meets and suspects numerous acquaintances of Bill's and finally figures it out in the end. Tada! Somethings are somewhat obvious, and there are so many people in this book, Tim Tom Tony Baby Susan Susie Suki Simon etc. etc., I got kind of confused. Enjoyably naughty beach/summer fling read. However, I will try the third book to see if she wakes up to the hazards of drug abuse.
Rating:
Summary: Totally Whacky
Review: I think I love everything about Sam Jones except her casual, recreational abuse of drugs. ...But despite being turned off by this "heroine's" drug use, I totally enjoyed the dialogue, plot, subplots, characters and Sam's whacky, profane conversation with the reader. Sam is totally funny, totally non-linear and totally "hip". ...I think you could say she is the anti-Bridget Jones. Summary of plot: Sam makes (affectionately dubbed) "Thing II" for large bank and becomes friend of Bill, security guy. Gala night of the sculpture's unveiling, sweet Bill says some bizarre things & then subsequently meets untimely end. Sam's detectival curiosity goes into overdrive. She meets and suspects numerous acquaintances of Bill's and finally figures it out in the end. Tada! Somethings are somewhat obvious, and there are so many people in this book, Tim Tom Tony Baby Susan Susie Suki Simon etc. etc., I got kind of confused. Enjoyably naughty beach/summer fling read. However, I will try the third book to see if she wakes up to the hazards of drug abuse.
Rating: 
Summary: hysterically funny and clever too
Review: I was so baffled by the last two reviews I just had to respond. You'd have to be really ignorant to call Sam, the heroine, a cockney, and she certainly isn't wooly or dishevelled - this is a girl who wears black rubber dresses and hot-pink miniskirts! it seemed to me that the last two people had hardly bothered to read the book at all - maybe they just don't like strong heroines. Well, that's sad for them. I thought Sam was absolutely fabulous and immediately ordered all the other books from the UK. Witty, hilarious, and very tightly-plotted. couldn't recommend it more highly!
Rating:
Summary: Quirky and enteraining
Review: I've known plenty of women with the 'tude and steet smarts of Sam and it was fun seeing them dressing up, talking back and sussing it out. Takes me back to my wild twenties. My only complaint was that the mystery part of the book was pretty predictable. Still, I just finished this book and immediately started looking for the others.
Rating:
Summary: Sam Jones Rules!
Review: Ignore the reviews from those dullards in Illinois and Connecticut! Lauren Henderson's mysteries are clever, witty and a whole lot of fun. There are not many books that have me chuckling aloud as I read, but Black Rubber Dress and Freeze My Margarita certainly did. I loved those books so much, I went to Bibliofind and hunted down the rest of the Sam Jones series. If you're looking for a fun read and aren't too strait-laced, you'll really enjoy Sam Jones.
Rating:
Summary: Unconventional, sexy London mystery heroine
Review: Our heroine's name here is *Samantha* Jones, not Bridget...but if Bridget Jones lost her paranoia and self-obsession she might turn into Sam Jones! There's much of the same characterization, concern and compulsion with boyfriends, dating, sex, losing weight, career, etc., transplanted into a hip North London sculptor, and thankfully, it's a lot more entertaining to read. (Brief memo to Helen Fielding: give poor Bridget a *plot* next time!) If you like British mysteries but are turned off by their usual two extremes: the elderly biddy detective solving the murder of the vicar in the tea garden, or the world-weary Birmingham cop battling corruption in his own force...then this is the book, and the character, for you. Sam Jones is a breath of fresh air...a young, confident (mostly), sexy sculptor from Camden Town (no, she's *not* Cockney, as another review here has said!) Definitely an non-traditional mystery series heroine--she sniffs coke, juggles lovers, and takes action to solve a mystery not necessarily out of justice, but rather because it's her sculpture that's crushed a murder victim. The mystery takes a while to get going in the book (the murder doesn't occur until about a third of the way through, and Sam doesn't even really start taking action until two-thirds in)...but I didn't mind because the personalities, scenery, and subplots were so compelling and fun to read about--scandal, blackmail, drugs and murder inside an ultra-exclusive society family and London banking firm rope in Sam, giving her a lover from the privileged side of the tracks. For the Anglophiles there's plenty of London atmosphere from trendy Kensington to hip Camden Town, and this is definitely a character worth watching and checking in on in future Sam Jones mysteries. She reminded me a bit of Stephanie Plum in Janet Evanovich's mysteries...sexy, spunky, sometimes a little out of her depth but always entertaining to watch. Perhaps I'd like to see Lauren Henderson work on having a stronger mystery plot itself in her next book, but if the characters and scene-setting are as entertaining as this one, I'll gladly forgive her that!
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Parents' British Cozy
Review: Over drinks at the most recent Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, a fellow mystery writer with whom I had made several Los Angeles appearances, elbowed me and inquired about the identity of the stunning brunette holding court down the bar. I explained that the exuberant woman was Lauren Henderson, the creator of Sam Jones. My friend was not familiar with Ms. Henderson's work so I went on to give him a brief explanation of Lauren Henderson, Sam Jones, and Tart Noir. BLACK RUBBER DRESS marks the literary debut of Sam Jones--Ms. Henderson's sassy and sexy artist/sleuth. It also marks quite an updating of your traditional British cozy. Actually, it invents a new sub-genre that has become known as Tart Noir. Sam Jones is Miss Marple for our time. She engages in casual sexual and drug use while she winnows a large field of suspects down to the actual killer. This book is a magnificently fun read. As with all Sam Jones novels, style matters as much as substance. Sam is a true original in mystery fiction. She is a strong, hip, and witty protagonist. Tart Noir is one of the freshest breezes to hit crime fiction in decades, and BLACK RUBBER DRESS is one of the best examples of this sub-genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Where the Rubber Leaves the Road
Review: Rarely have I read a book that makes less sense. A woman with a cockney accent makes fun of the upper classes by trying to imitate their speech. Yet, in a trice, she is part of that establishment. You would think that a big-name banker and his two daughters have better things to do than to take this wooly aluminum welder into their hearth and home. And Sebastian surely did not wait for this dishevelled creature to fill his bed. WHOLLY AND ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE.
Rating:
Summary: Sassy & fun urban antidote to the British cozy
Review: Sam Jones is a sassy, smart, sexy sculptor who has a penchant for finding herself in the middle of trouble. While wearing the eponymous black rubber dress, she witnesses all kinds of death and mayhem -- and stubbornly vows to get to the bottom of it. Lauren Henderson has created a fresh and original heroine that combines the urban sensibilities of the Bridget Jones ilk (without the looking for love in all the wrong places plot line) with a taut whodunit. A quick, fun read, a good solid mystery, plenty of laughs -- Kinsey Millhone and V.I. Warshawski watch out!
Rating:
Summary: Bursting at the seams with personality!
Review: Samantha Jones is one sassy, saucy tart. But don't call her Samantha. Call her Sam. This sculptor has just completed a commission for a large bank. She wears her fab new black rubber dress to the unveiling of her sculpture and the fun begins. She becomes involved with a banker. (Horrors! What will her friends think?) Like a tourist on holiday, Sam gets a taste of the plusher parts of London and the privilged life: an always full glass of champagne, better drugs, rich food and more attentive waiters. Needless to say, there is trouble in paradise and soon enough, people are dying and Sam has to get to the bottom of all this. Her tenacity gets her the answers she's looking for but not without getting her in some pretty hot water! Very entertaining read. I'll definitely be back to London for another adventure with Sam!
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