Lauren Henderson

Page Updated: 06/03/03

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Lauren Henderson - Page 1

Chained

The Strawberry Tattoo

Freeze My Margarita

The Black Rubber Dress

Dead White Female

by Lauren Henderson

About the Author (Photo (c) Paddy Cook)

Bibliography

Chained
See Review by Cath Staincliffe - Author of the highly acclaimed Sal Kilkenny Mysteries set on the Mean Streets of Manchester

When Sam Jones wakes up handcuffed in a cellar with a roaring headache and blurred vision she naturally assumes she is suffering the aftermath of a great night out. But then she realises that she's chained to a beam in the ceiling and the cellar door is locked. As her memory returns, she recalls all too vividly being kidnapped from the car-park of the film studios where her boyfriend, Hugo, is shooting a TV series. Before Sam gets free she's going to have to work out what her kidnappers are playing at. Is she their real target, or have they mistaken her for someone in the series? And what are they after - money, perverted kicks or publicity for a cause? Meanwhile Sam has a stinking headache and no Solpadeine.
Even so she starts to plan her escape strategy. Sam may be hungover and handcuffed but cross her and she's always dangerous.
Wreaking a nasty revenge on her kidnappers, Sam manages to escape. Or so she thinks... It is only the first twist in a plot which will require all her ingenuity to solve.
Action packed, racy as ever, Chained! should satisfy even the most demanding fans of Sam Jones's exploits.

Born in London in 1966, Lauren Henderson read English at university and then worked as a journalist for - among other publications - the New Statesman, Marxism Today, the Observer and Lime Lizard, a much-mourned indie music magazine. Lauren now divides her time between Italy and London and, when not wine-tasting, writes full-time.

First British Edition Hutchinson (1999)

Paperback - Arrow (2000)

The Strawberry Tattoo
The latest instalment of Sam Jones's adventures finds her in fighting form - in all senses of the word.
Sam Jones, sculptress and reluctant sleuth, can't resist the opportunity to do Manhattan when she's invited to New York for a group show at a gallery featuring young British artists. With frightening ease she finds her feet and a series of barstools in East Village dives. New York, as loud and brash as Sam herself, welcomes her with open arms and plenty of excellent Mexican food, not to mention Sam's favourite margaritas...
Despite her promises to stay out of trouble however, almost as soon as she arrives one of the gallery employees is found strangled in Strawberry Fields and the gallery itself has been trashed with graffiti - more red paint and swearwords than a New York subway train.
Meanwhile the rest of the young British artists are turning up in New York, including the one Sam drunkenly fumbled in a club toilet not so long ago.
'Sam Jones, the funkiest detective on the block' Daily Mail
'Camden town heroine Sam Jones really struts her stuff… this lady has the kind of style and chutzpah of the rare kind of 'alternative' comedian who actually makes you laugh.' Mail on Sunday
'Not read Lauren Henderson yet? High time you started! There is a real freshness, verve and astringency about her' Colin Dexter

British Pbk Original - Hutchinson (1998)

Freeze My Margarita
See Review by Val McDermid - Gold Dagger winner & creator of Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan & Tony Hill
See Review by Mat Coward
Sam Jones is back, and she's still wearing rubber. A chance meeting in a fetish club with an old friend from art school, now set-designing, garners her a commission to create a series of mobiles for his latest production. Sam can't resist most things, and certainly not a challenge. Before you can say the Collected Works of Shakespeare' she plunges into thte world of the theatre. To her dismay she finds that the appalling Helen, girlfriend of Sam's mate Janey, is a member of the cast; but there are many redeeming features, including a rapport with an enigmatic and acidly witty actor named Hugo, possessor of a Lord Peter Wimsey drawl, Hard Candy-varnished fingernails and a perfectly-formed bottom. Now if Sam could only be sure whether he was gay or not…
This pressing question is only overshadowed by the discovery of a very dead body in the sump under the theatre. Sam iby now is so accustomed to finding decomposing corpses that she's wondering whether she's the bastard lovechild of Scully and Mulder.
As the mysterious deaths keep on coming and a practical joker starts to sabotage performances of the play, Sam barely has time to knock back a few frozen margaritas, sort out her sex life and save the man she loves in the midst of the maelstrom...
'Radiates with energy and wit, Income support with glamour and attitude' Evening Standard
'If Baroness Jay were on the ball, her first choice as a role model for girls would fall on Camden Town sculptress Sam Jones. Lively, iconoclastic (except as far as her own work is concerned), and willing to succumb to any sensory temptation on offer, Sam is definitely a heroine for the new millenium' T.J.Binyon, Evening Standard

Paperback - Arrow (1998)

The Black Rubber Dress
Sam Jones, the sculptress turned private detective, is sexy, sarcastic and stroppy.
Sam is the sort of person who leaps at danger like she leaps at her men, who decides that a tasteful little number in black rubber is appropriate attire for the launch of her sculpture at a staid City bank. In her run-down Holloway warehouse she has just finished her latest mobile - 'Thing 111' (renamed Floating Planet by her agent) - and she is all set for its launch in the atrium of a well known City bank. However, things take a turn for the worse, and when one of the guests is murdered, Sam embarks on her own investigation.
Thrown into a social world distinctly different from her own, vodka swigging Sam feels that she has taken on more than even she can chew. Surrounded by loudmouthed merchant bankers who earn obscene amounts of money, the last thing she expects is to have a wild affair with Sebastian, also a merchant banker who drives a BMW and lives in a flat to die for in Kensington. Think of her 'street cred'! Sam is in a world not her own; and as the deaths increase she comes to realise that her own life is at risk. Lauren Henderson is very, much like heroine - young, urban and highly intelligent. She read English at University and then worked as a journalist for - among other publications - The Observer, The New Statesman and Marxism Today before abandoning her wild-life for some peace and quiet in Italy. Lauren now divides her time between Italy and London and, when not eating pasta, writes full time.
'The story sizzles right form page on… you won't be able to sleep till you've found out whodunnit' Company
'Sam Jones is a breathless heroine of charming stubbornness, quick repartee and impulsive conduct, a lively and fresh antidote to the sometimes over serious attitudes of some of today's women of detection.' The Times
'Camden town heroine Sam Jones really struts her stuff ... this lady has the kind of style and chutzpah of the rare kind of 'alternative' comedian who actually makes you laugh.' The Mail on Sunday
'Genuinely tough-minded, with Sam knocking back the booze, wallowing in daytime TV and pursuing sex in beds, parks and taxis in a way that nice girls rarely own up to' Literary Review

Paperback - NEL (1996)

Dead White Female
See Review by Val McDermid - Gold Dagger winner & creator of Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan & Tony Hill
Sam Jones, young, sexy, funny and sharp - lives hard, plays harder and knows London like the back of her hand.
When Lee Jackson is found dead after a party, the police believe it was an accident but Sam Jones is convinced it is murder. Frustrated by the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." attitude of her friends she abandons the sculpture she is working on and begins to investigate her art tutor's death. Dead White Female marks the debut of an exciting new talent.
"Cool, Savy and sharp, Lauren Henderson's tenacious heroine is the best new girl on the block I've met in a long time." Val McDermid Manchester Evening News
"The whole thing radiates with energy and wit" Frances Fyfield, Evening Standard
"A first novel, bristling with a kind of spiky charm that's hard to come by, harder to resist" Literary Review
"Debut with bags of promise... Gets a high rating on the street cred scale" Daily Telegraph

About The Author
Born in London in 1966, Lauren Henderson is a former journalist and Cambridge English graduate, who has worked for the New Statesman, Marxism Today, The Observer and Lime Lizard, an indie music magazine. She now divides her time between Italy and London and, when not wine-tasting and eating pasta, writes full time.

Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

Chained (Hutchinson, 2000) Hutchinson Pbk Jun 00

The Strawberry Tattoo (Hutchinson, 1999) Arrow Pbk Jul 00 (Sam Jones)

Freeze My Margarita (Hutchinson Pbk, 1998) (Sam Jones)

The Black Rubber Dress (Hutchinson, 1997) Arrow Pbk 1998 (Sam Jones)

Dead White Female (Hodder & Stoughton, 1996) NEL Pbk 1996 (Sam Jones)

Too Many Blondes (Hodder & Stoughton, 1996) Sphere Pbk 1997 (Sam Jones)