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Remember the eighties,
that decade of decadence? So does Alison Waxman Koff, mistress of Maplebark Manor, a
huge estate in upper-class Layton, Connecticut. But the decadent eighties seem so far
away for Alison, whose second husband, Sandy, lost everything in the stock market crash
on Black Monday and then left her for his ex-wife, leaving her with nothing but a
gigantic estate and a ton of debt.
Out of desperation, Alison takes a job
as a maid for crabby, demanding Melanie Molony, an expose journalist who’s in town to
write a book about Layton dance-instructor-turned-actor-turned-senator, Alastair Downs.
Alison, a part-time journalist for the local paper (which Downs owns) is hoping to learn
a thing or two from her employer—but all she really learns is how to clean an entire
house twice a day and still manage to get up and do it again the next day. She hates her
job—and the only way she survives is by fantasizing about murdering her boss.
But someone else does that for her.
One morning, Alison
arrives and begins cleaning the house. When Melanie is overdue for her lunch break,
Alison goes to Melanie’s office and finds her dead. And when she calls the police to
report the murder, they put Alison at the top of their list of suspects. So, along with
Cullie, her repulsively-average-photographer-turned-love-interest, Alison tries to do a
little detective work of her own—before she’s arrested for
murder.
Okay...so Cha Cha Cha is totally cliché. It’s got
everything your typical cliché chick-lit needs—lots of dirty little secrets, wrongful
accusations, a lonely and down-and-out main character who’s rich and obnoxious in the
beginning but really has a heart of gold, a few racy scenes, and a couple of people who
hate each other in the beginning and then start to fall in love. If you’re looking for
something original—or for fine literature—don’t read this book. But if you’re looking
for a fun, relaxing read that will, despite its clichés, bring a smile to your face, it’s
perfectly okay to pick this one up. Sometimes humorous, sometimes over-the-top and
melodramatic, Cha Cha Cha is a good book to take on vacation and read by the
pool.
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