Barbara Silkstone's take on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is a fun adventure, a book filled with greed, murder, romance and comedy. Alice Harte is an extremely likeable character. She just wants what most women want: a good job, a nice place to live and someone to share her life with. Unfortunately when her job starts to go south because of her boss from hell, her life takes on a crazy spin. She finds romance via the internet with a mystery man who helps her escape her problems at home for a while, but unfortunately, this relationship brings with it its own craziness. This book is like all of Silkstone's other's--fast-paced, filled with murder, mystery and laughs along the way. A delightful read! ( )

A murder by beheading sends Alice Harte, reluctant real estate broker for thugs, running into the arms of Nigel Channing, a charming British con man.

This comedy mystery, the first in a series of criminally funny fables, is set in Miami and London. Fans of Stephanie Plum will cheer for Alice as she watches her back in attempting to keep her head, while being stalked by Nigel's daft ex-wife and inept, but dangerous mobsters. Alice's world is filled with memorable characters strangely reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. She's guided through her dangerous adventure by her own Cheshire Cat.

Nigel, a chubby John Cleese with serious dress-code problems, whisks Alice to England. Alice sees him as her White Rabbit rescuer. The plot trips along at a cracking pace with Alice flinging zingers like a drive-by shooter.

After Alice discovers a gangster's freshly beheaded body in his Miami mansion, she launches a desperate self-defense in a kangaroo court. The main witness against her is Algy Green, a bumbling cockney swindler who super-glues his bat wing ears to his head and commits perjury for theme park tickets. But in the middle of the trial a small piece of evidence opens her eyes. ( )

Barbara Silkstone's quirky new novel is a tribute to the genius of the Lewis Carrol classic, Alice in Wonderland. Alice, aged 42 and 3/4, is caught between her homicidal real estate boss and his rival, out for revenge of the beheading of his brother. Desperate to avoid Tweedledee and Tweedledum and to keep her head, Alice decides to escape to England and during her online search for a hideaway meets Nigel, a (possibly) handsome British charmer who offers to fulfil all her dreams. Alice quickly discovers that Nigel is too good to be true as he whisks her from place to place, always looking over his shoulder. When Alice returns to the US, her dreams in tatters, she must find a way out of the rabbit hole.Silkstone has created an unusual story that interjects elements of fantasy with contemporary characters and plot which makes for a fun and unpredictable read. There several touches of the absurd, including the grinning Cheshire cat and the rabid rabbits, but they work within the spirit of the novel. Essentially it's a mystery/suspense, as Alice needs find the truth behind her boss's unsavoury work ethic and Lizard Links to save herself from being dragged into court or worse, and avoid the mysterious Mr Hare who wants proof of her boss's wrongdoings and won't take no for an answer. There is also a generous component of romantic comedy as Alice pursues her British dream man. I quite liked Alice, though she was an odd combination of practicality and fantasist. The first person point of view stemming from Alice's diary entries gives the reader an insight into her character and her motivations as she careens through the plot. The relationship between Alice and Nigel is a little like a screwball romantic comedy. Alice is so desperate to cling to her fantasies that she ignores Nigel's inconsistencies until she really has no option but to concede defeat. Silkstone kept me guessing about Nigel and his motovations right up to the end where his escape with Maris made perfect sense. The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, aged 42 and three-quarters is an unusual tale, that is entertaining with a unique point of difference from the usual fare of the genre. It's sure to appeal to readers who like something just a little left of center. ( )

It's been a while since I read the original Alice in Wonderland so I'm sure I missed some references, but I still very much enjoyed this book. Alice, a real estate broker, seeks to escape the clutches of her evil boss. She meets Nigel, an Englishman, online and runs off to be with him. As it turns out, his world seems just as chaotic as hers and she returns to the states to resolve her own problems. Filled with hilarious twists and turns as well as Alice in Wonderland references, The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters is a fun and funny novel. ( )