Audiobook Review: All Eyes on Me by Linsey Lanier

All Eyes on Me
Author: Linsay Lanier
Narrator: Kristen James
Series: A Miranda and Parker Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Felicity Books (July 8, 2024)
Length: 7 hours and 18 minutes

Description: The Las Vegas desert.

A once famous pop singer lies dead.

The only clue to her murder—a bizarre disfigurement.

Only one thing to do.

Call in Parker and Steele.

To avoid the hassle of a media frenzy, the local police sergeant decides to contact his old mentor, Wade Parker, and ask him to consult on the case.

After nearly dying eight months ago, Miranda Steele can't wait to get back to real detective work.

Nobody deserves to die that way.

But this one isn’t so easy. If she can't solve this case, not only will she fail her destiny, another psycho killer might get away with murder.

Meanwhile, Parker harbors secret reservations about their new venture together.

Especially when he suspects there might be more to this murder than meets the...eye.

You’ll love this intriguing mystery full of twists and turns, because it’s the start of many more adventures.

My Thoughts: This is the first Miranda and Parker mystery. There is apparently considerable backstory in the Miranda's Rights mysteries which I haven't read. 

As I began this one, I met Miranda Steele and Wade Parker. He's an upper-class private investigator in Atlanta, Georgia. She's his new wife and former apprentice. They were called by one of Wade's former apprentices who is now a sergeant in the Las Vegas Police Department.

It seems that the sergeant has a case he wants to palm off on someone else. A once famous pop singer has been discovered murdered in the desert outside of Las Vegas. She's found with one eye removed by a melon baller. The mutilation is reminiscent of her most popular song All Eyes on Me. Everyone is going to be paying attention as this crime is investigated, and the sergeant doesn't want any part of it. 

Parker has been thinking of branching out to work as consultants for other police departments. This looks like a good first test case. He also wants to gently get his new wife involved in investigating again as she's recovering from a serious injury. A roll of the dice makes Miranda the lead in the investigation. 

Miranda and Parker are confronted with a wide variety of suspects since the singer has a popular show in Las Vegas and a variety of hangers-on including her former Elvis impersonator husband who has turned into her business manager and her sister who works in the background of her productions. Then there is the chauffeur who wants to be in her band and her personal chef who is very tired of always being asked to make melon balls. 

I found this story to be entertaining even if is it wildly unrealistic. I don't believe that police departments farm out murder investigations to hired private investigators. I did enjoy the way Miranda identified suspects and was so sure that each was guilty until evidence showed they weren't. The narrator did a good job ramping up the tension. 

I bought the Kindle version and the Chirp Audiobook March 25, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: All Eyes on Me by Linsey Lanier

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:

He told her she was stupid. He called her a whore. He said she was ruined. He told her he'd given away her three-week old baby to strangers. 

Friday 56:

She sat up and pulled her bare feet under her as if she had to think about that. "Is he doing all right?"

This week I am spotlighting All Eyes on Me by Linsay Lanier. I bought the Kindle version and Chirp audiobook March 25, 2025. Here is the description from Amazon:

The Las Vegas desert.

A once famous pop singer lies dead.

The only clue to her murder—a bizarre disfigurement. Only one thing to do.

Call in Parker and Steele.

To avoid the hassle of a media frenzy, the local police sergeant decides contact his old mentor, Wade Parker, and ask him to consult on the case.

After nearly dying eight months ago, Miranda Steele can't wait to get back to real detective work. Nobody deserves to die that way.

But this one isn’t so easy.

If she can't solve this case, not only will she fail her destiny, another psycho killer might get away with murder.

Meanwhile, Parker harbors secret reservations about their new venture together.

Especially when he suspects there might be more to this murder than meets the...eye.

You’ll love this intriguing mystery full of twists and turns, because it’s the start of many more adventures.

Audiobook Review: Murder at Glenloch Hill by Clara McKenna

Murder at Glenloch Hill
Author: Clara McKenna
Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman
Series: Stella and Lyndy (Book 6)
Publication: Recorded Books (November 26, 2024)
Length: 8 hours and 30 minutes

Description: On a weekend trip to the Scottish countryside, American transplant Stella and British aristocrat Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst, learn how sinister bad sportsmanship can be when a prestigious golf tournament becomes a deadly game of murder …

Along with cheering on her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Freddie Kentfield, at The British Open in Scotland, Stella embraces the chance to connect with her distant cousins, the McEwens, at their grand estate, Glenloch Hill. But she and Lyndy don’t receive the warm welcome they expect when their arrival is marred by missing luggage, evasive hosts, and the perceived mistreatment of a young laundry maid. Adding to the tense atmosphere, Freddie’s roguish father, Sir Edwin, appears at the manor uninvited, his presence casting a shadow over the events—and stirring up more unanswered questions …

As golf clubs swing on the green, so do Lyndy’s fists in an uncharacteristic outburst. Chaotic circumstances take a dark turn when Sir Edwin is found bludgeoned outside the laundry house—the maid waiting beside the body, no murder weapon in sight—and all eyes on Lyndy …

Suddenly caught in a whirlwind of kilts, elite golfers, and deadly rumors, Stella rushes to protect Lyndy’s innocence and save herself from real danger. But can she both navigate the unspoken rules at Glenloch Hill and survive a cutthroat competition against a killer who will stop at nothing to win?

My Thoughts: Stella and Lyndy travel to Scotland in this sixth historical mystery. They are to be meeting relatives of her deceased father and watching the British Open golf tournament. They are accompanied by Stella's sister-in-law and her fiancé Freddie Kentfield who is a promising amateur golfer.

They are unexpectedly greeted by Sir Edwin Kentfield, Freddie's father and Lyndy's mothers former flame, which is an unpleasant surprise. He is a friend of her cousin Hamish, but it isn't clear why he's there. He certainly didn't come to see his son compete.

That is the first of many odd things about their visit. They are missing some of their luggage. Their hosts seem evasive and not exactly welcoming. And Stella soon finds a young laundry maid being importuned by one of the gentlemen guests. The maid names Sir Edwin which causes Lyndy to plant him a facer when they meet for dinner. 

Unfortunately, the next morning the maid and Stella stumble upon Sir Edwin's body. He was bludgeoned to death. The chief inspector, who happens to be a close friend of Stella's hosts, decides that Lyndy would make a perfect suspect. Stella needs to investigate to save Lyndy's life and puts herself in danger to do so. 

I enjoyed this historical mystery. I liked the Scottish setting and the information about golf. 

I bought this one November 29, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Executive Order by Max Allan Collins

Executive Order
Author: Max Allan Collins & Matthew V. Clemens
Narrator: Dan John Miller
Series: Reeder and Rogers Thriller (Book 3)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (April 11, 2017)
Length: 8 hours and 21 minutes

Description: A riveting novel by MWA Grand Master Award winner Max Allan Collins.

In Eastern Europe four CIA agents are dead - geopolitical pawns caught in border dispute cross fire. Why were they there? Who sent them? Not even the President knows.

Back in Washington, the Secretary of the Interior dies from an apparent allergic shock. As details emerge, so do suspicions that she was murdered.

Investigating their respective cases, ex - Secret Service agent Joe Reeder and FBI Special Situations Task Force leader Patti Rogers recognize a dangerous conspiracy is in play. When suspects and government contacts are killed off with expert precision, their worst fears are confirmed. As the country edges closer and closer to war, Reeder and Rogers must protect the President - and each other - from an unseen enemy who's somehow always one step ahead.

The stakes have never been higher, against killers who might be anywhere, and Reeder and Rogers have no one to trust but each other.

My Thoughts: The third thriller starring Joe Reeder and Patti Rogers begins with four CIA operatives dying in Azbekistan as the Russians invade. The President calls upon Joe to find out who gave the orders sending the agents into Azbekistan since he had ordered that no agents be in that country. The deaths have brought the US and Russia almost to the brink of war with hawks in the Administration agitating for a declaration of war. 

Meanwhile, Joe is concerned about the death of the head of the Department of the Interior due to an allergic reaction. He had dated her and finds the death suspicious. He calls on his friend Patti to have her and her FBI team look into the death which quickly becomes a murder investigation. 

At first, the two cases don't look to be related but it doesn't take long for Reeder and Rogers to discovers ties to a huge conspiracy to take over the government. The conspiracy has reached deep into all branches of the government leaving them no knowing who to trust.

This was an intense, engaging thriller set in a near future USA. The characters are intriguing and the plot twisty. As narrator, Dan John Miller did an excellent job both illuminating the characters and ramping up the tension of the story. 

I bought this one June 28, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Murder at Keyhaven Castle by Clara McKenna

Murder at Keyhaven Castle
Author: Clara McKenna
Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman
Series: A Stella and Lyndy Mystery (Book 3)
Publication: Highbridge (June 29, 2021)
Length: 8 hours and 43 minutes

Description: Between ornate bridal gown fittings and meetings with Lyndy's distant relatives, Stella finally feels less like an out-of-place American and more like a respected aristocrat. Everything changes as the arrival of an anonymous gift and return of her overbearing father cast a dark shadow over the festivities, conjuring difficult memories and new fears....

Tensions intensify when a daytrip to Southampton ends with a suspicious stranger getting trampled by a horse-drawn cab. Before anyone can explain why the victim possessed a newspaper clipping about the upcoming ceremony at Morrington Hall, tragedy strikes again, this time resulting in a murder that turns Stella's world completely upside down while implicating one of Lyndy's well-regarded family members....

Facing loss, postponed nuptials, and uncertain threats, Stella and Lyndy rush to connect two very different crimes and identify the guilty culprit hiding among elite wedding guests. But as the couple blows the lid off of scandalous secrets, they realize that catching this killer - and living to tell the tale - may prove as impossible as closing the class divide.

My Thoughts: With just days to go before their wedding, Stella is busy with last minute dress fittings and other details. She goes with her father to Southampton to pick up some wedding guests he invited and witnesses a runaway carriage and the death of a man who happens to have a copy of her wedding announcement in his pocket.

Along with her father's guests, Stella has invited some guests of her own including her Aunt Ivy. Her father had thrown Aunt Ivy out of his and Stella's life some time ago. There is also an uninvited guest too. Stella's uncle and his two young children have arrived. He's her father's brother and to say that they don't get along is vastly understating the case. 

When a visit to Keyhaven Castle brings with it a murder, Stella and Lyndy are forced to postpone their wedding again which suits neither of them. Together and separately, they investigate both deaths and find connections between them. They are determined to find the murderer who happens to be among their wedding guests and get married as soon as possible. 

This was another excellent episode in the Stella and Lyndy series. I really enjoyed the historical details. I like both main characters and want them to have their happily ever after. 

I bought this one from Chirp July 25, 2023. It is also available through Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Burn This Night by Alex Kenna

Burn This Night
Author: Alex Kenna
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (November 12, 2024)

Description: Told in alternating timelines, this gripping mystery about a PI and her quest for answers is full of twists and turns, perfect for fans of Allison Brennan and Gytha Lodge.

Struggling private investigator Kate Myles is shattered to learn her late father isn’t her biological dad. She’s still reeling when she discovers that an unknown distant relative is the prime suspect in a decades-old murder investigation. Trying to convince her to take on the case for free, an old colleague recommends her as an investigator for a recent arson murder in the same small town.

After giving up on a failed acting career, Abby Coburn is starting over as a promising social work student. With her life on the right track, she’s determined to help her brother, Jacob, whose meth addiction triggered a psychotic break and descent into crime. But when Abby dies in a fire that kills two other people and destroys part of the town, the police immediately suspect Jacob.

As the Coburn family grapples with the tragedy, Kate begins unraveling the cold case but finds herself caught in the middle of an emotional minefield. Pretty soon, she discovers that this town is full of dark secrets, and as she comes closer and closer to figuring out the truth, Kate must solve both murders before she becomes the next victim.

My Thoughts: In the second Kate Miles mystery, Kate is hit with a bombshell. She learns that the man she believed was her father was not her biological father. She loved and wanted to be like her dad, but this news explains a lot of things. She has never looked like the rest of the family. She has ADHD. She isn't the athlete her father was. Her mother is stonewalling her leaving her floundering for answers.

While she's still reeling, she gets a call from some retired cops who are now investigating cold cases for the county. She learns that she is a distant cousin of the prime suspect in an old murder case. They want her to investigate for free but have arranged to have her hired to work with an attorney to investigate a much more recent crime. A meth-addicted man is accused of setting a fire that killed his sister and two other people. 

Kate travels to the small town with the intent of trying to find her biological father and maybe solving the old murder while doing her current investigations. The cases soon become intertwined as Kate tries to track down the killer in the old murder and finds connections - and distant relatives - with roles in the current investigation.

This was an engaging story filled with interesting characters. I liked Kate who is struggling to rebuild her life and make a life for herself and her daughter. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Buried Lies by Steven Tingle

Buried Lies
Author: Steven Tingle
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (October 15, 2024)

Description: A former private detective with a penchant for trouble stumbles into a deadly conspiracy that puts him in a killer’s crosshairs in this witty crime novel, perfect for fans of Timothy Hallinan and Janet Evanovich.

Former police officer turned private detective Davis Reed is taking refuge in the mountains of Cruso, North Carolina, after a run-in with a biker gang dealt him an unfavorable hand. When respected real estate agent Prentiss Wells is killed by an errant golf ball, Davis has no reason to suspect it wasn’t an accident. But then a wealthy couple hires him to prove the death was murder and catch the killer. In desperate need of cash, Davis takes the job.

While Davis investigates who had the motive to kill Prentiss, Elizabeth Harper, an accountant who stirs butterflies in Davis’s stomach, uncovers a tangled mess of shady real estate deals linked to Prentiss’s firm. As the case garners media attention, Davis must carefully navigate a minefield of secrets and lies.

With the help of his friend Dale Johnson, a local deputy whose mood changes with the wind, and Dale’s cousin Floppy, a mad-genius, motor-mouthed mechanic, Davis sets out to uncover a mystery that runs much deeper than he thinks.

My Thoughts: Davis Reed is busy sitting on his porch, looking at the mountains, drinking beer, and not writing the book he said he was going to write when his friend Deputy Dale Johnson calls him to go look at a body. Prentiss Wells was playing golf with his buddies when he was apparently struck and killed by a golf ball. At first, everyone is willing to write it off as just a weird accident.

But when a local rich, eccentric couple who like to play detectives hires Davis to prove that the death was murder, Davis who badly needs the money since his settlement with the Charleston Police Force is tied up in legal wrangling decides to look into things. 

There are a lot of questions. First, why was the foursome playing that course when they were members of a different country club? Second, does the death have anything to do with an accidental death from 1988 when Wells struck and killed a young burglar? 

As Davis, a former private investigator, looks into things with the help of both Dale and Dale's eccentric cousin Floppy, he uncovers a lot of local secrets and connections between the characters. From what really happened in 1988 to a real estate scam being perpetrated by the other members of Wells' foursome, secrets are gradually revealed. 

I enjoyed Davis's character. He is smart but also suffers from anxiety and maybe a bit of depression. He is still getting over the first case he solved when he came to Cruso, North Carolina, and is still concerned with being the target of a motorcycle gang whose illegal activities he, Dale and Floppy uncovered. 

My favorite character was Floppy who is eccentric, a motormouth, and something of a mechanical genius. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Long Time Gone by Hannah Martian

Long Time Gone
Author: Hannah Martian
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (October 15, 2024)

Description: A family goes to drastic lengths to protect their version of the truth in this dual-timeline rural debut mystery, perfect for readers of Kelly J. Ford and Hayley Scrivenor.

In the small town of Wonderland, Wyoming, the truth is whatever the Coldwater family says it is. When their prodigal daughter, Jessica, was murdered forty years ago, their truth was that Holly Prine killed her–regardless of Holly’s innocence.

But the Coldwaters aren’t the only reason private investigator Quinn Cuthridge hasn’t set foot in the town in nearly a decade. After her aunt sent her away when she was a teen, Quinn swore she’d never return. When she gets an unexpected call from her aunt’s ranch hand, Hunter, Quinn learns that her aunt has gone missing. Reluctantly, she returns to Wyoming to investigate and soon realizes that her aunt was getting dangerously close to long-buried Wonderland secrets, including who really murdered Jessica Coldwater.

As Hunter and Quinn dig into what lies in the Wyoming backcountry, attraction flares between the two women, complicating their investigation–and Quinn’s steadfast refusal to have any ties to Wonderland. With someone threatening Quinn and her own dark past echoing in the present, Quinn must struggle against her hometown and herself to find the truth in this rich queer mystery.

My Thoughts: Loud and proud lesbian PI Quinn Cuthridge comes back to Wonderland, Wyoming, when she gets a call from Hunter telling her that her aunt has disappeared. Quinn hasn't seen her aunt Cora for eight years since she sent Quinn away and told her she never wanted to see her again. 

Quinn learns that her aunt was very interested in a forty-year-old mystery when Jessica Coldwater died and her best friend Holly Prine disappeared. It had been assumed that Holly had murdered Jessica but Aunt Cora didn't believe that. 

Quinn finds herself investigating the old crime while she investigates her aunt's disappearance. She learns that the Coldwater name still holds vast importance in Wonderland, and no one wants the old crime investigated. 

The book is told with a dual timeline so that we can find out what happened between Jessica and Holly who are beginning their own lesbian relationship and running afoul of the Coldwater matriarch. The parallels between Quinn's growing relationship with Hunter and Holly's with Jessica provide Mirrors of each other. 

The story was interesting and the characters compelling. The twists and turns of the story provided all sorts of surprises. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Murder at Blackwater Bend by Clare McKenna

Murder at Blackwater Bend
Author: Clare McKenna
Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman
Series: A Stella and Lyndy Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Highbridge (June 30, 2020
Length: 10 hours and 10 minutes

Description: Following a whirlwind engagement to Viscount "Lyndy" Lyndhurst, Stella Kendrick is finding her footing within an elite social circle in picturesque rural England. Except tea time with refined friends can be more dangerous than etiquette faux pas - especially in the company of Lady Philippa, the woman Lyndy was once set to marry, and her husband, the ostentatious Lord Fairbrother....

Outrage erupts and accusations fly after Lord Fairbrother's pony wins best in breed for the seventh consecutive year. The man has his share of secrets and adversaries, but Stella and Lyndy are in for a brutal shock when they discover his body floating in the river during a quiet morning fishing trip....

Suddenly unwelcome around hardly-grieving Lady Philippa and Lyndy's endlessly critical mother, Stella faces the bitter reality that she may always be an outsider - and one of her trusted new acquaintances may be a calculating killer. Now, Stella and her fiance must fight against the current to catch the culprit, before they're the next couple torn apart by tragedy.

My Thoughts: The second Lyndy and Stella historical mystery takes place right after the couple engagement. Stella is trying to find her feet in English society with no help from her future mother-in-law Lady Atherton who still thinks Lyndy can do better. Her boorish father is also no help since he's developing a relationship with an attractive London journalist who wants to write all the details about the up-coming wedding, but who also has a hidden agenda.

When the husband of Lady Atherton's pick for Lyndy's wife is found dead in a local trout stream by Lyndy and Stella on an early morning fishing trip, they have to add a murder investigation to their pre-wedding plans. Lord Fairbrother was not a nice man. Just a little investigation shows that he took bribes and may also be blackmailing people.

The suspects abound. Besides the suspicious journalist and the not-so-grieving widow, there is a plant hunter who seems particularly close to the widow and a local landowner who was one of the people Lord Fairbrother was working with. The local widow is busy throwing suspicion on the local snake catcher who is a favorite of Stella's because of the way he helped her horse when it was bitten by a snake. But he is soon found murdered too. 

I enjoyed the historical setting. I like watching the way Stella and Lyndy's romance is growing. The mystery was also nicely twisty.

I bought this one from Chirp July 25, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: One Hit Wonder by Kristi Rose

One Hit Wonder
Author: Kristi Rose
Narrator: Jennifer Stoneking
Series: A Samantha True Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Vintage Housewife Books (December 15, 2019)
Length: 2 hours and 55 minutes

Description: Sometimes it's not opportunity knocking, it's trouble.

On the night of Samantha True’s first job as a forensic photographer she learns three things:

1. Crime scenes are messy.
2. Especially when you throw up on them.
3. She may not be cut out for this.

When the police drag her to a second investigation, she’s just as baffled by the crime scene as they are. Why is the school lunch lady, Miss Trina, chained to a pole? Is this somehow connected to the robberies taking place all over Wind River?

Samantha might not be cut out for photographing blood-covered crime scenes, but being the daughter of the town newspaperman, she has plenty of investigating intuition. Besides, this is her hometown, and she’s not about to let it become ravaged by crime.

As she digs deeper into the photographic evidence, she realizes her small town is full of secrets. And she might be happier staying in the dark.

A laugh-out-loud mystery that will keep you guessing and listening on. One Hit Wonder offers the just-right listener escape, but fair warning, this audiobook leaves listeners wanting more.

My Thoughts: This short novel introduces Samantha True who is training to be a crime scene photographer. Her first call-out by the local police department coincides with a raging case of the flu and results in her vomiting on the crime scene - a deer-car collision. 

Then she is called to a second crime scene. This time the beloved lunch lady from her school has been blindfolded and handcuffed to a pole and then had her car pushed into her. Samantha is determined to find out who did that to her beloved Miss Trina. But her investigation leads to secrets in her small town.

One unique feature about Samanta is that she is dyslexic but has an amazing visual memory. Her visual memory is one of the factors that enable her to solve the crime. I enjoyed her and enjoyed her best friend Precious who has a bigfoot obsession. 

I bought this one from Chirp May 3, 2022. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: The Single Twin by Sean Patrick Little

The Single Twin
Author: Sean Patrick Little
Series: Abe and Duff Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Spilled Inc. Press; 1st edition (December 2, 2019)

Description: Abe Allard and C.S. Duffy are not handsome, wise, or tough. They’re not successful. They’re not good at much, but they do know how to solve a mystery. A woman digging into the adoption of her long-lost twin brother starts getting close to a long-buried secret which riles up those who would rather it stayed hidden. Fearing for her safety, she asks Abe and Duff to find out what really happened that night, and why someone might be willing to kill to keep this adoption from being brought to light.

My Thoughts: The first Abe and Duff mystery introduces two unlikely detectives with as many psychological problems as they have IQ points. 

Abe is recently divorced. His wife came out as a lesbian. He moved into a cheap apartment to leave his house for his ex-wife and teenage daughter. Duff is a loner who lives in their office and likes to pick fights. Both work as consultants for the Chicago police department when the department runs into a tough case to solve. 

When Mindy Jefferson comes to them with a problem, they find themselves dealing with a long-term political coverup. Mindy's mother has recently passed away from cancer. Before she dies, she tells Mindy that she had a twin brother. Mindy is determined to find her missing twin and, as a former CIA analyst, she should have the skills to do so. However, she's found herself in a hornet's nest and needs to disappear. 

Abe and Duff take the case which comes with a hefty fee for each of them. They begin to look into a possible crime that happened 35 years earlier and soon discover that Marcus Stevens, the son of long-time Chicago politician and long-time senator Robert "Even" Stevens, might be Mindy's missing brother. 

Believing it is one thing, proving it is quite another and very dangerous for the detective duo as someone is willing to do anything to keep the secret. 

I enjoyed this mystery. The characters were interesting people with real problems. The banter between the two partners was quite witty. 

Favorite Quote:

Both men were slump-shouldered, out of shape, and looked like they'd gone seven rounds with Life and their cornermen had thrown in the towel. They were a modern-day Laurel and Hardy without any of the joy, optimism, or charm. 

I bought this one January 20, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen

Hard Rain
Author: Samantha Jayne Allen
Series: Annie McIntyre Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (April 18, 2023)

Description: From the Tony Hillerman Prize-winning author of Pay Dirt Road comes Hard Rain, Samantha Jayne Allen's mesmerizing next novel set in a hardscrabble Texas town dealing with disaster.

In shock and found clinging to a tree branch, Bethany Richter is pulled from thrashing floodwaters that have decimated the town of Garnett, Texas and killed a dozen others.

Six months after solving the murder of a local waitress, Annie McIntyre is working as an apprentice P.I. when she's handed her first solo case: uncover the identity of the man who rescued Bethany before he was swept downriver.

When Annie's search turns up a different victim—shot dead, not drowned—Annie questions if the hero they seek is actually a killer.

Flexing her new skills while relying on the wisdom of her eccentric, ex-cop grandfather, the case leads Annie into a web of drug dealers, preachers, and wayward drifters trying to make sense of life after a disaster. Annie's own convictions are put to the ultimate test as long-held secrets, corruption, and violence are exposed like the ruin that lies beneath receding waters.

My Thoughts: Flash floods have decimated the town of Garnett, Texas, and Bethany Richter was found clinging to a tree branch. A dozen people were killed and property was destroyed. Annie McIntyre just managed to get to her apartment building when the floods came and spent three days marooned in her third-floor apartment.

A couple of weeks later, Bethany, a childhood acquaintance who was a friend of Annie's cousin Nikki, comes to Annie because she wants to hire her to find the man who rescued her during the flood and who has disappeared.

Searching for the missing man will be Annie's first independent case as a partner in the private investigations firm started by her now retired grandfather and his business partner. Naturally, she goes to her grandfather for advice. He suggests going back to the scene of Bethany's rescue to get a feel for the area.

While Annie is at the scene she discovers the body of a woman in her own pickup. However, Jacinda did not drown, she was shot to death. Annie wonders if the shot woman and the missing man are connected. She finds that both have ties to the local megachurch where Bethany's husband is the son of the founder and an assistant preacher.

As Annie looks into things, she finds herself discovering drug running and financial misdealing on her way to discovering a murderer.

This was another excellent mystery with intriguing characters. 

Favorite Quote:

People like to say that nothing ever happens around here, but it's not true. What they really meant was it wasn't getting better. The changes that had come to Garnett were like erosion -- of occupied houses, open businesses, maintained lawns -- and the courthouse, the square, and the nice parts fanning out from it like an island losing land mass.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Lights, Camera, Bones by Carolyn Haines

Lights, Camera, Bones
Author: Carolyn Haines
Series: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery (Book 27)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 21, 2024)

Description: The latest novel in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.

Delaney Detective Agency gets a taste of the spotlight when they are called to a case on a movie set in Greenville, MS, right on the Mississippi River. Marlon Brandon, heir to a wealthy and influential political family, has brought a film crew to town to film a drama about the 1927 flood that submerged a great deal of Greenville. Marlon wants the world to know the story of the flood―and the heroic role the Brandon ancestors played in rescuing dozens of local residents from drowning.

Or at least that was the plan until he disappeared. If this weren't concerning enough, the situation appears even more dire when a severed foot is discovered in the Mississippi River, and clues indicate that Marlon may have fallen victim to a freak bull shark attack.

But as rumors swirl around the Delta about Marlon's motives for making the film, Sarah Booth and Tinkie have to wonder whether a shark is to blame, or an equally ferocious human offender. The show must go on, and Sarah Booth and her crew will have to investigate all manner of creatures, over land and sea, in order to solve the mystery and save the day.

My Thoughts: LIGHTS, CAMERA, BONES is my introduction to the Sarah Booth Delany Mystery series. It is book 27. The main character is Sarah Booth. She is ably assisted in her investigations by her partner Tinkie, Coleman Peters who is her love interest and the sheriff of Sunflower County, a ghost named Jitty, and her animal companions.

This case has Sarah Booth and her partner Tinkie hired by a movie company when one of the gaffers goes missing. They learn that the movie is to tell the story of the 1927 flood and is being produced, directed and starred in by local boy Marlon Brandon. 

There has been trouble on the set. A vocal minority wants to shut down production. Marlon's grandfather who is a local big deal isn't too happy about the movie either. Sarah Booth and Tinkie begin looking into things and aren't having much success. Things get even more baffling when a foot from the missing gaffer is found. It was apparently bitten off by a shark. 

Apparently, someone has imported a shark to add more disruption to the movie making. Coleman is a diver and is part of the crew trying to find the shark and move it back to salt water. Local Mary Dayle who is part of the opposition to the movie, but she still wants to protect the shark. She's a bookstore owner now but was previously a marine biologist. 

Then Marlon goes missing. If Sarah Booth and Tinkie can't find him, the movie is doomed. 

This was an engaging, light mystery. Prepare to suspend belief because quite a few of the characters have "too stupid to live" moments including the detectives. 

Favorite Quote:

Once I got my hands on him, he'd squeal like Porky Pig at a barbecue. I'd make sure of that. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

Pay Dirt Road
Author: Samantha Jayne Allen 
Series: Annie McIntyre Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (April 19, 2022)

Description: Friday Night Lights meets Mare of Easttown in this small-town mystery about an unlikely private investigator searching for a missing waitress. Pay Dirt Road is the mesmerizing debut from the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize recipient Samantha Jayne Allen.

Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett, Texas.

Recently graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business—a private investigation firm—by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather, Leroy, despite the rest of the clan’s misgivings.

When a waitress at the café goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own past—failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and the trick mirror of nostalgia itself—if she wants to survive this homecoming.

My Thoughts: Annie McIntyre is back home in Garnett, Texas, after graduating from college. She's working at the local diner and wondering what she's going to do with the rest of her life. When one of her fellow waitresses is found murdered, Annie wants to find out how it happened and who is responsible.

Luckily, her soon-to-be-retired grandfather and his partner run a private investigations firm. Being a PI wasn't first on Annie's list of career options, but she's lured into the business as she tries to find the killer. 

This was an engaging thriller told from the point of view of twenty-four-year-old Annie with all of her philosophizing about her life and choices and all of her self-doubts. We even get a chance to look at the things that she regrets as she finds herself identifying more and more with the murder victim and the choices she made.

The setting is an important character in this story. Rural Texas in a hard scrabble town with limited possibilities is an important part of Annie and those she investigates. The characters including her high functioning alcoholic grandfather and his lesbian business partner and a variety of Annie's contemporaries who are also back home add lots of color to the story. 

I enjoyed this story.

Favorite Quote:

You can do everything wrong or everything right and somehow it doesn't matter. The realization is both stunning in its freedom and stifling in its unfairness. It is a primal scream and it is a death rattle. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

At night we rode up to the old railroad tracks on the west side of town, turned the headlights off, and waited for the dead to appear. 

Friday 56:

I scrambled out of the booth. "They'll want to eat," I said to Wyatt just as the bell on the door jangled. He nodded and opened his textbook, sticking his nose in it with mock seriousness. I went to the counter to fill some water glasses and Fernando sidled up beside me. 

This week I am spotlighting Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen. It is the first in the Annie McIntyre mystery series. It also won the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize. I chose this book because I have the third in the series on my review stack. Here is the description from Amazon:

Friday Night Lights meet Mare of Easttown in this small-town mystery about an unlikely private investigator searching for a missing waitress. Pay Dirt Road is the mesmerizing debut from the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize recipient Samantha Jayne Allen.

Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett, Texas.

Recently graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business—a private investigation firm—by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather, Leroy, despite the rest of the clan’s misgivings.

When a waitress at the café goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own past—failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and the trick mirror of nostalgia itself—if she wants to survive this homecoming.

Audiobook Review: Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough

Murder in E Minor
Author: Robert Goldsborough
Narrator: L. J. Ganser
Series: A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Publication: Blackstone Audio (April 25, 2020)
Length: 5 hours and 54 minutes

Description: Iconic sleuth Nero Wolfe returns to track down the murderer of a New York Symphony Orchestra conductor in this Nero Award-winning mystery.

Ever since disgraced associate Orrie Cather’s suicide, armchair detective Nero Wolfe has relished retirement in his Manhattan brownstone on West 35th Street. Two years after Cather’s death, only a visit from Maria Radovich - and the urging of Wolfe’s prize assistant, Archie Goodwin - could draw the eccentric and reclusive genius back into business. Maria’s uncle, New York Symphony Orchestra conductor Milan Stevens, formerly known as Milos Stefanovic, spent his youth alongside Wolfe as a fellow freedom fighter in the mountains of Montenegro. And now that the maestro has been receiving death threats, Wolfe can’t turn his back on the compatriot who once saved his life.

Though her uncle has dismissed the menacing letters, Maria fears they’re more than the work of a harmless crank. But before Wolfe can attack the case, Stevens is murdered. The accused is the orchestra’s lead violinist, whose intimate relationship with Maria hit more than a few sour notes in her uncle’s professional circle. But Wolfe knows that when it comes to murder, nothing is so simple - especially when there are so many suspects, from newspaper critics and ex-lovers to an assortment of shady musicians.

Now, in this award-winning novel that carries on the great tradition of Rex Stout, the irascible and immovable Nero Wolfe is back in the game, listening for clues and ready to go to war to find a killer.

My Thoughts: Nero Wolfe is back on the case after a two-year hiatus. He'd be willing to turn away a young woman in distress, but Archie Goodwin is more sympathetic. And when Wolfe learns that the woman is the niece of an old friend of his from his days as a freedom fighter in Montenegro, Wolfe agrees to take the case. 

The niece is concerned about some recent threatening letters that her uncle has received. Her uncle is the musical director of the New York Philharmonic. And when her uncle is found stabbed to death in his apartment, Wolfe is on the case. There are numerous suspects from rivals in the New York Philharmonic to old enemies. 

I enjoyed this return to the world of Nero Wolfe. The fantastic meals, the orchids, and Wolfe's quirks were all present. This story is narrated by Archie who knows his boss and is close behind on the solution to the mystery. I enjoyed the NYC setting too. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett

The Love Remedy
Author: Elizabeth Everett
Series: The Damsels of Discovery (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (March 19, 2024)

Description: When a Victorian apothecary hires a stoic private investigator to protect her business, they learn there’s only one way to treat true love—with a happily ever after.

When Lucinda Peterson’s recently perfected formula for a salve to treat croup goes missing, she’s certain it’s only the latest in a line of misfortunes at the hands of a rival apothecary. Outraged and fearing financial ruin, Lucy turns to private investigator Jonathan Thorne for help. She just didn’t expect her champion to be so . . . grumpy?

A single father and an agent at Tierney & Co., Thorne accepts missions for a wide variety of employers—from the British government to wronged wives. None have intrigued him so much as the spirited Miss Peterson. As the two work side by side to unmask her scientific saboteur, Lucy slips ever so sweetly under Thorne’s battered armor, tempting him to abandon old promises.

With no shortage of suspects—from a hostile political group to an erstwhile suitor—Thorne’s investigation becomes a threat to all that Lucy holds dear. As the truth unravels around them the cure to their problems is clear: they must face the future together.

My Thoughts: This story takes place in the same world as Everett's The Secret Scientists of London and stars Lucinda Peterson who is an apothecary and Jon Thorne who is a former prize fighter turned private investigator. 

Lucinda is outraged that her recipe for a cough lozenge was stolen by the man she was dating and turned into big money for him. When her formula for a croup remedy goes missing, she naturally suspects the ex. She hires Jon Thorne to find her missing formula and find out if it was the ex who stole it. 

Thorne takes the case, but he has no intention of falling for Lucinda. He's sworn off beautiful women and many other things including alcohol, music, and dancing in his quest to make a good life for his illegitimate daughter Sadie. Since his relationship with Sadie's mother - a beautiful member of the demimondaine- failed, Thorne has tried to create a safe though constrained world for himself and his daughter. 

Lucy has been burned in the romance department too. Her suitor dropped her and declared her unmarriageable after they had a physical relationship. Then he stole her formula for cough lozenges. However, sparks fly as the investigation continues causing Thorne to question his old promises. There is a lot to investigate here beyond the former suitor. A growing political organization which targets women who work outside the home has set its sights on Lucy's pharmacy and the free clinic where her sister works caring for poor women. Lucy's own brother is keeping secrets which causes Thorne to suspect him for a while. 

This was almost more a social commentary than a historical romance. Lucy's belief in women's rights to control their own reproductive rights conflicts with Thorne's Victorian beliefs that women - good women - should let their husbands or fathers manage their lives and sex outside of marriage makes a woman unwomanly. 

Fans of Everett's other books will enjoy this return to the setting of her earlier books. Fans of romances with a bit of kinky sex will also enjoy it. 

Favorite Quote:

"I'm an apothecary, not a master criminal," she said. 

"True," he said, shaking his head. "You are not even a mediocre criminal."

Stupid to feel offended, but Lucy bristled none the less. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams

A Deadly Endeavor
Author: Jenny Adams
Series: A Deadly Twenties Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (March 5, 2024)

Description: A serial killer is on the loose in Jazz Age Philadelphia in Jenny Adams’ debut historical mystery, perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Rhys Bowen.

Philadelphia, 1921. When Edie Shippen returns home after spending years in California recovering from Influenza, she’s shocked to discover that her childhood sweetheart is engaged to her twin sister. Heartbroken and adrift, Edie vows to begin living her life as a modern woman—and to hell with anyone who gets in her way. But as young women start to disappear from the city, her newfound independence begins to feel dangerous.

Gilbert Lawless returned home from the Great War a shell of his former self. He hides away in the office of Philadelphia’s Coroner, content to keep to himself until a gruesome series of corpses come into the morgue. And when his sister, Lizzie, goes missing, he risks his career to beg help from the one person Lizzie seemed to trust: her employer, Edie Shippen.

Fearing the worst, Edie and Gilbert desperately search for clues. It soon becomes clear that Lizzie’s disappearance is connected to the deaths rocking the City of Brotherly Love...and it’s only a matter of time until the killer strikes again.

With a lush Roaring Twenties setting and a wickedly smart sleuth to cheer for, A Deadly Endeavor is the perfect puzzling romp for fans of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

My Thoughts: It is 1921 in Philadelphia and Edie Shippen has come home from California after recovering from the influenza that killer her mother and almost killed her. Her only souvenir is migraine headaches. 

Gilbert Lawless has come home from fighting in World War I with severe shell shock which he is treating with heroin. He is working as a doctor at the morgue and raising his four-year-old daughter after the death in childbirth of his wife. 

The two come together while investigating the same problem. There is a serial killer taking young women. One of the Shippen household maids has disappeared as has one of Edie's cousins. Then Edie's maid, this one Gilbert's sister, disappears. The police were quick to right off the first maid's disappearance but the disappearance of young women from the highest class isn't so easy to write off. 

Meanwhile, Gilbert has been dealing with the bodies of young women found near the river with a variety of injuries. All of them have evidence of being strangled and have strange marks on their wrists and ankles. But the first body is missing its head, the second is missing all of her internal organs, the third has been skinned, and the fourth is missing her eyes and tongue. 

Edie is determined to find her maid and Gilbert to find his sister. Their search takes them to the underbelly of Philadelphia with meetings with gangsters and an illicit boxing match before they determine that the killer is someone much closer to Edie's home and life. 

This was an engaging story which stars two people who are damaged in various ways as a result of World War I and the influenza epidemic. I liked that Edie was trying to live her own life despite the pressure to be a safe, soft socialite. I liked Gilbert's struggles with his shell shock and his determination to give his daughter a good life. 

Favorite Quote:

And Edie...Edie didn't know what she wanted, other than to feel like she deserved the life she had. To feel like she'd earned a second chance. To feel...anything. Anything other than anger and guilt and so much damn sadness, the kind that threatened to drown her every time she closed her eyes.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas

Some Danger Involved
Author: Will Thomas
Series: Barker and Llewelyn (Book One)
Publication: Touchstone; Reprint edition (June 3, 2004)

Description: An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto.

When the eccentric and enigmatic Cyrus Barker takes on the recent murder case of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto, he realizes that he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved," he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.

As they inch ever closer to the shocking truth behind the murder, Llewelyn is drawn deeper and deeper into Barker's peculiar world of vigilante detective work, as well as the heart of London's teeming underworld. Brimming with wit and unforgettable characters and steeped in authentic period detail Some Danger Involved is a captivating page-turner that introduces an equally captivating duo.

My Thoughts: This first book in the Barker and Llewelyn mystery series introduces the pair who will go on to star in at least 15 titles. The book is narrated by Thomas Llewelyn who is a young man down on his luck when he is hired by Barker to be his assistant. 

Llewelyn is Welsh and a product of a poor family who is sponsored to public school and then on to Oxford where he falls in love with a poor young woman dying of consumption and then is accused of theft and imprisoned for eight months. When he gets out of prison, his wife has died and he doesn't see much of a future for himself. He's on the verge of suicide when Barker plucks him out of the bunch vying to become his assistant. 

Barker is a man with a mysterious past and a huge variety of contacts in London. He's been hired to discover who murdered a young Jewish man and stage his death to look like a crucifixion. England is being flooded with a series of Jewish refugees from pogroms elsewhere in Europe which bring the usual resentments from those who feel that the refugees are taking resources that would be better given to them. 

As Barker, trailed by Llewelyn, travels throughout London to visit people he feels might be able and willing to set up a united front against the Jews, we get a chance to see Victorian London and the variety of viewpoints among the populace. 

This was an engaging mystery well narrated by Thomas who is a clear observer with a retentive memory and a sense of humor. I enjoyed meeting the variety of characters who are satellites of the mysterious Barker and look forward to more adventures in this series. 

Favorite Quote:

"Do you consider yourself a Christian apologist, Mr. Barker?" Montefiore asked, looking at him through shrewd eyes. "If so, you have much to answer for."

Barker gave a rare smile. "I am but a humble Baptist, Sir Moses, and have enough to apologize for among by own people. I find that, like the Jews, we tend to divide the world between ourselves and everybody else."

I bought this one May 19, 2021. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Murder at the Elms by Alyssa Maxwell

Murder at the Elms
Author: Alyssa Maxwell
Series: A Gilded Newport Mystery (Book 11)
Publication: Kensington (August 22, 2023)

Description: For fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, the glorious mansions of Newport house many mysteries—murder, theft, scandal—and no one is more adept at solving them than reporter Emma Andrews . . .

1901: Back from their honeymoon in Italy, Emma and Derrick are adapting to married life as they return to their duties at their jointly owned newspaper, the Newport Messenger. The Elms, coal baron Edward Berwind’s newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate, is newsworthy for two reasons: A modern mansion for the new century, it is one of the first homes in America to be wired for electricity with no backup power system, generated by coal from Berwind’s own mines. And their servants—with a single exception—have all gone on strike to protest their working conditions. Summarily dismissing and replacing his staff with cool and callous efficiency, Berwind throws a grand party to showcase the marvels of his new “cottage.”

Emma and Derrick are invited to the fete, which culminates not only in a fabulous musicale but an unforeseen tragedy—a chambermaid is found dead in the coal tunnel. In short order, it is also discovered that a guest’s diamond necklace is missing and a laborer has disappeared.

Detective Jesse Whyte entreats Emma and Derrick to help with the investigation and determine whether the murdered maid and stolen necklace are connected. As the dark deeds cast a shadow over the blazing mansion, it’s up to Emma to shine a light on the culprit . . .

My Thoughts: In the eleventh Gilded Newport mystery, Emma and Derrick are married and back from their honeymoon. Emma is fretting that neither his house nor her house feels like their house. But it is back to work for her as the reporter for the Newport Messenger. 

Emma is called to the Elms, a newly built mansion, when she learns that the servants are threatening to strike over working conditions. She goes there and finds rival publisher Orville Brown agitating for the workers. When they do strike, The Elms owner Ned Berwind fires all of them but a Portuguese woman named Ines who refuses to join the strike. 

Just a couple of weeks later, Emma and Derrick are invited to a musical night at The Elms and meets two different couples who are houseguests. Charles and Kay Gilchrist are a mismatched couple. He's much older and a colleague of Ned's. Rex and Sylvie Morton are the other couple. He's an investment banker and she's the one who sponsored the musical entertainment. 

When the entertainment is broken up by the discovery of maid Ines's body in the coal tunnel, Emma and Derrick both decide to look into the crime. And just a while later, when a valuable diamond necklace is stolen from Rex's safe, things get more complicated. 

As Emma looks into the mystery, she discovers lots and lots of connections between the couple and lots more questions than answers when she interviews them leading her to find herself in danger.

This was an entertaining mystery. I liked the historical setting. I also liked the relationship between Emma and Derrick. I've only read the first in this series and had no trouble getting into this one. While earlier events are mentioned, no knowledge is needed to understand and enjoy this mystery. 

Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy this story.

Favorite Quote:

"Mr. Morton, obviously this is no ordinary necklace. What is it? Why all the secrecy?" I didn't say "from your wife," but the implication hung in the air between us.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.