4 stars out of 5
Okay, I admit it: I'm a sucker for a free book. But even when that opportunity gets dumped in my lap (or more appropriately, my inbox), I'm careful what I pick because I hate wasting my precious time on a loser. Well, I'm delighted to report that this one's a gem. Better yet, it's the first in what is billed as a three-book series, so now I can look forward to reading two more.
Featured is a mid-20s private investigator named Shaye Archer, who lives and works in New Orleans. She's a mystery herself; found beaten and horribly abused around the age of 15, she was adopted by a wealthy woman and counseled by that woman's close friend, an ultra-competent psychiatrist. Still, she has no memory at all of her life up to the time she apparently escaped from her unknown captor. Heck, she doesn't even know her real name, so she chose one for herself (though where on the planet she came up with Shaye is a total mystery to me; hey, maybe it will turn out she's related to Frank Zappa or Gwyneth Paltrow).
Even before she's got furniture in her small office, she gets a client. Emma Frederick, a hospital nurse, is sure she's got a malicious stalker - but since she's got no proof, the police aren't taking her complaints seriously. Worse, the stalker looks exactly like her former husband, even though it can't be him; when he turned violent and tried to kill her, she beat him to it - killing him in what the police determined to be self-defense.
In part because of Shaye's own experiences, she believes that Emma really is in danger, even though they both know it can't be her dead husband. But who could it be? When Shaye begins to dig into her investigation, the stalker clearly isn't pleased; suddenly, as those close to Shaye (and Shaye herself) become targets, the race is on to get to him before he gets to them. Along the way, Shaye manages to get on the good side of a "good" cop - one who believes Emma really is in danger but can't do much because he's stuck with a near-retirement partner who doesn't have the slightest interest in rocking the boat - or for that matter, doing any real work. And here's a big surprise: The good guy also is good-looking, single and not too far from Shaye's age.
The action moves along quickly - and, for those who are sensitive to such things, sometimes in rather gory detail - all the way to the end. Well, almost; I probably could have done without the last chapter, which seemed to be tacked on as an afterthought. It did, however, set the stage for the next book in the series, and I'm certainly ready to pick up where this one left off. All in all, an impressive start!
Malevolent by Jana DeLeon (Jana DeLeon, July 2015); 243 pp.
4 stars out of 5
Let's set the record straight right away: Two things are guaranteed to spike my personal barf-o-meter. First is extreme heat and humidity; when the temperature turns upwards of 75 degrees Fahrenheit, I turn into a shrew. Second is dressing animals in human-like clothing (well, make that any kind of clothing). Never once has a bonnet or ruffled collar come anywhere near any of my furry darlings.
So given that this book is set in New Orleans, where 95 degrees signals a cool-down, and the main character is the owner of Furry Godmother - a shop that sells glitzy animal costumes and high-end home-baked treats - what on earth would tempt me to read it? Big hint: The word "cat" in the title. Puppies and other baby animals are cute, I admit, but if you want to melt my heart, put a kitty of any size in my arms. Still another reason for my requesting this book is that every once in a while I love to "cozy" up to a mystery book that isn't full of murder, mayhem and gore. And this, the first of a series, filled the bill purrfectly.
For that, a big thank you to the author and publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
The heroine is Lacy Marie Crocker, a native of the city, who's returned home after a disastrous romantic hook-up. She's got a cute shop in the ritzy Garden District, but she's struggling. She doesn't want to take money from her well-heeled parents and banks won't give her a loan, but for the present, she's making do with an investment from a local jewelry store owner.
Out of nowhere, disaster strikes; first, she has a run-in at the store with a very unpleasant character. Shortly thereafter, the glitter gun she was using to bedeck an order of tutus for Shih Tzus is the weapon of choice in the murder of that same character. Well gosh - guess who becomes the prime suspect?
Along with that comes a string of jewel thefts from local shops (for gosh sakes, how many jewelry stores could there be in one district)? And all that brings in the requisite potential love interest, Detective Jack Oliver. As expected in a book of this type, they alternate between serious attraction and silly bickering - and yes, there's the threat of another romantic interest in the form of the hunky brother-in-law of Lacy's best friend.
Despite Jack's constant badgering to stay out of his investigation, Lacy doesn't comply (a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do to clear her name, right)? Besides, she's got a business to run, orders to complete and an independent itch to scratch. Of course, that leads to all kinds of potential and real danger and intensifies the bickering with Jack (no doubt I'm in the minority, but the human cat-and-mouse games that seem to go with the cozy mystery genre are far more annoying to me than entertaining). But all's well that ends well - one of the pleasant aspects of cozies - so overall it's a cute, enjoyable and very well-written book.
Also enjoyable is that each chapter begins with a "Furry Godmother's Secret; my favorite is the "Secret to a happy life: Keep your friends close. Sometimes they bring wine." At the end are recipes for making some of the pet treats mentioned in the story (reminiscent of Murder at the Mansion by Alison Golden and Jamie Vougeot, another enjoyable cozy mystery.
Cat Got Your Diamonds: A Kitty Couture Mystery by Julie Chase (Crooked Lane Books, November 2016); 304 pp.
4 stars out of 5
Back in June 2014, I got this one free through BookBub - it sounded interesting and is the first in a series of seven, I believe. Set in New Orleans, the author is a New Orleans attorney, and the series has been nominated for both Anthony and Edgar Allen Poe awards. It's also relatively short - just 224 pages - and reader reviews are fairly positive. So what did I have to lose?
Not much, as it turns out. Right off the bat, one sentence made my day: "There were enough law books on the shelves to put new clients at ease." As a former legal secretary (albeit a long time ago), I get that. Really.
New Orleans lawyer Tubby Dubonnet, the "star" of the show, loves fishing, drinking and lots of other non-lawyerly things. His client list includes a transvestite entertainer and the doctor who has referred that same disgruntled entertainer to Dubonnet during a malpractice lawsuit (say what??). Tubby's also got the requisite ex-wife and a handful-minus two teenage daughters; now, he's got a new client, the manager of a local nightclub who, it seems, has been nailed for theft of a ton of marijuana. But right off the bat, the client insists on leaving a gym bag with Tubby - who discovers it's not full of marijuana.
The entire book is what I'd call laid back, with rather ho-hum dialogue and not much real action (although it does pick up a bit near the end. It's also a little tough to keep the characters straight, but that, too, gets easier as the story goes along. Perhaps the biggest issue is that the Kindle format is a little rough - no line spaces between paragraphs - but once I got used to that, everything moved along splendidly and the well-thought-out plot is quite enjoyable.
And that means yes, I plan to look into other books in this series; as short as they are, they're perfect for a quick "filler" read in between, say, a Stephen King and a David Baldacci. Good job, Mr. Dunbar!
Crooked Man: A Hard-Boiled but Humorous New Orleans Mystery by Tony Dunbar (booksBnimble, November 2013); 224 pp.
Okay, I admit it: I'm a sucker for a free book. But even when that opportunity gets dumped in my lap (or more appropriately, my inbox), I'm careful what I pick because I hate wasting my precious time on a loser. Well, I'm delighted to report that this one's a gem. Better yet, it's the first in what is billed as a three-book series, so now I can look forward to reading two more.
