Audio-Book Review: One Dead, Two to Go

 

I'll start with an apology, because I was sent this book for review last summer, and I listened to it, and enjoyed it, and somehow the review never got written. I only discovered this when I saw the second book was out, and went to look at my review and see what I'd thought of this one. No dice. I must have gone on vacation. So here it is, better late than never. 

Title: One Dead, Two to Go  (Eddie Shoes Mystery #1)
Author: Elena Hartwell, narrated by Moira Driscoll
Publisher: Audible, 2016. Paperback by Camel Press, 2016, 240 pages.
Source: Review copy from publisher

Publisher's Summary:Private Investigator Edwina “Eddie Shoes” Schultz’s most recent job has her parked outside a seedy Bellingham hotel, photographing her quarry as he kisses his mistress goodbye. This is the last anyone will see of the woman … alive. Her body is later found dumped in an abandoned building. Eddie’s client, Kendra Hallings, disappears soon after. Eddie hates to be stiffed for her fee, but she has to wonder if Kendra could be in trouble too. Or is she the killer?

Eddie usually balks at matters requiring a gun, but before she knows it, she is knee-deep in dangerous company, spurred on by her card-counting adrenaline-junkie mother who has shown up on her doorstep fresh from the shenanigans that got her kicked out of Vegas. Chava is only sixteen years older than Eddie and sadly lacking in parenting skills. Her unique areas of expertise, however, prove to be helpful in ways Eddie can’t deny, making it hard to stop Chava from tagging along.

Also investigating the homicide is Detective Chance Parker, new to Bellingham’s Major Crimes unit but no stranger to Eddie. Their history as a couple back in Seattle is one more kink in a chain of complications, making Eddie’s case more frustrating and perilous with each tick of the clock. 

My Review:  This is a well-crafted mystery, with characters I enjoyed. Eddie is a nice mix of confidence and insecurity, and while I sense that there will be more romance in later books, the mystery--and the relationship with her mother--absorbs Eddie's attention here. 

As with many first books in series, the cast and the setting feel a little constrained--not too many characters, and my feel for the town is okay but not detailed. That's fine--I think it's easier to get into a series as a reader (as well as for the writer) if there's not too much in the first book. The characters we do have are necessary, well-developed, and seen through Eddie's eyes, so not always quite as they appear. The author manages in some cases to give the reader a sense of seeing more than Eddie does, even with the 1st-person narration--a good trick.

The mystery itself is interesting and entangled, though the actual corpse gets left a little behind (who killed the mistress mostly feels secondary to the rest of the issues). I felt on second listening that the clues were there, and Eddie neither got them handed to her nor ignored anything that was right in front of her face.

The audio production is excellent, and I think the narrator does an excellent job. She didn't get really tested on the tougher regional names, though :)  However, the characters are voiced well, and distinctly, and production values are high.

My Recommendation:
An enjoyable PNW mystery, set (I have to say it) just across the water from my own Pismawallops Island. If you enjoy character-driven mysteries, and especially if you like the PNW setting, check it out, as a book or an audio book. And keep an eye out for Book 2, Two Heads are Deader than One.  I'll be checking it out.


FTC Disclosure: I was given a free review copy of the audio book of One Dead, Two to Go, and received nothing further from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

#AtoZChallenge K is for Kitty Padgett

K is for Kitty Padgett, of the Pismawallops PTA mysteries

In a nutshell: Kitty is JJ’s best friend (see yesterday's post), and she's as patient as JJ is hasty. Kitty actually seems to understand teens.

Biggest secret: She has far fewer answers than her kids think she does.

Favorite line: "If only she'd learn to say please and thank you." Because Kitty believes that a bit of courtesy will go a long way toward making the world a better place.

A favorite scene where Kitty yanks JJ's chain, just enough to prove she's no push-over.

From Death By Trombone, Chapter 4.

We ate and drank in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the sunshine, blue water, and bluer sky. June sunshine was rare enough on our island that we never took it for granted, and it had felt like a particularly long and wet spring. Or maybe that was my mood, my own struggles affecting the weather, or at least my perception of the weather.

At last, mellowed by a perfect latte and the exquisite brownie, which I ate in tiny pieces to make it last, I asked, “So what is Kat wearing to the dance tonight?”

Kitty pulled her gaze from the window, out of which we could see the harbor, the moorage, and the business end of the ferry dock. You couldn’t quite see where the dock reached the land because a giant madrona tree blocked the view. A ferry was coming around the corner of the island.

“You don’t want to know,” she said.

An idea had been tickling the back of my mind while I watched the ferry, but her answer pulled me back to the present. “What do you mean?”

“Since none of the underclassmen have time to get formal wear, they decided to make it a costume party.”

Distracted from the question of what our own kids would wear, I commented, “How do you think the Seniors will react to that? There they are, at the formal dance they’ve waited for all year, and a bunch of younger students are going to be there just having fun.”

We thought about what I’d said, and laughed. Probably the younger kids would have more fun than the ones taking it seriously. After all, most of those high school pairings were about to dissolve into the mists of separate lives, as the kids scattered to different colleges and jobs.

“So what is Kat wearing? And is Sarah going?”

“Sarah says such events are for the terminally immature. In other words, she doesn’t have a date.”

“Neither does Justin, and it’s not stopping him.”

“Sarah has a terrific crush on Tyrell Augustine, who plays a hot trumpet but, being a mere Soph, is completely off limits.” It was funny how those taboos lingered. There never was a problem with a boy dating a younger girl, but let a girl date a boy a few months younger and a grade behind, and the world would end.

“Poor girl. What is Kat wearing?”

Kitty gave in. “She wants to be a parody of all the teeny-bopper rocker chicks. I’m fighting to keep her within the bounds of decency, which isn’t easy, given the models she’s working from.”

I groaned. “This is going to be so hard on Brian.” She’d know what I meant. Then I had another thought. “What is Brian wearing?”

Kitty looked at me and chortled. “You’re his mother. Don’t you know?”

“Until now, I assumed he’d be wearing the slacks and dress shirt I bought him for the speech he gave to the VFW for his Civics class last winter.”

“I suspect he’s...not.”

“Kitty!” My voice took on a bit of a whine. “If you know something, you have to tell me!”

Now she really was laughing at me. “Stop freaking out, JJ. He refused to go along with the whole punk rock thing. He’s going to wear jeans and his favorite t-shirt.”

I groaned again. “Do you know what shirt that is?”

She shook her head.

“The one that says ‘Run until your ass falls off’ on the front, and ‘Runners do it faster’ on the back.”

 

Book One:

What do you serve when all you have in the freezer is an ice-cold corpse? 

JJ and her best friend Kitty struggle to hold the Pismawallops PTA together, and new volunteer Letitia LeMoine isn’t making it any easier.  But when Letitia’s strangled corpse turns up where the ice cream bars should have been, things get a whole lot worse.  JJ has to shoehorn in a search for the killer along with all her other problems: divorce, a 15-year-old son with his first girlfriend, a desperate race to complete the Yearbook on time, and her own tendency to get all wobbly-kneed around the Chief of Police.  JJ just can’t help asking a few questions.  But a loud mouth and insatiable curiosity can be a dangerous combination.  Especially when someone wants her stopped.

Amazon as Paperback or Kindle.
Smashwords (all ebook formats) 
Barnes and Noble for Nook or paper 
iBooks
Kobo Store 
Paperbacks also in the Createspace Store!

Book Two:

 

Nothing like a corpse to add a little je ne sais quoi to the Senior Prom.

JJ thought starting the day without coffee was a disaster, but now there's a dead musician behind the Pismawallops High School gym. His trombone is missing, and something about the scene is off key. JJ and Police Chief Ron Karlson are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but will they be able to work harmoniously or will discord ruin the investigation? With the music teacher as the prime suspect, JJ could be left to conduct the band, and then Graduation might truly end in a death by trombone, or at least the murder of Pomp and Circumstance!

Paperback and Kindle available from Amazon

Purchase any ebook format from Smashwords

Paperback and Nook from Barnes & Noble
Ebooks from Kobo
Find it at iBooks
Or purchase paperbacks from the Createspace store

 Following the suggestion of fellow blogger and amazing author Jemima Pett, I'm doing a very simple A to Z with characters from my writing and the books of my author friends! I'm just posting a brief profile, sometimes a quote, and the book cover with links. Though you may also see some of my typical reviews (when I feature other peoples’ books) and the usual Friday Flash Fiction.
 

  ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2017
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!