Review of A Grave Misunderstanding

A Grave Misunderstanding

A Simon Grave Mystery

Len Boswell

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Spiffy, strange, satiric are just a few words to describe this murder mystery. The characters are bizarre, and the background is full of unusual happenings.

Detective Grave, Boswell's protagonist, is presented with a strange murder situation. The subject is laid out with a hand cut off and no apparent deadly blow in a mansion built for a primeval king with Artificial Intelligence walking around like servants. 

Even more abnormal, when Grave arrives at the scene, the Medical Examiner is investigating the bloody stairwell while people are locked in a second story room making noise to be let out.  Lastly, more import to the eccentric owner of the castle is the theft of a trophy from the room.

The detection begins, and Grave interviews the occupants of the locked room. Each of these characters is abnormal in their way and add little to Grave's dilemma - Who secured the people in the room, stole the trophy from it, and killed the woman?  

How Detective Grave gets to the conclusion of this mystery which is a mystery in-its-self. The twist and turns are fun to read, but in the end, the reader will understand the findings.

MISUNDERSTANDING is an enjoyable quick read.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2LNL9bX

Review of Catherine and the Wind

Catherine and the Wind

A Meredith Series Sequel

AMANDA GALE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Catherine, a somewhat recluse who is a Chocolatier, meets Wes, who at one time was Meredith's lover but she is happily married to Nick. Each of their families knows each other for various reasons, but distance keeps them from daily communication.

Wes, an up and coming lawyer in the community, goes to dinner with beautiful and quirky Catherine, who enjoys things 1930 vintage and Brahms. She is delightful and pikes his interest - one, two, three - marriage and a baby.

She fits him, not like Meredith, according to Wes' mother. The only problem is Wes is hiding something in his heart.

This story is a complicated one, well-written novella ready for the small screen. I will cut to the chase. Wes does know what he wants in a woman, and the ladies of the family know best. It takes Wes to go through a deadly event to realize what he has is best.

CATHERINE and the WIND is a pleasant long read into the way people interface and the way Catherine overcomes her battle with a little know mental affliction. Meredith, on the other hand, is an active player who overcomes family adversities.

If they don't meet again in the second book in this series, it is a crime. I enjoyed the tit for tat.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2NTZ0uM

Review of Bridge to Caracas

THE BRIDGE TO CARACAS

VOLUME ONE OF THE KING TRILOGY

STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

An excellent start to a trilogy about the King family in the oil business up until reaching Caracas, Venezuela. How this first volume evolves sets the tone for the rest.

The love story of Mr. King and his childhood friend culminates after he and she have not very good marriages. Her husband is the key to crime in the international oil business which conflicts with King's rise to the top on the legal side.

These conflicts become confrontational because of jealousy, greed, and control of her husband leading to violent events. At each turn of this thriller, the reader will not be waiting long for a result - positive or negative.

Mr. Douglas' characters are well defined, and the final clash when a billion-dollar decision brings this adventure to an end. It should bring back the reader for volume two which should be a fast-paced crime thriller as this. I will wait my turn.

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2OrJJT9

Review of A GREAT WAY OF LIFE

A Great Way of Life?

JOE GLASGOW

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

I got drafted into the Army and re-enlisted. I was called nuts. The rest is history - Green Beret and medals, and I am still alive.

Joe Glasgow's protagonist’s family and friends have mixed feelings about his joining the military - nuts to a great job.  Opinions abound.

We follow the candidate through the process of moving into the Air Force, A Great Way of Life. For those who have been there, memories will come back, and for those that have not, you will enjoy his transition from civilian to Airman.

Funny and quick, the story was well put together, keeping me laughing. Looking for a unique point of view, this is for you.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2tDU5cA

Review of Trust & Treachery

Trust & Treachery

Echoes of Sol, Book 1

CHARISSA DUFOUR

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Larissa is an indentured slave in the future when traveling to Mars from Earth is normal, but not for her kind. Through circumstance, she is turned over to a new owner and ends up on a freighter carrying important cargo into space with a crew of eighteen men.

In this rough environment of space merchant marines, she starts to become a woman because of the kindness and respect she receives from the captain, his brother, and many of the crew. This beginning of a romance situation is the background to an adventure Larissa never imagined being part of at the age of twenty-two.

There are attacks by pirates, confused personal relations, and Sci-Fi adventure that Ms. Dufour writes in an easy to read style - slow at times but gripping at others. Not being a Sci-Fi buff, I may join Bit's, Larissa’s nickname, heroic adventure in the future.

I have read another of Ms. Dufour’s books, 'LIFE SUCKS,' and will return for more.

Purchase, free: https://amzn.to/2uV61DL

Review of LOVE FOR SAIL

LOVE TO SAIL

A Connie Barrera Thriller

C L R DOUGHERTY

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Two items attracted me to this novel: I had lived in St. Thomas, USVI for two years in the hospitality business and the Caribbean for twenty-eight. Moreover, I did a little sailing around the islands, mostly when I was living in Charlotte Amalia at the Virgin Isle Hotel as Asst. General Manager. Lastly, my sister's name is Connie.

Mr. Dougherty brought back memories with Connie doing what she learned to love - sailing, to the point she gets her Captain's license.  Upon acquiring her permit, with money dropped into her hands through cunning, she buys a 49,000-pound yacht, which she never sailed into open waters before.

Sailing that boat from the Chesapeake Bay to the US Virgin Islands turns into a disaster.  She takes on a temporary crew of two - a man and a woman to help her make the journey, because her man friend, ex-cop, sailor, and an excellent cook, could not make the trip.

Connie's crew has their illegal reason to make the trip that includes working for a mob figure. The male crew member presents a problem that leads to a deadly event.

From this point on, this thriller goes into rough waters. Will aid arrive on time? While waiting for it, the reader is kept on the edge of his or her seat wondering if any help is coming.

Fast pace, nautically correct, and well written with a character like Connie, you’ll be wanting to follow her the next journey. I highly recommend LOVE FOR SAIL for those who enjoy adventure and traveling, as much as I do.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2LdfktL

Review of CUTTHROAT

A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS

A Savannah Martin Mystery, Book 1

JENNA BENNETT

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Savannah is a newly minted Real Estate Broker who finds herself and a childhood acquaintance standing over the dead body of one of her cohorts, blood everywhere. She calls 911, and the mystery begins.

What makes this particular multilayer whodunit different is the characters, which are colorfully defined by the author.  Savannah, the lead, is your typical Southern Bell who has the propensity to evaluate the situation at hand, and she goes through some difficult ones.

The cast comes in all shapes and sizes.  An example is Savannah's childhood hunk of a bad-boy man friend who becomes an integral part of the situation at hand and the shade of a possibility of a romantic attachment, mostly on his side because her mother's words are in her head.

He and Savannah come in contact throughout this adventure which leads to an unlikely killer with a well put together ending that will have the reader wanting to go on. Book 2 is right around the corner.

This mystery keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figuring out the who, and why the crimes were committed. Savannah turns into a better sleuth than a Real Estate Broker.

Good Read:   https://amzn.to/2uzyiPX

Review of Two Rivers

The Peacemaker

TWO RIVERS

ZOE SAADIA

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

A warrior thinks and believes in other ways than his tribe; a young adopted foreigner upsets the comfort zone of the same tribe, and a young tribal woman is confused with the warrior's abilities and is interested in the foreigner. Enlightenment is in the mind of the warrior while the youngsters are coming to grips with their existence.

The plot is simple: each is upsetting the norms of the people who they live with on a daily basis, the warrior with his ideas and the young adults with their attraction to each other. The harmful elements of the tribe come ahead, and the Chief Warrior makes a decision that changes all three lives forever.

Some violent actions bring this story to a life-changing ending and into a new horizon: an inviting one which will lead the reader into the second book. 

TWO RIVERS is a novel that is easy to read because of the thought used in writing the story. It is full of nuggets of reasoning and understanding of what life should be in the world.

The prose flows nicely with some exciting events. The reader's attention will speed to the end in one sitting. As usual, Zoe Saadia has written a beautiful novel. I have read three or four; I have lost count.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2KKAJKy