Murder! Mystery! Mayhem! #3
The Funeral Birds: Paula R.C. Readman
Reviewed By Steve Stred
Demain Publishing skyrocketed into the horror scene with their fantastic Short Sharp Shocks! Series. They’ve now begun to branch out, with one such branch being their Murder! Mystery! Mayhem! Series, which this is the third release from.
I thought the synopsis sounded intriguing, so when this was offered for review, I accepted.
What I liked: the pacing in this book is great. Things happen quickly and Readman makes sure to keep us guessing from the beginning to the end. While some things were a bit predictable and expected, it still made for a fun read. The story follows a down-on-his-luck Private Investigator, ready to close shop. Business has all but evaporated. Then (of course!) a sexy woman shows up, intriguing the P.I. with a strange story. From here, the P.I.’s wife gets involved and the two of them try to figure out just what is going on. I enjoyed the interactions between husband and wife, these felt natural and flowed really nicely.
What I didn’t like: I’m not a big fan of every P.I. in every book appearing to be a bumbling fool, and that’s just what we got here. As things keep going on, it began to drive me batty that his wife constantly was one step ahead of him in determining what to do and where to look. That may have been the point of their storyline, but for me personally, it ended up feeling as though this book was supposed to be more comical than mysterious. I also wasn’t a fan of how everything was explained to us in the ending. I like prologues and epilogues but in this case, the epilogue felt unnecessary.
Why you should buy it: If you’re looking for a fun, quick, single-sitting read, look no further. Readman keeps things moving along nicely and there is no shortage of excitement and events.
With Demain introducing the Murder! Mystery! Mayhem! Series, I’ll be interested to see what else they have up their sleeves.
The Funeral Birds
Dave Cavendish is ready to close his detective agency for good but then Ms Sinclair swans in. Granny Wenlock knows Ms Sinclair is nothing but trouble and isn’t going to allow a little thing like her death 420 years ago, stop her from warning him to be vigilant…
You can buy The Funeral Birds from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred writes dark, bleak horror fiction.
Steve is the author of three novels, a number of novellas and four collections.
He is proud to work with the Ladies of Horror Fiction to facilitate the Annual LOHF Writers Grant.
Steve is also a voracious reader, reviewing everything he reads and submitting the majority of his reviews to be featured on Kendall Reviews.
Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog OJ.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
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You can visit Steve’s Official website here
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