Read time: 3 minutes
🎧 Listened in audio
📢 Narrated by Carlotta Brentan
⏱ Duration: 10 hours
🏷️ Publisher: Severn River Publishing / Spotify Audiobooks
Book Blurb:
Verona Montero calls herself a private dick — mostly because she likes saying “dick” a lot. When Miami, a billionaire’s wife, needs proof her husband Javier is cheating, Verona takes the case, only for Javier to turn up dead in Greece with Miami as the prime suspect. Chasing the truth (and a fat retainer) to Mykonos, Verona cons hotel staff, recruits a drag queen for an undercover job, and starts to suspect the wrong person is taking the fall. A wickedly funny whodunit for fans of Janet Evanovich and Elle Cosimano.
Let’s talk … murder!!!
I was expecting a witty PI romp with a body count and a side of banter. What I got instead was 10 hours of terrible pent up sexual angst so bad I half expected the audiobook to come with a fire extinguisher. The mystery itself, Javier’s murder, Miami’s freedom on the line, Verona jetting off to sniff out the real killer, is there, buried somewhere under all that unresolved anger due to lack of sex. Why oh Why?
If you ignore the unnecessary sexual jaunts, the dual timeline structure in this book works well. The pre-murder build up and post-murder unraveling does the trick in garnering attention. When it leans into just the investigation, there’s a decent little whodunit humming along. But I never found the “wickedly funny” promise on the back cover. The humor felt bolted on rather than baked in, like someone told the story to be funny instead of letting it to be funny.
Real talk: the only reason I finished this one is that my ARC copy corrupted. I flagged it under “will not review” on NetGalley and my brain would not let me leave a book unfinished on principle. That’s not a five-star review. That’s a hostage situation with myself as both hostage and negotiator.
Would I recommend it?
No, I wouldn’t. The mystery is too predictable to carry the weight of a plot that kept getting sidelined by everyone’s crotch headaches (her word, not mine). It’s not unreadable, it’s just exhausting in a way a mystery shouldn’t be. However, one thing I would call out is how proud a Canadian Verona is. Those two lines, I genuinely cheered!
5 Book Recommendations for This Mood:
- A Killer’s Guide to Good Works by Shelley Costa — twisty, funny, and the mystery actually stays front and center.
Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano — if you want the banter-and-body-count combo this book promised but never quite delivered.
Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - One for the Money by Janet Evanovich — for that same scrappy-woman-in-over-her-head energy, but with actual laughs.
Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - The Maid by Nita Prose — for a mystery that leans on charm and voice instead of romantic tension to keep you hooked.
Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala — a cozy mystery with real warmth and humor, no forced innuendo required.
Indiebookstore | Bookshop | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
Slow Burn or Slow Death? When Tension Overstays Its Welcome
Ever picked up a mystery expecting murder and gotten a masterclass in unresolved workplace tension instead? Where’s your limit? How much will-they-won’t-they can you take before you just want someone to solve the crime already? Drop your worst “so much sexual tension, so little plot” read in the comments.
Book Links
Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal
- Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org
- Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert
- Check out more books from Severn River Publishing and Spotify Audiobooks
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