Pharma Con
Kidnap Caper #2
Peg Herring
Gwendolyn Books, May 2019
ISBN 978-1944502263
Trade Paperback
How could a group of people make life just a little bit better for those who have had wrong done to them, something like the old TV show, “Leverage”? The motley crew of Robin Hooders led by Robin and Em that we first met in KIDNAP.org returns, still on the quest to bring justice or, at least, a kind of retribution, to those who prey on the vulnerable. While they go after their latest target, both Robin and Em are questioning their own futures with the outfit but that doesn’t stop them from going after Neil Preston, head of a pharmaceuticals company. Anyone in the US who is faced with exorbitant drug prices can sympathize with this crusade, especially since this man is reaping all the benefits of his unbridled greed. It’s an adventure full of clever tactics and a lot of sassy humor and any reader will enjoy this caper.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, January 2020.
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Epiphany
Dan Mahoney Mysteries, Book 4
Susan Slater
Secret Staircase Books, April 2019
ISBN 978-1-945422-67-6
Trade Paperback
Insurance investigator San Mahoney is already in St. Augustine, FL, with his wife, Elaine, when his company assigns him to look into a very large theft from the local Basilica but, tangentially, one of the nuns has been murdered. Sister Leah was involved in a very nasty side business but is that why she was killed? Dan needs to work with and around the police and, meanwhile, he and Elaine are concerned that his mom, Maggie, may have gotten herself involved in a sketchy situation in her new town, Dragon’s Bend, especially when a dead body pops up there, too. Elaine’s twenty-year-old son comes to visit and a family Christmas is in the making but Dan really has his work cut out for him this time what with the missing relics, bodies and hints of a really distressing criminal activity.
As a resident of St. Augustine, I was captivated by the author’s careful and quite accurate use of this beautiful, historic city as the setting for Dan’s latest investigation and enjoyed recognizing different locations. Ms. Slater has also crafted an intriguing tangle of crimes and puzzling it out kept me swiping pages on my Nook to see what would happen next.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, January 2020.
Buried Under Books 