Loyalty - Ingrid Thoft

Loyalty is Ingrid Thoft's debut novel.

Fina Ludlow lives and works in Boston for the family firm. Law firm that is. Her father and three brothers are all attorneys but Fina bucked tradition and became the firm's private investigator.

When Fina's sister-in-law Melanie goes missing, patriarch Carl Ludlow sets Fina on the case. The police department's prime suspect is her brother Rand - Melanie's husband. But there's no way Rand would have killed Melanie. Right? As Fina digs into Melanie's life, someone else is just as determined that she drop the investigation.

But that's just like a red flag to a bull for our protagonist. Thoft has created a mentally and physical strong, tough, wise-cracking character who seems to thrive on antagonism. But, she has some soft spots underneath that tough exterior. Thoft mixes in healthy doses of family dynamics of all shades - hence the 'loyalty' title.

Thoft starts things off with a bang, with lots of characters rapidly introduced in the first few chapters. I did find myself backtracking a bit, until I got who was who straightened out. I'm thinking this is the first in a new series, so it seems like Thoft was simply setting the stage.

Fina is a strong personality. I immediately liked her  and appreciated her personality, determination and fearlessness. But by the last third of the book I thought this had been firmly established with the reader and found it a bit tiresome to be reminded of this again and again through comments from supporting characters.

Loyalty was well plotted, with lots of action, (how many times can Fina get attacked!?) some humour and yet some serious moments as well. The end result can be seen from several chapters away, but that didn't detract from enjoying the journey there.

I chose to listen to Loyalty. The reader was Rebecca Soler. I must admit, I wasn't sold on her as a narrator at first. Her voice seemed very young - almost teenaged. When I looked up other books she had narrated, I found she has read several young adult titles - it was Cinder I was remembering. But once I started forming a picture of the character, the voice worked. Soler has a very expressive voice and her interpretation of Fina's snappy dialogue was excellent and suited this sassy, shoot from the hip P.I. As I mentioned, there are many players - Soler gave each a distinctive voice and/or accent so I was able to easily know who was talking. (The southern madam was particularly good) She has a clear voice that made it easy to catch every word. (Gentle listeners be warned - there is a fair amount of swearing sprinkled throughout)

Fina is a great new personality on the female P.I. front - a cross between V.I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum. I'm sure there will be more cases for this intrepid investigator. This was a great summer read for this listener - many a pint of raspberries was picked during the 12 hours of running time! Listen to an excerpt of Loyalty. Also available in hardcover - Read an excerpt.

Bear is Broken - Lachlan Smith

I enjoy a good legal thriller and it's always fun to discover a new character. Bear is Broken is Lachlan Smith's debut novel. And who better to pen a legal thriller than a lawyer himself!

Leo Maxwell was raised by his older brother Teddy - a successful criminal defense lawyer. Successful in the eyes of his clients, but the cops and prosecutors aren't big fans. Leo himself has just passed the bar exam. The two brothers are out for lunch when an unknown assailant walks in and shoots Teddy point blank.

Teddy alive - but barely. The cops seem to be dragging their heels, so Leo decides to investigate on his own. But the deeper he digs, the less he knows. It seems everyone has something to hide - Teddy's staff, his ex-wife, his clients and the Maxwell patriarch - currently serving a life sentence for murder. And Teddy himself - is he the dirty lawyer the cops think he is?

Smith has created an interesting protagonist. At first, I thought Leo was the young, innocent new lawyer who would strive to uphold the law and not sully his newly minted bar card. He is - to a point. He makes mistakes and some bad judgement calls, but there's more than a little Teddy in Leo - he's not quite the innocent I thought he was. My opinion on Leo changed more than once throughout the book. As his investigation progresses, he is forced to face certain truths. Many of the supporting characters are unlikeable, giving the book bit of a noir-ish detective feel.

Smith's plotting is more involved that I initially thought it would be - there are lots of red herrings and false trails that kept me choosing between two suspects right up until the last chapters. I did think the plot was drawn out a few chapters too many.

I chose to listen to Bear is Broken. The reader was R.C. Bray - a narrator I was unfamiliar with. And that was perfect for establishing a new character. He has a interesting voice - a bit of a hard edge and gravelly undertones mixed with naiveté. Bray was an easy voice to listen to and his enunciation was clear.

All in all, a solid debut from a new author. Leo Maxwell's tale is far from over. This is the first in a planned series. Leo as a character has been established and perhaps we'll see more courtroom action next time 'round. The ending is satisfying, but left with enough threads to pick up on for the second entry.  I'll be listening.

Listen to an excerpt of Bear is Broken.               Read an excerpt of Bear is Broken.

The Bughouse Affair - Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini

Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini? Each of them is an accomplished and award winning mystery author, but they also happen to be husband and wife.

The Bughouse Affair is the first novel they've written together in over twenty years.

1890's San Francisco. Sabina Carpenter, a former Pinkerton Detective Agency operative and  ex-Secret Service agent John Quincannon have joined forces and opened a successful detective agency of their own. Sabina is hunting for a female pickpocket who does more than nick wallets. John is on the lookout for a break and enter thief who is targeting the wealthy residents of San Fran.

This is a definitely a light hearted series. There's lots of  banter between the two lead characters as well as some romantic tension. But, I felt I was just getting to know this pair, when another character was introduced - a man claiming to be Sherlock Holmes. He swears he survived his last encounter with Moriarty, is laying low in America and would like to observe the Carpenter/Quincannon Agency in action. As this is the first book featuring this duo, I thought the introduction of such a well known name and character a bit distracting. Although Quincannon swears this character is a 'bughouse' impostor, readers will recognize mannerisms, language and sleuthing abilities as written by Doyle.

The mysteries are not overly complicated but are 'cozy' in tone. I did enjoy the period descriptions and settings, including slang of this time period.

I chose to listen to The Bughouse Affair. There were two readers - Nick Sullivan and Meredith Mitchell. Sullivan has one of the most precise and clearest voices I've heard in a long time. His diction is excellent - every syllable of each word is easily distinguished. He did an admirable job bringing Quincannon to life, with lots of expression in his reading. He also did a good job with his reading of Holmes, including the accent.  Mitchell's voice, although pleasant enough and well modulated, was too monotone for me. She is the more level headed of the two partners and perhaps a calming, even toned reader was chosen for this reason. She just never matched her partner for expression.

The book is written in opposite chapters - one for John, then Sabina. What I found puzzling was that each reader only read their character's chapter. So, when John is speaking to Sabina in one of 'her' chapters it is the female narrator reading all the parts. So, in effect you have two interpretations of each character. I think it would have been much better all round to have each reader do all of their character's lines, regardless of whose chapter it was.

Listen to an excerpt of The Bughouse Affair.      Read an excerpt of The Bughouse Affair.

This was an light listen for the drive back and forth to work.  

(And this is a minor quibble, but I dislike having actual faces on the cover of a book. I prefer to paint my own mental images from the author's words, rather than a marketing department's idea of what the characters should look like.)

Safe House - Chris Ewan

An intriguing premise and a reader that I really like = one good listen. That was the winning combination with Chris Ewan's book Safe House and Simon Vance's narration.

Safe House opens up with a great opening gambit. Plumber Rob Hale is doing some heating work at an isolated house. Lena - the young woman staying there - asks to go for a ride on his motorcycle. But, they crash. Rob wakes up in the hospital and one of his first questions is 'How is Lena '? And the answer is unexpected - there was no girl - he was found alone. But he knows that can't be true.....he remembers....or does he.....Rob is determined to track the girl down. His family is more concerned with his mental health - the family has suffered a recent  tragedy.

Ewan weaves a tangled web of lies and deceit in Safe House. The plot went in directions I did not see coming at all - from environmental activists to a multinational oil conglomerate to the British Security Services, private investigators and more. Ewan definitely held my interest with this inventive plotline.

I quite enjoyed the character of Rob (and Rocky the dog!) Vance does a fantastic job bringing this character to life - the voice he used was 'real'. Rob came across as an honest everyman trying to make sense of a crazy situation. He just sounded trustworthy. There are plenty of players, but Simon Vance does an admirable job with creating a voice for every character, making each immediately identifiable. His accents are believable. Vance's voice is rich and resonant and easily communicates the action and tension of the story. He truly is one of my favourite readers.

Chris Ewan makes his home on the Isle of Man and uses this as the unique setting for Safe House. I was quite fascinated with the description of the island, the  motorcycle races and that this is where the Manx cat originated.

This was a great introduction to a new to me author and a really entertaining listen. You can find Chris Ewan on Twitter.                  Listen to a sample of Safe House.

Author: Chris Ewan Reader: Simon Vance Running Time: 10hrs 53min Publisher: AudioGO Ltd