Audio Book Review: Murder in Her Stocking by G. A. McKevett

This cozy mystery wasn't a hit for me. (I love the cover though.)

Murder in Her Stocking
by G. A. McKevett
Read by Mil Nicholson

A Granny Reid Mystery
Run Time 9h 36min
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Christmas, Cozy, Mystery, Women Sleuth
My Rating: 3.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.5; Narration 3.25.

Publisher Description
Christmas has arrived in sleepy McGill, Georgia, but holiday cheer can’t keep temperamental Stella Reid from swinging a rolling pin at anyone who crosses her bad side.
This season, there are plenty. First, an anonymous grinch vandalizes a celebrated nativity display. Far worse, the scandalous Prissy Carr is found dead in an alley behind a tavern. With police puzzled over the murder, Stella decides to stir the local gossip pot for clues on the culprit’s identity, and it turns out that Prissy held a prominent spot on the naughty list. Soon, suspects are piling up like presents on Christmas morning.
Unfortunately, the more progress Stella makes, the more she must confront. With a neighbor in peril and the future of her beloved grandchildren at risk, Stella must somehow set everything straight and bring a cunning criminal to justice before December 25th....

Review:
Stella is a disciplinarian but sweet grandmother to her seven grandchildren. She can be considered pretty fierce by others especially if she is protecting those grandchildren. One night Stella hears a sound in the alley behind the tavern and she arrives in time to hold Prissy Carr as she is dying from an attack. Prissy is a known ‘loose woman’, so she has developed some enemies along the way. The police are investigating but Stella thinks she might be able to uncover the real culprit before Christmas.

Meanwhile Stella is trying to cheer her long-time friend whose husband has left taking all the wealth. Also, Stella is trying to keep her grandchildren from being damaged by their alcoholic mother. The eldest granddaughter, twelve-year-old Savannah, does her best to handle the others but it isn’t easy.

The story is set in the 1980s in Georgia. Stella is a widow in her 60s. The sheriff in town has had a long-time crush on her. It’s been several years since her husband died and maybe its time to accept the help of a willing man.

The story is sweet but has a dreary feel with the level of poverty and struggles for Stella and her family. There are less than likeable characters with cigarettes and booze and perhaps that influenced my view. There is warmth in the grandmotherly wisdom and the strength of the sheriff. Unfortunately, I felt the mystery was disjointed as it shared the spotlight with Stella’s family traumas. There are plenty of favorable reviews so cozy fans might want to try this. I understand it is a spin off from another popular series by this author.

Audio Notes: My lower review may also be the result of my being uncomfortable with the narrator. It may be that Mil Nicholson was a fitting voice for the setting and characters. It just wasn’t comfortable for me. In this instance, the narration detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

Source: 12/16/2021 Purchased at Chirp for $2.99. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.

Audio Book Review: A Skeleton in the Family by Leigh Perry

This is fun cozy with a skeleton as the protagonist’s side-kick.
#FRATERFEST-6
A Skeleton in the Family
By Author Leigh Perry
Narrator: Katina Kalin

Duration: 7 h 57 min
Release date: 03-31-21
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Paranormal, Women Sleuth
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Summary:
Most families have skeletons in their closets … Moving back into her parents’ house with her teenage daughter had not been Georgia Thackery’s “Plan A.” But when she got a job at the local college, it seemed the sensible thing to do. So she settled in and began reconnecting with old friends. Including Sid. Sid is the Thackery family’s skeleton. He’s lived in the house as long as Georgia can remember, although no one, including Sid, knows exactly where he came from and how he came to be a skeleton. Sid walks, he talks, he makes bad jokes, he tries to keep Georgia’s dog from considering him a snack. And he manages to persuade Georgia to let him leave the house. But when she takes him to an anime convention—disguised as a skeleton, of course—he sees a woman who triggers memories of his past. Now he is determined to find out how he died—with Georgia’s help. But their investigation may uncover a killer who’s still alive and well and bad to the bone …

Review:
Georgia Thackery has moved back home with her teenage daughter, Madison. She is fortunate her parents, well respected, tenured college professors, are away on sabbatical, so she can live in the family home while she starts a new job as an adjunct professor. Another big plus of being home is she that she is able to share time with her friend, Sid, the skeleton in the attic.

Georgia thinks it is time to tell Madison about Sid, but ‘he’ isn’t ready. Georgia is willing to follow Sid’s wishes, considering he saved her as a child. Sid hasn’t been out of the house in a long time, and he seizes the chance to go to an anime convention that Madison is going to. While enjoying hiding in plain sight, disguised as a skeleton, Sid sees a woman who triggers memories which is startling since he has no clear memories of who he was ‘in the flesh’.

Sid and Georgia are determined to investigate to discover his identity and his killer. Especially when they learn that the mystery woman is a professor. When they go to speak with her they find her murdered too. Georgia gets some help from another new adjunct professor whose real job is as a journalist. Georgia and Sid also get help from an elderly professor friend who helps them sneak into the College during the night. It becomes clear that they are stirring up trouble when Georgia gets threats, and their professor friend is attacked.

This is really a fun story. I love Sid’s quite but determined character and it is funny how he drops bones when he is depressed. The author does a good job using the plot line to reveal the history of when Georgia and Sid met and how he became part of the family. There are twists in the investigation that keeps it interesting and I learned a lot about the problems of being untenured in the university syestem. I want to read/listen to more in the series. I recommend this to fans of cozy mysteries who like the mix of paranormal and humor with the mystery.

Audio Notes: Katina Kalin does a really nice job with the narration. Although her voice is soft, she provides clear, distinct voices. The narration added to my enjoyment of the story.

Source: 12/31/2021 Audiobooks.com Two for One Credit. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.

Audible Book Review: A Borrowing of Bones, a Mercy Carr Mystery by Paula Munier

This is a good mystery with the plus of dogs.

A Borrowing of Bones
A Mercy Carr Mystery
By: Paula Munier
Narrated by: Kathleen McInerney

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
Release date: 09-11-18
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Police Procedure, Search Dogs, Women Sleuth
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.

Publisher's Summary
The first in a gripping new series by Paula Munier, A Borrowing of Bones is full of complex twists, introducing a wonderful new voice for mystery listeners and dog lovers alike.
Grief and guilt are the ghosts that haunt you when you survive what others do not....
After their last deployment, when she got shot, her fiancé, Martinez, got killed, and his bomb-sniffing dog, Elvis, got depressed, soldier Mercy Carr and Elvis were both sent home, her late lover’s last words ringing in her ears: “Take care of my partner.”
Together, the two former military police - one 29-year-old two-legged female with wounds deeper than skin and one handsome five-year-old four-legged Malinois with canine PTSD - march off their grief mile after mile in the beautiful remote Vermont wilderness.
Even on the Fourth of July weekend, when all of Northshire celebrates with fun and frolic and fireworks, it’s just another walk in the woods for Mercy and Elvis - until the dog alerts to explosives and they find a squalling baby abandoned near a shallow grave filled with what appear to be human bones.
US Game Warden Troy Warner and his search-and-rescue Newfoundland, Susie Bear, respond to Mercy’s 9-1-1 call, and the four must work together to track down a missing mother, solve a cold-case murder, and keep the citizens of Northshire safe on potentially the most incendiary Independence Day since the American Revolution.
It’s a call to action Mercy and Elvis cannot ignore, no matter what the cost.
©2018 Paula Munier (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Review:
Mercy was a military police investigator but was sent home after being wounded. Her fiancé, a dog handler, was killed and Mercy fought to take home his traumatized dog, Elvis, who suffers from PTSD. They have been keeping to themselves and taking long walks in the Vermont wilderness. On the July Fourth weekend they stumble upon a crying baby and a shallow grave.

US Game Warden Troy Warner and his search and rescue dog Susie Bear, arrive in response to the 911 call. They begin to track the missing mother and Warner begins to investigate the cold case death. The local detective is antagonistic to both Warner and Mercy. He treats the Game Warden with disdain and wants them both away from his case.

Technically Mercy has no basis to continue involvement in the investigations, but she won’t back off, especially after the baby disappears from the hospital and the teen mother and baby show up at her home only to be scared off. Bit by bit the investigation by Warner and Mercy leads to a potential domestic terrorism threat that could cause community deaths. They are in a race against time and even the dogs are being threatened as a result of their persistent efforts.

I enjoyed these characters, their dogs and their interactions. The dogs quickly become friends and slowly Warner and Mercy develop a friendship. I felt there were some shortcomings of the book such as not treating the issue of PTSD seriously enough and the fact that Mercy kept pushing into the investigation with no authority. Still, I found the book entertaining and will be listening to more in the series. I recommend this to mystery, crime thriller fans who like search dogs.

Audio Notes: Kathleen McInerney delivers fitting energy but didn’t have strong voices, especially for the male characters. I think a stronger narrator might have added more. I am glad I got the audio version as it goes faster for me than reading.

Source: 8/28/2022 Audible August Credit. This qualifies for 2022Audiobook goal.