Welcome! Laura Bradford is the author of An Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series, An Amish Mystery series, Jenkins and Burns Mysteries, A Tobi Tobias Mystery series and Southern Sewing Circle Mystery series (as Elizabeth Lynn Casey). Readers can find Ms. Bradford on Facebook (like her page). You can follow her on Amazon and they will email when a new book is listed for sale.
30 Second Death by Laura Bradford
is the second book in A Tobi Tobias Mystery series. Tobi’s friend Carter McDade needs a little help. He is a hairdresser for the Central West End
Theater and has been having a hard time with the temperamental and troublesome
Fiona Renoir. Carter ended up having an
extremely vocal argument with her at the theater and is afraid of losing his
job (which he loves). Frank Martindale,
the theater’s owner, will not go against Fiona, because she is his niece (which
is why she has a job along with the fact that no one else would put up with her
antics and diva attitude). Tobi decides
to help Carter by giving Fiona a role in the Salonquility commercial. Tobi immediately regrets her act of kindness
when Fiona causes drama on the set (upsetting the crew). They get through the first two segments of
the commercial and take a short break before they start the hair dying portion
of the commercial. Tobi is getting ready
to return to the set when she hears Carter scream. She rushes in and finds him staring at Fiona
on the floor—dead! Thanks to the very
public argument Carter had with Fiona, he is suspect number one. Grandpa Stu returns to town to help Tobi with
the investigation and spend a little quality time with Martha Rapple (which
makes Tobi cringe). Tobi, with Grandpa
Stu’s assistance, needs to whittle down the long suspect list (no one liked
Fiona) and find the killer. Will she be
able to clear Carter’s name before the cops slap him behind bars?
30 Second Death is an easy to
read book (and can be a stand-alone novel). There are some cute moments
in the story and the details the author allowed me to envision it in my head (an
example is Rudder described in pj’s, nightcap and slippers). I wish, though, that the author had devoted
more time and effort into the mystery.
It was obvious who would be murdered and how (the nasty person is always
bumped off). I identified the killer
early in the novel (very limited suspect pool).
I am rating 30 Second Death 3 out
of 5 stars. Tobi has the maturity of a
teenager girl at times (with regard to her personal life). Grandpa Stu’s relationship with Martha Rapple
makes her want to throw up. This fact is
frequently mentioned. Then the parrot,
Rudder makes fun of her laugh (snort, snort).
She gets annoyed with the bird (over and over). I admit that I got annoyed with it being
mentioned every single time she called the pet store or visited it (repetition
of details seems to be a common theme). The
whodunit took a backseat in 30 Second Death.
More time was devoted to Tobi’s relationship with Andy (and the current
problem they are experiencing), Mary Fran’s noise problem at the pet store,
Tobi’s need to have sweets and chocolate on hand, and Mary Fran’s high school
reunion (and getting the chance to reconnect with the guy she liked in high
school). I just felt 30 Second Death
was lacking (I wanted more, but that is me).
Readers who prefer a light, humorous “cozy” mystery will enjoy 30 Second Death. The first book in the series is Death in Advertising.
The next book in A Tobi Tobias Mystery series is And Death Goes To . . . which will be published on December 5. Thank you for visiting today. The next book I will be reviewing is Dead Storage by Mary Feliz. May you have a relaxing day. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
No comments:
Post a Comment