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Elle finds the body of her soon-to-be-ex husband, Charlie on her sofa, stabbed to death with her kitchen knife. Elle's close friends stand by her through the difficult funeral, but Elle alone must face the loss of the man she'd loved. Except that the loss is not total--Charlie is still around. Elle feels his presence, smells his after shave. Hears him accuse her of killing him. And even though she doesn't believe in ghosts, she argues with him, asserting her innocence. Oddly, Elle has a gap in her memory; she can't account for her activity during the time of his murder. As she tries to clear herself by finding out how Charlie died, she discovers that she had plenty of reason to kill him. Charlie had secrets. Infidelity. Unsavory business associates. Involvement with an international organization of sex abusers. The more she learns, the more danger she faces. As unscrupulous people begin to fear she'll expose them, Elle races against time to avoid arrest, fight off attackers, solve the murder, and make peace with Charlie's spirit.

This book was very well written and enjoyable to read. The plot was interesting and the characters were well developed. This story is not only a mystery but it is humorous and has a touch of paranormal thrown in. It is satisfying for the cozy mystery reader and I think other mystery lovers will enjoy it as well. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Jones. ( )

The Trouble With Charlie... was the lack of sleep I received from staying up late to finish this unusual, but fun, novel by Merry Jones! I have read the first two of Ms. Jones' previous books in the Nanny Murders series, but this one is either a stand-alone, or perhaps, judging by the good reception it is getting, the first in a series. I was surprised, in a good way, to find out that this was a seriocomic novel, a tongue-in-cheek rendition of a murder mystery.

Elle is a second-grade teacher in Philadelphia who is in the process of divorcing her husband Charlie for cheating on her, but seems to still harbor ambivalent feelings about him. One night she is jokingly asking her best friends to dream up ways to kill him off, but other times she gets trapped in reminiscing about the good ol' days with him. It is one such night that she comes home a bit tipsy and alone from a night out with the girls and suddenly feels Charlie's presence all around her. She smells his Old Spice cologne, feels a kiss on her neck, and hears him whispering her name. After several moments of this alarming behavior, she comes upon her soon-to-be-ex propped up in a chair in her home, stabbed in the back with a knife from her kitchen.

Elle calls her attorney friend and the police, but somehow she is marked as a "person of interest" because she literally had Charlie's blood on her hands. As she delves further into Charlie's life after their separation, she comes across some secrets he was keeping, and some ugly dealings he was caught up in.

What proceeds next is indicative of Ms. Jones' talent to take a murder mystery with some dark subject matter and lighten it up with wisecracking humor that will keep the reader chuckling, even while she is trying to convince everyone around her that she is not the murderer. The witty remarks of Elle's inner dialogue kept me amused throughout, and her back-and-forth with her deceased husband's ghost were downright funny. I haven't read a murder mystery before written quite like this. I probably enjoyed the scenes with Elle and her three best friends: Jen, Susan, and Becky, the most. It was like listening to one of those morning tv women's chat shows. I will warn you that while I have mentioned the gallows humor in the story, it is not a cozy mystery. There is violent and sexual matter, but this is not explicit in nature, and doesn't detract from the plot.

Recommended for most readers of: light mysteries, suspense, chick-lit, beach reads

book was supplied to me by Oceanview Publishers for a fair & honest review: http://myhomeofbooks.blogspot.com ( )

I received an uncorrected digital galley of The Trouble With Charlie by Merry Jones from NetGalley.com in return for my honest review.

Despite the fact that second grade teacher, Elle, found her soon-to-be ex-husband, Charlie, stabbed to death in her den seemingly without her knowledge, was the number one suspect in his death, conversed with her husband though he had been killed, was at the scene of several other murders, was kidnapped, as well as finding herself engaged in a variety of other outrageously, unrealistic scenarios, this novel was pure fun and provided hours of enjoyment for this reader.

Maybe it was the friendship of the four ladies, Elle, Susan, Jen and Becky that made the book so endearing (and could be the beginning of a new series) or quite possibly it was the relationship between Elle and Charlie, and the feelings that they still had for one another notwithstanding the heartache he caused her.

In spite of the outlandish circumstances, the story felt real. It was engaging, exciting and I highly recommend it. ( )

Elle Harrison, narrator of The Trouble with Charlie, comes home to find her soon to be ex, Charlie dead on her couch with one of her kitchen knives in his back. Elle is not sure who killed Charlie but she knows it wasn't her, or was it?? Elle does what her friends call "pulling an Elle" where she zones out and has trouble remembering what happened during the time she was zoned out. Did she kill Charlie, the police kind of think so. She had the motive, cheating husband, insurance policies and incriminating evidence. Plus the fact that Charlie is dead but not gone, she has conversations with him and can smell his aftershave.

This story is told with lots of tongue in cheek humor and this is interesting because it makes a murder mystery a bit of fun. Elle is sure that she did not kill Charlie but who did. As Elle checks out Charlies life after he moved out, she finds a lot of suspicious things that she has a hard time believing that Charlie could be part of. A creepy business partner, a missing flash drive that lots of people want to find. I was surprised a bit by the ending, didn't see it coming. Luckily for Elle, she has a wonderful support group of friends who help her figure out what exactly happened in her living room. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to all mystery lovers out there. ( )