Two New Mexico detectives are given the case of the murder of a Albuquerque socialite. In this case it is not the too few suspects that is their problem but too many as this beautiful but evil female has spent her life destroying peoples lives.
Very satisfying read ( )

This book was a delight to listen to! The story was easy to get into, the characters engaging, and the setting well used. Detectives Barbara and Susan are good friends as well as being good cops. In a mostly male profession, the ladies are more than driven to prove they are quite capable of solving this case that has handfuls of suspects. I felt it was very realistic for the ladies to feel pressure to out perform their male colleagues just to be seen as satisfactory workers.

I loved the setting but I’m a little bias being a New Mexico resident for most of my life. Some places noted in this book I know exist and others I would have to look up. It was great that the author included our Spanish and Mexican heritage that makes this state so very interesting.

The mystery itself was a wonderful chase of details and hunches. Victoria Comstock, the recently murdered, engendered love and hate in strong, broad strokes for many people. The more I learned about her, the more I was glad that she was dead! Badal does an excellent job of making the deceased the true villain of the tale while keeping us readers guessing as to who actually did the deed.

The story becomes even more engrossing when another body turns up. The two deaths are almost certainly connected but our hero detectives aren’t sure if they are after one or two killers. Susan’s angry husband complicates matters. Meanwhile, Barbara may have finally found someone to help her let go of her deceased husband – and that also adds some complications to the murder mystery.

At the end, there’s some foreshadowing that gave a hint as to who murdered one of the victims but who killed the other victim was a surprise to me. This mystery hit all the good points for me as it kept me engaged, had me rooting for our detectives, hating the villain, feeling sympathetic for some of the characters, and wanting more. Please let there be more Susan & Barbara murder mysteries! 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Pamela Almand was a great fit for this book. She had a slight accent for Barbara (as described in the story) and a clear, bright voice for Susan. Her Spanish was good and I feel that she captured the mild northern New Mexico accent quite well. All of her characters had distinct voices and her male voices were believable. There’s some real feelings in this story, especially for Barbara, and Almand was great at bringing these out in the narration. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Pamela Almand. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. ( )

My original Borderline audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez are homicide detectives in New Mexico. Barbara is a widow who is struggling to get over the death of her husband and has turned to alcohol. Susan's marriage to a flight attendant is fragile. Apart from their personal problems, the two women are fighting sexism in their male-dominated workplace.When Victoria Comstock, an Albuquerque socialite, is killed, not many people seem to mourn the demise of the woman. Barbara's and Susan's investigation reveals that Victoria had ruined many people's lives through manipulation and pure evil.

When Victoria Comstock, an Albuquerque socialite, is killed, not many people seem to mourn the demise of the woman. Barbara's and Susan's investigation reveals that Victoria had ruined many people's lives through manipulation and pure evil. As the list of suspects keeps growing and the pressure to get a result is mounting, Barbara and Susan find a second murder victim. Is it the same killer?

It was quite nice to get two female detectives as the protagonists of a crime thriller, and these two made a great team that I would love to see more of. Remember Cagney and Lacey? If you liked them, you will enjoy this. The mix between delving into the detectives' private lives and the actual police procedural was just right and made these two characters fleshed out and credible. The plot wasn't predictable, which was a nice bonus. Some of it was a bit clichéd, but it was highly entertaining and held my attention throughout. There were a few twists that really surprised me. I felt the epilog was totally unnecessary, though.

Pamela Almand's smooth voice and enthusiastic delivery made this a pleasure to listen to. She had a wonderful range of different voices, so it was always obvious who was speaking, and Pamela portrays male characters so convincingly. This is the second time I've listened to her, and I like that you can tell she is fully invested in the story and enjoys what she is doing. There was no issue with the production at all.

This wasn't a cozy mystery, but there wasn't a lot of violence or gory details and the language was fairly clean. I think this would appeal to any fans of fast-paced mysteries and crime thrillers. I will certainly look out for the second book featuring Barbara and Susan to be published in 2017.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator. ( )