Susan Hunter (3)

Leah Nash can't help but get involved when her ex husband, Nick Gallagher is the prime suspect in a murder case. Nick is a lot of things - including a liar and a cheater - but murderer? Leah can't see it. Which means investigating. That little thing she likes to do best.

This was good. A little rushed in parts - at times I felt like my head was going to explode at the speed the narrative went at - but it was good. Action packed and full of suspense, danger and lots of mystery.

I love that Leah and Miller buy the newspaper. Frankly, with the way Leah runs it - she should make it a newspaper/detective agency. Offer their services and get paid twice over for the investigating. And I love that Allie Ross works there now. I hope she takes on a bigger role in future books.

As for the rest of the cast of characters - I adore Charlie Ross. The love hate relationship him and Leah have is hilarious. I liked the new additions of Troy and Maggie. Miguel, of course, is a stylish favourite and Courtnee always cracks me up. The friendship/potential romantic relationship with Coop/Leah is still weird. But I didn't completely hate the romance with Gabe. I mean, I wouldn't say I liked it - but it was okay. Nick was his usual ridiculous self. He's become rather funny now that Leah isn't actually trying to be in a relationship with him. It was amusing seeing him justify his lies and affairs.

I wasn't entirely thrilled with the ending but it worked. Although Leah argues that she really was simplifying the crime - it felt a lot more like she complicated. The motives were a bit too convoluted. April is nuts and didn't just kill Rebecca but also Vesta and Laurel? I mean I could buy Rebecca and Vesta but I think it would've been better to keep Laurel's crime separate. Honestly I just really wanted Laurel's killer to be either her husband or the stepson she was having an affair with. I liked that idea better. But regardless of my own feelings, it did wrap everything up neatly and it was a decent plot.

A fast paced action filled murder mystery. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.… (más)

Leah Nash is dragged into her next investigation when her friend Miguel finds a dead body in his house and his uncle is accused of the crime. Working with Gabe, a new lawyer in town, Leah sets out to do what she does best - shake things up.

After the last book I thought I was on a roll with this series. But nope, back to average.

The mystery part was alright. Kind of convoluted but not too bad. It was mainly let down by a return to form of Leah jumping from theory to theory with no real evidence to back it up. I liked the last one where she used more of her unbiased and objective reporter instincts. This one she was back to bumbling.

The romance sucked. It was over the top dramatic and just too ridiculous for me to care. The whole Nick and Leah relationship was just dumb. I just didn't believe either of them really liked one another enough. I was glad when they split up. On the other hand, the Coop and Rebecca storyline was just insane. I could've maybe gone with it if she actually did kill Holly but without that it mostly fell apart. Plus the whole not actually knowing what was truth and lie was annoying.

I did like the new characters, April, Gabe, Erin and Allie. I really liked Allie Ross - Charlie Ross' daughter. Ross and Leah still have their frenemy thing happening leaning more towards the friends side of things and I was still rating it.

That all said, it wasn't bad - just wasn't as good as I was anticipating. 3.5 stars.… (más)

Leah Nash has just finished publicity for her first book and it's time to buckle down and start her second. Except she's just not all that interested in the case her agent's picked out. Luckily, a new case falls into her lap.

Well third time's the charm. I'm officially hooked on this series. This series gets better as it goes on. Started out a low 3.5 (#1) and then a high 3.5 (#2) and now a solid 4 (#3). The plot was riveting. I was hooked on finding out what was going on. There were twists I didn't see coming and it was fantastic. I also loved that it was a cold case. I love people investigating cold cases.

I guessed some parts and missed others. Totally picked that Eric and family were covering about the hit and run that occurred the same night Heather disappeared. I just thought that Eric was the one driving, not his mum. So so close. On the other hand I totally suspected Dorsey Cowdrey. Granted I didn't guess that Anthony Dunn was in on it but I did guess Dorsey was. When Leah picks up her rental car and Dorsey has just returned a green pickup - the same one that was tailgating her just before she was shot? I was waiting for the big reveal so I could go haha and it never bloody happened. They skimmed over that bit and just went to, he did it. I was very annoyed. I had felt so smart.

I liked Leah a whole lot more in this book. She was more reporter like - unbiased and objective. Or at the very least aware of her biases. It made it easier to like her. Plus this time she didn't get stuck on one theory and keep at it for the whole book, rather assessing and considering and investigating and it was perfect.

The frenemies relationship Leah and Ross have going on was hilarious. I was totally rating it. And Courtnee cracked me up.

“So, then Rebecca says, [and here he did a dead-on impression of her icy tones] ‘Courtnee, when I gave you my credit card to pick up my lunch, and told you to get something for yourself, I meant something to eat. I didn’t mean a new purse at Target.’ ” “I don’t even want to ask, but I can’t help myself. What did Courtnee say?” “She—she—she.” Every time he started, he had to stop because he was laughing so hard. And a laughing Miguel is hard to resist. He pulled himself together for a minute and with only a few crack ups managed to get Courtnee’s response out. “She said, ‘Well, Rebecca, you said to get myself something. So I did. Besides, my purse was seventy percent off! So, when you think about it, I saved you $70. You’re welcome.’ ” His voice conveyed Courtnee’s injured tone perfectly.

Hunter, Susan. Dangerous Places (Leah Nash Mysteries Book 3) (pp. 157-158). Severn River Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I was giggling away reading that. Honestly this book was a lot funnier than the previous two. It was just so ridiculous at some points and I was rating it.

I was bummed that Sammy was killed off so early in the piece. I rather liked her. And that Cole only plays a small part. I kind of want to learn more about him. He's growing on me. Much like Leah is.

As for the rest of the characters, they were varying degrees of okay. I thought Rebecca was okay in the last book, but she was terrible in this one. Blackmailing the sheriff to get Coop a promotion was kind of hardcore. I was not expecting it. Coop was average. I don't really understand him. Or understand why Leah and him are friends. I did like that Leah wasn't as cutting to Coop about Rebecca as she was in the last book. It was pretty over the top in the last one and it made it especially hard to like her. In this one, she tones it down, keeping her comments to herself.

I love Miguel. He's fantastic and I love him injecting his Spanish words all over the place. I hated Nick (the ex husband and new boyfriend). I didn't like him in the last book and I didn't like him more in this one. And I felt sorry for Leah when she found out her mum lied to her about her dad dying. I might not like Nick but he was right when he said it's hard to realise your parents are just human and make mistakes like all the rest of us.

A solid mystery with entertaining characters and a complex plot. 4 stars.… (más)

Newspaper reporter, Leah Nash has had a busy year after finding her sister's killer. With a new boss, a new boyfriend and a new book deal, she's been swamped - but when she meets Isabel Whiting, her plea to prove her father didn't commit suicide sparks a need to help.

The second book in the Leah Nash series is a decent read. In some ways this was much better than the first one. In other ways I hated it. Mostly it was the romance. Somehow the first book failed to mention that Leah is divorced. Like seriously? I feel that was kind of relevant in the whole getting to know you part but sure. There was no romance in the first book and frankly that was how I liked it. I don't know what the hell the whole Leah/Coop thing is but I'd rather they stick with that than whatever the hell Nick (the ex husband) is. He just irritated me.

As far as the plot goes it was good. The mystery was complex and the characters were interesting. I felt this was a bit more rounded out than the first book. Leah is a hard character to like. She can be judgey and pushy and full on. Once she gets an idea in her head she refuses to consider other options. Which would be fine if she's always right - but she's really not. That said, I felt this one struck a better balance with admitting she was wrong and accepting the consequences of her actions.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I kind of liked the whole 'hot damn, convicted of the one crime you didn't actually do'. So Leah actually turning over the evidence to exonerate Isabel kind of irritated me. But it was okay. It wasn't a dealbreaker. I did love her response when she found out that Garrett had committed suicide. She was so bummed that Ross was right and it was hilarious.

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Isabel hadn’t committed the only crime she was arrested for. She really didn’t kill Garrett. He killed himself. Charlie Ross had been right all along.

Hunter, Susan. Dangerous Mistakes (Leah Nash Mysteries Book 2) (p. 348). Severn River Publishing. Kindle Edition. I also adored how Leah outsmarted Isabel.

After I listened, we came right over. And saw you trying to stab Isabel.”
“I could have. I thought the Klonopin she tried to give me would never kick in. I switched the cups when I knocked over the flowers, and she drank the whole thing, but she didn’t go down easy.”

Hunter, Susan. Dangerous Mistakes (Leah Nash Mysteries Book 2) (p. 336). Severn River Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Pure genius that bit was.

I was loving the whole Leah/Ross bonding thing going on at the end. That was funny. I was amused at them both admitting wrong doing. And how much it hurt them both. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why they do hate each other so much. It would be a stronger story if they had a school rivalry or something. I could get behind them having a relationship. It certainly couldn't be worse than her weird thing with Nick.

Overall a much better mystery than the first book even if the main character is still a bit unlikeable. 3.5 stars.… (más)