MURDER, MAYHEM AND A FINE MAN
by Claudia Mair Burney
Meet Amanda Bell, a forensic psychologist, whose 40th birthday has been turned upside down thanks to her sister. Dressed in a hot red dress, Amanda’s birthday dinner is interrupted when her sister, the coroner, is called to the scene of a crime. Sparks fly at the crime scene when Amanda meets Detective Jazz Brown (no-relation). Even after Amanda loses her dinner all over his alligator shoes, Detective Jazz Brown is permanently smitten. With Amanda working as a consultant on the murder case, her and Jazz will bump heads quite often, both professionally and personally. Unfortunately, this case may become more than Amanda can handle as her past comes back to haunt her. Jazz has his own set of issues, making matters even worse.
Amanda Bell is one funny, sassy, intelligient package deal! Claudia Mair Burney has an infectious style that leaves her readers laughing out loud and begging for more. The chemistry between Jazz and Amanda makes this novel irresistable to put down. For Christian fiction, the dialogue is fresh and funny, at times totally unexpected, but a delightful change of pace. The author digs deep into the dangers of cults and her antagonist is one creepy dude. With this being a mystery novel, the author does a great job leaving the reader guessing to the end.
For more adventures of Amanda Bell, look out for Death, Deceit, And Some Smooth Jazz in December.
Reviewd by Tyora Moody
chbookshelf September 24, 2006
Amanda Bell Brown is discovering that life as a forensic psychologist isn’t quite what prime-time television makes it out to be. Bell spends most of her time listening to jail inmates…at least until her fortieth birthday, when her sister, Carly, takes her out to eat…and then with her when she responds to a call. Carly is a medical examiner and has been summoned to the scene of a murder.
The lead detective is Jazz Brown, a hottie who spends the first moments flirting outrageously with Bell, even after she loses her supper on his alligator shoes. He offers to take her home and for a minute, they are in love. But time passes and too soon the minute is over. Bell will never see Jazz again. At least that is the plan.
But Jazz needs Bell’s expertise on the case. Will they find the murderer before he/she kills again?
MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN is a fine book. I got into it from the very first page and I couldn’t put it down. There was only one part in the book that made me pause, but other than that, the writing is impeccable, the story well told, the characters loveable and easily related to. The faith message is not preachy.
I thoroughly enjoyed MURDER, MAYHEM AND A FINE MAN and can’t wait to read the second book in the Amanda Bell Brown Mystery series, Death, Deceit, and Some Smooth Jazz, coming soon. Discussion questions are included at the end of MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN, as well as an interview with the author. Mystery lovers won’t want to miss MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN. $12.99. 272 pages.
Reviewed by Laura V. Hilton