Amaretto Amber: A Private Investigator Comedy Mystery (Franki Amato Mysteries, Book 3)

By: Traci Andrighetti

Narrated by: Madeline Mrozek

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Now in development for a TV movie!

Private investigator Franki Amato has just turned 30, and she feels anything but festive. For starters, she can't have cake because she's given up sweets, and one of her teeth is torturing her. To add insult to birthday injury, she has to investigate a surreal strip club homicide - with her 60ish ex-stripper landlady. Then her Sicilian grandma crashes the New Orleans non-party and insists that she steal a lemon to land a husband. Unfortunately for Franki, the man she has in mind has his mind somewhere else, and their relationship seems to have soured.

Adding to her troubles, she has to figure out what a missing amber pendant and a mysterious amaretto bottle have to do with the murder, not to mention why she's being followed. When a second dancer goes down and a third is threatened, Franki turns to a weird witch to crack the case and cancel a curse before someone blows out her candles for good.

Franki Amato Mysteries:

• Limoncello Yellow (Book One)
• Prosecco Pink (Book Two)
• Rosolio Red (Holiday short story)
• Amaretto Amber (Book Three)

©2016 Traci Andrighetti (P)2017 Traci Andrighetti

A light listen with a wonderful narration

This is the fifth installment about Franki Amato, a young PI of Italian origin. In this book she just turns thirty and her family will put quite some pressure in getting her married as soon as possible. In the meantime she will be investigating an extravagant murder occurred in a striptease club.

Even though I would not count cozy mysteries among my favorite genres, I like turning to this genre now and then since I find it very refreshing and helps me decompress and recover in times of stress or reading slumps. I find them very easy to follow and, even though my ideals are quite different from what generally these books transpire. I am not the typical traditional girl, but I do sometimes enjoy reading about this kind of characters.

I found Franki a bit less traditional than other characters in cozy mysteries, even though her family was. She had a boyfriend though with which he wanted to stay and work to improve their relationship. As in many cozy mysteries, there is a cop which is the 'nemesis' to our main character.

There are many hilarious scenes in this book, sometimes caused by Franki's bad luck, but other times due to her family quirks. When reading a cozy mystery I want to be able to laugh, to relax and, also connect to the main character (since they are also women, and they are around my age). This book delivers all this, plus offering an interesting and convoluted story.

One of the best parts of this audiobook was Madeline Mrozek's narration. She has a quite ample range of voices and accents to make an audiobook a very enjoyable experience. There were many characters in this book, but thanks to Madeline it was easy to know which one was talking. She has also incredible interpretation skills, bringing the characters to life. I will definitely look for this narrator again.

This is book three of a series but it can be read as a standalone. It refers from time to time to past events but in my opinion, reading books one and two is not a requirement.

I really enjoyed this book, and I am glad that I have another cozy mysteries series for those moments when I need an easy and light listen.

I received a free copy of this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable

Which character – as performed by Madeline Mrozek – was your favorite?

Frankie and all the trouble that seems to follow her.

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

I loved it!

The narrator was wonderful! The storyline was intriguing and funny and entertaining and quirky! All the fun things you like in a light murder mystery including a little romance. I definitely am going to listen to the next book in this series!!

A cozy mystery with a twist of humor

Warning: this book contains topics of witchcraft, voodoo, spells etc. That can be problematic for some, so I wanted to mention that these are a main theme.

This book is an adventure with the funnest cast of characters! Glenda becomes an honorary PI to help solve a death at a strip club, and it's truly comical. Madeline does such a wonderful job narrating & bringing all these characters to life. She had quite a task with this book & it was done perfectly. I could picture each and every character & it was such a treat to transport into this wild and funny world. This is a cozy with a twist of humor & I highly recommend it! I can't wait to see what Frankie is up to next!

Great Read

I found myself listening to this book nonstop. I really enjoyed the twists and turns and never saw the ending coming. Traci Andrighetti did a great job of keeping the suspense going.

Death, Theft, Strippers and the Big Easy

Franki Amato, former cop and current PI in the Big Easy is turning 30. Her family wants her married and she just wants to survive the birthday. When an ex-stripper is found dead at a strip club, Franki is hired to figure out who murdered Amber. As the case unfolds, Franki ends up with a list of interesting suspects - A pimp, a Communist salon owner, a stripper. In the meantime, her Grandmother has come from Houston to ensure an engagement. Her boyfriend is losing high profile clients at his bank, which could cost him his job. Franki tries to solve these problems while stepping outside her comfort zone to solve Amber’s murder. As always, Traci has created a colorful cast of characters to keep Franki hopping. Can’t wait to see what the future brings for Franki! Excellent performance by the narrator.

Colorful fun

As usual, things start to go wrong for Franki the moment this story starts, and then get only worse! She is thirty (which feels like a disaster for some ladies, I hear), her boyfriend is losing his job, and she has to investigate a strip club murder while her highly religious mum and nonna are in town. Hilarious moments with stolen lemons ensue :)

There were more characters this time in this nice cozy mystery, but especially the Amato ladies surprised me with their spunk. Bradley got some great moments in this story too. And as always, the lady narrator did a great job bringing them to life.


My heartfelt thanks to the author, narrator, or publisher for providing me this audiobook via Audiobook Boom at no cost in exchange for my unbiased review.

The various characters, especially Glenda!

Overall a good chuckle and mystery. I've enjoy the 1st 3 books and look forward to the next 3 books.

Even better with this narrator!

murder-investigation, stripper, italian-customs, nola, pi, witches, voodoo, snarky

It's her thirtieth birthday, she thinks that she is cursed, and that feeling is borne out by being descended upon by her mother and Italian grandmother hassling her about her unmarried state. Then there is a murder at the strip club favored by sexagenarian landlady, and her boyfriend being sabotaged at his bank! The publisher's blurb gives hints and clues but can't begin to prepare you for all the situational and verbal humor. No spoilers here, but the investigation is so convoluted, and each suspect is so easily believable. The antics of family, friends, and the crazy landlady would be unbelievable anywhere but in NOLA.
Madeline Mrozek really brings each character alive and can snark with the best. I'm still totally amazed that she doesn't crack up narrating this author's books!

Great Series!

Any additional comments?

This is a great book; this is the third book in the Franki Amato Mystery series written by Traci Andrighetti and narrated by Madeline Mrozek. Private investigator Franki Amato has just turned 30, and she feels anything but festive. For starters, she can't have cake because she's given up sweets, and one of her teeth is torturing her. To add insult to birthday injury, she has to investigate a surreal strip club homicide - with her 60ish ex-stripper landlady. Then her Sicilian grandma crashes the New Orleans non-party and insists that she steal a lemon to land a husband. Unfortunately for Franki, the man she has in mind has his mind somewhere else, and their relationship seems to have soured. Adding to her troubles, she has to figure out what a missing amber pendant and a mysterious amaretto bottle have to do with the murder, not to mention why she's being followed. When a second dancer goes down and a third is threatened, Franki turns to a weird witch to crack the case and cancel a curse before someone blows out her candles for good.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises.

The narrator did a wonderful job with this book. She did a great job with the different voices of each character in this book. It was very easy to listen to and I didn’t want to stop listening until the end.

If you are looking for a great book with well-developed characters then you need to listen to this book. I am looking forward to listening to the next book by this author and narrator.