Demise of a Devious Neighbor

River's Edge Cozy Mysteries, Book 2

By: Elaine L Orr

Narrated by: Brad C. Wilcox

The reverberating bangs shake Melanie Perkin's nerves. Either someone's aiming at her truck, or they don't know fireworks are supposed to go upward. Could things get any worse? Yes. The next day she discovers a dead body in the barn on her late parents' farm, Sheriff's Deputy Granger's gun pointed at the chest of a primary suspect - someone she holds dear. Illegal merchandise flooding the small Iowa town of River's Edge, upcoming Fourth of July activities, and a half-finished manuscript all hinder her determined efforts to solve the crime before an innocent person is convicted of murder. In this, the second novel in beloved cozy mystery writer Elaine Orr's River's Edge series, the author once again offers humor, believable characters, and tight prose as she carries the listener to an exciting climax. Those who follow her Jolie Gentil series will find themselves right at home. You won't want to miss this one!

©2016 Annie Acorn Publishing LLC (P)2017 Elaine L. Orr

good standalone mystery

I listened to this book. This is a standalone story. Enough of the back story from book one is included just after the opening. We find Melanie arriving at her parent’s farm to meet Mr. Frost and her brother, Ambrose. Ambrose is holding a knife over Mr. Frost. In walks sheriff deputy Aaron Granger, nephew of Mr. Frost. Ambrose goes to the top of the suspect list.
Mr. Frost filed a breach of contract suit against Melanie Perkins and her brother Ambrose on the death of their parents in an automobile accident.

Something isn’t right and the barn was being used for other purposes unknown to Melanie and Ambrose.

Plenty of twists and turns, the ending may surprise you. I liked the mystery and the characters.

I did not like the actual end of the book. They mystery was over and the whole last scene seems out of place- possibly a cliff hanger. I don’t like stories with cliff hangers.

I liked the story behind Mr. Tibbs, Mel’s dog.

Accurate Description of Small Town Midwestern Life

I liked the description of places, events, and details, but disliked the profusion of characters and had trouble following plot intricacies. It might have been easier to follow in print.

Nice Listen

This was a nice listen. The narration was good but the voice of the main character didn't work for me. There was mystery and some suspense but even with the fourth of July fireworks, the ending was a little anti-climactic.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Good book read by a non midwesterner

amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, cozy-mystery, murder-investigation, iowa

Twisty and with lots of suspense. Set in small town rural Iowa which, basically could be farm town anywhere. Everybody knows everyone's business, and the gossip is spread really fast. The murder victim was an unlucky opportunist, the alleged murderer a former resident with a good reason to seriously dislike the man. Plus, there's a manuscript of a mystery novel based on local events, suspicion of illegal goings on, and a deputy with an ax to grind, and some really serious hard evidence. Good reflection of rural reality and some real characters! I loved it!
I now have the audio and the reader is better than the robot but has no idea how to talk Midwestern.

Not Bad

The book could use a better narrator. That causes me to pause when listening to it. The voice was not very good. The book had a good plot and was well developed. Enjoyed the book overall.

Well written!

What made the experience of listening to Demise of a Devious Neighbor the most enjoyable?

The story moved along well and kept your attention throughout.

What other book might you compare Demise of a Devious Neighbor to and why?

To a David Baldacci novel with all its twists and turns.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes but with very little voice changes for each character it was hard to tell who we were talking about.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Melanie saves the girl from the explosion was a tender moment.

Any additional comments?

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review”.

Who Done it

I love the the story line. The characters were great and the author had you wondering who could have done it. This was my first book in this series and i would do more of these stories. My problem is the narrator. I had a hard time distinguishing the different characters from each other. Especially the female parts. He did not seem to try an do a feminine voice. I have listen to a lot of male narrators do female parts very well. I feel this type of book is not for Brad. However,his voice would be great in a urban fantasy. He has a great voice for those types of books. Just needs to work on changing up the voices for different characters, Back to the book. I received this book free for an honest opinion. I would like to read more in this series.

Good!

I enjoyed this well developed mystery. Even though this is part of a series, I listened to this as a standalone and wasn't lost. The plot is intriguing and well thought out. I also really enjoyed the narration.

**I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review**

Great Murder Mystery!

Both the author and narrator were new to me. I thought the author wrote an excellent book but the narrator wasn't the best fit in my opinion. I could not hear any distinguishing changes in the narrators voice for the various characters or situations. This book is part of a series and a standalone listen. I will look for more books by the author in the future. I was provided this review copy audiobook at my request and have chosen to write this review. Having lived in Iowa, I thought the author added some very authentic items to the story. Also, she had some great humor along with endearing characters.

Passable

Would you try another book from Elaine L Orr and/or Brad C. Wilcox?

Based on this one book that I listened to, I am unable to make an opinion about the author. The book was fine and the writing style was alright. One thing I didn't like about the book is that even though it is marketed as a standalone book in a series, I felt like I am missing things about the main character and it is not properly introduced. I would guess because that is already done in the first book, the author didn't feel the need to do the same in book 2 too, which is understandable. But I wish there was some more "recap" kind of passage where new readers would get to know the character first.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narration was sub-par. All the characters sounded the same and it was very difficult to tell who's who.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. The story isn't that great.

Any additional comments?

I received this book for free from the author / narrator / publisher, in exchange for an unbiased review.