Death by Committee

Abby McCree Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Alexis Morgan

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

After a rough divorce, Abby McCree only wants to stitch up her life and move on. But other loose ends appear after her elderly Aunt Sybil passes away, leaving Abby to tend to a rundown estate, complete with a slobbery Mastiff of questionable pedigree and a sexy tenant who growls more than the dog. As Abby gets drawn into a tight-knit quilting guild, she makes a twisted discovery - Aunt Sybil's only known rival is buried in her backyard!

Despite what local detectives say, Abby refuses to accept that her beloved aunt had anything to do with the murder. While navigating a busy social calendar and rediscovering the art of quilting, she launches an investigation of her own to clear Aunt Sybil's name and catch the true culprit. Incriminating clues roll in, yet Abby can't help but wonder - can she survive her new responsibilities in Snowberry Creek and still manage to patch together a killer's deadly pattern without becoming the next victim?

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

OK story-moderately interesting characters

Divorcée inherits old house with dead body buried in the blackberry bushes. Hunky former military guy lives on property as a renter. Bunch of older ladies are into quilting which plays into story. Divorcée get overly involved in investigating in spite of warning from police and hunky guy. She discovers murderer and is rescued from being murdered in last several minutes of book. Of course, true love blooms.

Death by Committee

Spoiler:
I figured out the killer waaay too early. I think everyone will figure out who the killer is before the end of the book. The story otherwise was pretty good. Young divorced woman inherits aunt's house. Aunt belongs to a quilting group. Aunt's rival is murdered and buried in the aunt's backyard. Aunt's hunky tenant and young woman get involved and try to solve mystery.

Death by Committee

Couldn't put down! Lots of action & excitment! Never a dull fmoment! Although I did figure out the killer. Small town & a dog & great characters.

was it the auntie

This story can be a mystery movie. has a good mystery going on. the Characters is very likable, I'm looking forward to the 2nd series. the mystery had me trying to guess who was the killer, this have a good mystery puzzle to it.

Narrator

I disliked the heavy breathing of the narrator. I have heard far better. Her reading did improve as the story unfolded,

This is going to be a great series

Interesting well defined characters, very good plot too! Can’t wait for book 2 👍
Snuggle up in a comfy spot and enjoy

3 stars

This is an ok story but a bit flat. The characters and plot just didn't grab me. The narrator did a good job giving life to the story but she didn't have a lot to work with.

Excellent

This story is a clean cozy mystery with some romance. It has an interesting storyline and an outstanding narrator.

Has potential, but cheesy and eye rolling

I do find the story interesting and captivating, but there were some irksome parts too.
Firstly, the murderer was pretty obvious once he/she appeared, and that took the suspense out of the rest of story.
Next, the so called 'chemistry' between Abby and Tripp was such a turn off. Their converstions, peppered with teases or flirts, often came across as cheesy and juvenile. For goodness sake they were supposed to be mature grown ups in their late 30s to 40s, not high school teens.
The author may be trying to portray Tripp as the hunky protector, but it has been overdone and he came across as too intense and crazily protective, like getting all riled up and ready to punch just because someone upset Abby. I cannot helped but rolled my eyes each time when these two interact.
I do feel this series has potential for good cosy murder story, but characters need some fine tuning.

Fun plot and creative characters

In Death by Committee by Alexis Morgan, Abby McCree is just concluding a nasty divorce when she inherits the home and possessions of her Aunt Sybil in Snowberry Creek, Washington. She soon finds herself talked into taking over her aunt's commitments as head of the quilters' guild and the city's senior committee. In addition to inheriting the home of her aunt, Abby has found that she has inherited the sexy, muscular army vet, Tripp, who has been renting a bungalow from her aunt in exchange for doing yard work. Then one day Abby and Tripp work on cleaning up Aunt Sybil's backyard when they discover the body of Dolly Cayhill, her aunt's chief enemy, who has been dead for months and is wrapped up in a quilt. Many in the community accuse Sybil of having killed Dolly, spurring Abby to start asking questions and team up with Tripp to find the truth.

Death by Committee was a fun book with an interesting plot. I especially liked the fact that the main character is nearing her 40s and the other women are senior citizens. Too many cozy mysteries feature only young women, and seniors are not treated as legitimate sleuths. It's also good to see a dog who is not a cute little thing, with the dog in this book's being a mastiff.

Colleen Marlo performs the audio edition of this book. She gives a good portrayal of the book, making the readers connect to the plot and characters all the more effectively than the book by itself would.

I enjoyed listening to Death by Committee and look forward to more books in this series or by the author. I give it five stars!