Always Murder

The Last Picks, Book 9

De: Gregory Ashe

Narrado por: Andrew Gibson

The only thing worse than murder is…no murder?

It’s Christmastime, and Dashiell Dawson Dane (just Dash) is looking forward to a quiet holiday season—no unexpected visitors, no relationship drama, and absolutely no murders.

But when his friend Millie asks for help, Dash says yes. Because that’s what friends do.

Millie’s brother, he learns, has been accused of stealing packages from his job as a delivery driver. Worse, he’s been fired. So, Millie’s request is simple: clear her brother’s name—and, in the process, save Christmas.

No small task, it turns out, as Dash faces a suspiciously hostile warehouse manager, stumbles onto a family of porch pirates, and somehow gets roped into the Nought Family Nativity Pageant. And when Millie’s brother disappears, Dash fears the worst. In Dash’s (growing) experience, that can only mean one thing…

Because it’s always murder.

Isn’t it?

©2025 Gregory Ashe (P)2025 Gregory Ashe

More Millie

The Last Picks are a family, one they created for themselves. While Millie's own family may dismiss and overlook her, Dash and the rest are always there... even when it involves murder. Loved this next installment, which has Dash and Millie (or shall we say Jinx! :-) solving a porch pirate mystery that leads to murder in typical madcap fashion. While I wanted to b*slap Millie's sisters, having Millie shine at the end gave me all the feels. Fun and engaging mystery and another excellent narration means I'll listen to this book again, at Christmastime.

Can't Get Enough

I can't get enough of these stories, although isn't it about time for Dash to actually finish a book?? lol - I love the way Gregory Ashe is developing the relationships between the main characters and Andrew Gibson gives another perfect performance.

Best narration!

The story line is great, characters are fun and quirky, but what always does it for me is the narration. It brings the book to life and Andrew Gibson does a terrific job.

I found new empathy for Millie

Starting with the previous book, it looks like this series is going to explore each of the last picks just a little better by involving them with some sort of murder. Or not murder, as it appears in this book. In the last book, we got a picture of Keme’s family, who were negligent and selfish and deliberately cruel. In the book, we meet Millie’s family. Since Millie is such a bubbly personality and comes from a family much better off than Keme’s, you’d expect them to be close and caring… sigh. Living in Millie’s family is like living in a 24/7 competition. For her sisters it’s who has the best boyfriend. her brothers it’s who can be less of a screw-up? Still, Millie’s mom plays favorites and it doesn’t look like she approves of Millie’s job or her boyfriend Keme. It makes me see why Millie might act so over the top. Perhaps she is always seeking the attention and approval she doesn’t get at home and perhaps she doesn’t want people to see how she isn’t really the happy-go-lucky young woman that she appears to be.

Yes, Millie’s family is cruel in their own way. Seeing Millie and Keme belittled and mistreated and given the worst parts of the Christmas pageant her family runs had me ready to scream. (A brief aside, I did enjoy that this story takes place at Christmas time, especially with the holiday so near in real life., even if it doesn’t really give off warm and fuzzy holiday vibes.) Back to Millie’s family! So I mentioned that Millie’s brothers seemed less stable than her sisters and their boyfriends. And less than Millie, really. Paul’s claim to fame is that he recently got a job at a package delivery company. Unfortunately for Paul, someone has been taking his deliveries. Paul is blamed right from the start, even if motive is unclear.

This mystery definitely had me guessing. Did the stealing have anything to do with Paul streaming his job duties online? Or was it a family of porch pirates that the police were already investigating. Or perhaps one of his sister’s boyfriends isn’t what they seem. Then Paul goes missing. I can’t say I’m a fan of Paul or any of Millie’s family, but I was really hoping that her family member wouldn’t become the murder victim that is usually associated with any case Dash solves. And though there is a dead body in the end, I will leave it up to you to discover what actually happens in this twisty and turny story. I definitely didn’t suspect the truth.

And I have to just talk really quick about Dash and Bobby, whose relationship is still in the early stages. As Dash helps Millie solve some relationship problems she’s having with Keme, he comes to some realizations about his own relationship. Communication is still an issue with these two! Dash might be a little bit pushy for Bobby to achieve certain milestones, but Bobby’s avoidance to tell Dash that something is bothering him leads Dash to feel really guilty in a way that I don’t think is necessary. Perhaps I am just too empathetic of Dash’s feelings and it was hard to see him try to take all the blame. I don’t want to go into great detail, but it definitely seems like there will still be moments for them to grow as individuals and as a couple as we explore other members of the “Last Picks.”

As always I recommend this story and the series. This author is always a hit for me, and the narrator is knocking it out of the park.

Entertaining listen.

I am feeling a bit conflicted about this audiobook. I enjoyed the story. Gregory Ashe uses the meta approach to storytelling extremely well. Andrew Gibson’s animated performance of Dash is excellent. Both Ashe’s writing and Gibson’s performance together are entertaining, but the resolution wasn’t satisfying this time. If you have been reading the Last Picks series up to this volume, you have probably noticed that the author is using different writing techniques and mystery tropes in each book. I don’t like this trope. I never liked this one. I usually feel like the author is maliciously trying to trick me. To me, that approach seems counterproductive in a work designed to entertain people. I don’t think the trope used in this book will ever be on my “to read” list, but I had fun listening to the rest of the story. Some of the hints about burgeoning relationships and plot directions have me intrigued. I appreciate Andrew Gibson’s performance so much that I usually wait for the narration, but I am seriously contemplating reading ahead instead of waiting for the audiobook. This book is definitely worth listening to. So, yeah. Go listen now. It’s worth your time.