'C' is for Coochy Coo

Malibu Mystery, Book 3

De: Sean Black, Rebecca Cantrell

Narrado por: Madeline Mrozek

The third book in the brand new fast-paced, funny series that's perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books.

Former child star Sofia Salgado is finding her feet as a trainee investigator at Malibu detective agency, Maloney Investigations, when a new case throws her, and everyone else at the agency, for a loop. Maloney Investigations are drafted in to help 13-year-old Daniel find his birth father. There's only one snag. According to Daniel's mom, former Los Angeles party girl, Candy Collins, there's more than one candidate - a lot more!

©2016 Sean Black Rebecca Cantrell (P)2016 Sean Black Rebecca Cantrell

My least favorite of the series so far

Any additional comments?

I love the concept of this series of books and have been the first in line to download them as they become available. Of the three, this is my least favorite listen.

The narration is stellar and the rhythm of the story is not at fault. The fault lies in the mystery and the lack of growth of the main characters--there was none.

There is some fun and mirth between Sofia and Aidan, the two main characters, but it falls flat and does very little to progress the story. The mystery was only mildly interesting and had very little to do with the title.

"C" gets a "c." It was just okay.

Total fun!

Loved this storyline. No violence just a fun book with great characters. I've read the other 2 in the series and this was no disappointment! I laughed many times and almost listened in one sitting. Can't wait for the fourth!

Good Fun

Although the subject matter is serious and kidney failure and dialysis could have been explained in a more detailed way (I, for one, would have liked to hear why Daniel's kidneys were failing and he had to be on dialysis), this was a light and thoroguhly entertaining listen. You can pick up the series here and not feel like you are missing a lot of backstory. This is a standalone book.

The dialogue between Sofia and Aiden was really dynamic and did remind me of Stephanie Plum with a more West Coast rhythm than the harder edge of the Plum series. At one point, they were talking with Daniel's mother, and trying to get the names of all the potential father's to track down in hopes of a getting a match for Daniel for a kidney transplant. Aiden kept texting innuendo's to Sofia. It had me laughing in my car by myself.

The book is about the Malibu Detective Agency taking on a pro bono case in order to help locate a 13 year old boy's biological father in the hopes of obtaining a match for a kidney transplant. Daniel's kidneys are failing...rapidly. The only problem is Daniel's mother was a LA party girl and there are a lot of potential fathers to try to get DNA matches from.

For me, the narration was excellent! Madeline Mrozek voiced each character differently and nailed both Sofia and Candy, while doing an awesome job on all the other characters as well. Her cadence, timing, and inflection were really good as well. I really enjoyed listening to her and will look for other books narrated by her.

In the end, would I listen to the rest of the series based from my experience listening to this one? Yes! They are already in my wish list.

I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.

Laugh Out Loud PI Story!

Any additional comments?

C Is For Coochy Coo is a laugh out loud book with tongue in cheek humor that reminds me of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It's what I call "brain candy" - one can sit back, relax, and enjoy it without having to think too much about the plot or world issues.

The story centers around Sofia Salgado who is a former child TV star who used to solve mysteries on her show. Now as an adult, she desires to do something that is good and worthwhile. So, she turns to learning how to be a professional Private Investigator and is a trainee at Maloney Investigations. In this particular story, Sofia and her PI instructor, Aiden, partner up to track down the biological father of a 13 year old boy desperately in need of a kidney transplant. It turns out there are over a dozen different candidates, including a baseball team! The relationship between Sofia and Aiden is testy with each one throwing zingers left and right just like Castle and Beckett did in the early Castle days.

I listened to the Audible version of this book narrated by Madeline Mrozek who did a wonderful job. She really brought the characters to life, using a variety of voices and giving each character their own distinct voice. Her smooth overtones and subtle character nuances made for a very enjoyable experience. I received a copy of this audiobook from the narrator via Audiobook Blast at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is the third book in the Malibu Mystery series by Sean Black and Rebecca Cantrell. I have not yet listened to or read the other books in the series, but didn't feel lost at all or like I missed major plot points by not listening to the two previous books in the series. After enjoying this one immensely, with multiple laugh out loud moments, I'll definitely give the other Malibu Mysteries a try!

Not quite a "mystery"

So, for starters, this isn't a murder mystery. I don't know that I would even call it a mystery at all. The plot revolves around a young boy who needs a kidney transplant & must find his biological father before time runs out to see if he's a match. The mother however slept with many men during that same time & doesn't know who the father is. So Maloney Investigations is hired to find him. It's like an episode of Maury or Jerry Springer, "you are NOT the father!" (Ha). But in all seriousness the whole book had no suspense or mystery, it was more of a fact finding mission. There was a bit of a twist, but not what you'd expect!

The only thing that saved this story is the fact that the banter between Sofia and Aiden is so charming. I love the two of them together, playing off one another, giving each other a hard time. You can feel the energy between the two of them through the words & this duo is what keeps me enthralled in this series as a whole. At this point I really love the characters (including Fred the seagull), so I didn't mind so much that this was more of a casual story vs a mystery with twists and turns, I still enjoyed it a lot. There were some fun characters (suspects) along the way & some funny encounters as they met all the potential fathers. We also got to catch up with Sofia'a family again, all of whom I enjoy very much. Overall I still enjoyed it, but hope the next book is back to more suspense! I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not as good as previous 2

Lagged in places, too predictable & story abbreviated in parts. Narrator not very good with voices & not imaginative to go along with characters.

i totally love this series!!

I received this book for free for an honest and unbiased review.

Ok so I received the 2nd book in the series as a review book also, it is "B is for Badgirls" and I had ranted on why authors start you in the middle of a series to review. Well after reviewing that book I went ahead and bought the first book "A is for Asshats". I love the titles of her books and they fit the stories perfectly!
This book is great too, I now officially love this series. I have fallen in love with the entire cast of characters. So a former child actor turns PI and helps solve cases. This case involves finding the father of a child whose mother had "gotten around" there were many clients to go through. It is another solid story, with humor. At one point Aiden is at the table with the client texting inappropriate jokes to Sheby, who is also at the table and it was fun to hear the interactions.
I am going to continue to follow this series no matter what, the narrator did a great job as well.
I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

Happy Reading/Listening!!!

P.I.s Work to Discover Biological Dad’s Identity

Sophia Salgado is a former child star turned private investigator. In this 3rd installment of the Malibu Mystery Series, Sophia and her co-workers (Maloney Investigations) are hired to find the birth father for a 13 year old boy named Daniel who needs a new kidney. Problem is, his mother had many partners at the time of conception so they have their work cut out for them. They track down one man at a time and try to convince them to provide a DNA sample.

I found it to be annoying how many times the characters mentioned that the company was based in Malibu. Even Sophia commented that she found it to be annoying that Aiden added Malibu at the end of his introductions but then she proceeded to do it herself.

The narrator did an ok job but she certainly wasn't my favorite. Sometimes the female characters sounded very similar to other female characters and the male voices were not very masculine but other than that she did a decent job.

This story kept me moderately interested and I enjoyed finding out who Daniel’s father was because it was a little unusual but I am not sure if I will pick up the next book in this series. Maybe if it is available pretty inexpensively but I don’t think I’d use a credit. I don’t really have anything bad to say about the story, it just wasn’t very exciting or engaging.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nancy Drew meets Maxwell and King

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

For cozy mystery fans this is a fair enough series. It's pithy, soft and easy going.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting part is that I kept trying to figure out which other books this book most closely mirrored. Is it Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars, Maxwell and King ... Is there another? I had a little niggling in the back of my mind constantly saying "you've heard this before" ... So much so that I listened to this two and a half times.
Least interesting ... How many times can one book refer to Sophia's cars? "the Tesla" "my Tesla" Tesla Tesla Tesla ... I was so annoyed I was tempted to count.

What aspect of Madeline Mrozek’s performance would you have changed?

A bit less whiney would be good.

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

I've seen Veronica Mars, why bother?

Any additional comments?

I received this book for as a gift in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
In all fairness I have not read the two previous books in this series. Perhaps that would have helped. Admittedly I did like the story more by the middle of my third listen.
I find the easiest way to judge a book is whether or not I immediately look for more books in the series when I'm finished. In the case of this book, I just deleted it and went on with the next. I had no desire to see what became of Sophia or her cronies.

'C' is for Coochy Coo: Malibu Mystery, Book 3

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

This is the third book in the series. I love books that re-visit original characters while introducing new ones as well. The books keep growing and the characters are being developed more with each book. This story line touches on humorous as well as serious subjects. I didn't want to stop listening, but one does have to sleep sometime. I'm looking foreword to the next installment!!!!


The narration was well done. The characters were excellently portrayed.