If Wishes Were Hearses

A Mike Lanson Mystery

De: R.R. (Russell Robert) Winterbotham, J. Harvey Bond

Narrado por: Laurel Monroe

This canny reporter's next headline was likely to be his own execution!

Mike Lanson was the ace crime reporter for the Gazette, so it was natural that he heard about the kookie wino who had reported eavesdropping on two men plotting a murder. So, it was also natural that he got on the case after one of the two plotters was found dead. Mike, like all reporters, was looking for an answer. But when he filled in the five W's on the next victim, he came up with this: Who: Mike Lanson. What: His own murder. When: As soon as that fire reached the explosives. Where: In a deserted storehouse. Why: Because he knew too much. It looked a lot like the end of this story would be his own end. It was a strange dilemma for a reporter—how do you blow a case wide open when you're about to be blown apart yourself?

In this classic 1950s noir mystery, you will meet:

Mike Lanson: The Gazette's A reporter. He was always hungry for a good headline, but he was shocked when he found he was going to be in tomorrow's headline—as a victim!

Freddie the Grape: This wino was a highly-scented character, and like the grape he was so fond of, he was about to be squashed.

Corrine Nimes: A luscious doll who loved her husband, but discovered she couldn't live with him—and when he was murdered, she found she couldn't live without him.

Addison Sharp: Like most lawyers, he knew other people's secrets—and then he learned one too many.

Lieutenant Guffy: He liked to catch criminals and lock them up, but he always kept a cell open for nosey newspaper reporters who got in his way.

©2019 Deerstalker Editions (P)2022 Wordwooze Publishing

Wishes

Great book, Very enjoyable and easy to understand. The narrator does an amazing job. Overall excellent book to listen to.

Typical Noir story

If you enjoy noir detective stories in the vein of Raymond Chandler, etc. you will probably get a kick out of this one. Mike Lanson is a reporter for the local newspaper, assigned to the police beat. When a wino known as Freddy the Grape overhears a conversation between two, he reports it. It appears that one of the men is trying to hire to hire the other to kill someone.

When one of the two, a private investigator, is murdered, Mike is determined to get to the bottom of the story and have an exclusive for the paper. Throw in a femme fatale with two rich ex-husbands (one of whom is an alcoholic), a bunch of lawyers, and an irate father and you have all of the cliches of this genre. It was mildly entertaining, but could have been much better.

The story got a bit muddled for me at times, but it all came out in the end. The narrator was female, which was weird to me since the book was told from Mike's perspective. Her performance was OK, but some of the voices were a bit off for me.

A fun noir mystery

If Wishes Were Hearses is a quirky noir mystery by RR Winterbotham (writing as JHarvey Bond). Gazette Reporter Mike Lanson is trying to get to the bottom of a overheard conversation about two men plotting a murder. The person who heard it is an old wino and may not be a reliable witness. Then people related to the case start dying and Mike may be the next to go! The narration by Laurel Monroe was wonderful. The performance brought the characters to life and added to the enjoyment of the story. I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Fun Mystery and Performance

This was such a fun listen! Great story and mystery. The narrator really brought the characters to life - I felt everyone was easy to distinguish which helped me really sink into the story. Would definitely recommend.

Was ok

The story is ok. Narrator does a good job....not a bad listen, nicely written