Blue Moon Investigations Two Book Starter Set

Paranormal Nonsense & The Phantom of Barker Mill in one Volume

By: Steve Higgs

Narrated by: Peter Fullagar

Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The paranormal? It’s all nonsense, but proving it might get them killed

In the brooding, dark landscape of England, with its rolling hills and forgotten castles, the dark breeds evil in every shadow. Well, almost every shadow. Some of them have stupid in them instead.

With thousands of books sold, the Blue Moon Investigations series will grip you from the start and rob you of sleep as you continue listening until well after your bedtime.

When Steve Higgs writes, he hits it out of the park! I find myself laughing loud and often.

Paranormal Nonsense - falsely advertised as a paranormal investigator, Tempest Michaels has a serial killing vampire to track down and a poltergeist to catch...because he’s staked his reputation on proving none of it is real.

Helped by disillusioned cop, Amanda Harper, the duo is not only pitted against a brotherhood of vampire wannabes, but also a desperately ticking clock when one of his friends is taken.

He’s got all the help he could need and more, though, as his friends, his mum, and his dogs are pitching in!

The Phantom of Barker Mill - a hundred-year-old mystery proves irresistible for England’s only paranormal P.I. It looks like the perfect case...but someone, or perhaps everyone is lying to him.

As he closes in on the truth, he is led into a race against time that may cost him more than he is willing to pay.

Oh, and his mum wants him to organize a baby shower.

If you are a fan of fast-paced paranormal thrillers, then this urban fantasy series is sure to please.

©2020 Steve Higgs (P)2020 Steve Higgs

Blue Moon Fun

Overall the stories are good and the cast of characters are easy to like. Too much fat shaming but overall a good listen. Unfortunately the quality of the recording isn’t great. You can hear the bland reader bumping the mic a lot.

Two books of paranormal events

Tempest Michaels opens a private investigation agency, but the newspaper ad is miss-written as paranormal detective agency. In Paranormal Nonsense, Tempest investigates several cases but the biggest is a Vampire Club. He meets Amanda, a police officer.
In The Phantom of Barker Mill, Tempest deals with glowing spectral dogs and a phantom wreaking havoc in a steel mill. Amanda wants to work as an investigator with Tempest, and she puts her notice in at work. Tempest is really attracted to Amanda, but she gets involved with the Barker Mill heir.
The author is English and uses British English in writing. There is quite a bit of conversation involving sexual topics and encounters.
I found the stories interesting. It might be nice if the main characters weren't so caught up in thinking and talking about sex. It doesn't add anything to the story for me.
I received an audiobook code from the author.

Surprisingly Funny

A bit different, being the first book I've listened to narrated by a British accent, but was a great story and funny. As a fellow Dachshund owner, it was great.

I laughed out loud

Great story, funny predicaments, and a truly charming para normal detective with two spunky dachshunds to share his life.

The Side Characters Make These Books!

The story lines were good, the character work was fantastic and the books had a fairly smooth flow to them. While I enjoyed the books there were several issues that I had with the book. Most if not all of my negative comments are directed toward the main male character:

* The main male character comes across as immature, condescending, superficial, and a deliberately obtuse person. He seems to hate overweight women. It doesn’t matter how often the author repeats that he doesn't hate overweight women it comes across as if he does.

* The average reader doesn’t care about all the excessive information on why the main male character works out, what he eats and why it is healthy. It doesn't add anything to the story. Stop repeating the same information.

* While using military time is fine for some situations it is not appropriate to use in an everyday setting...most people don’t speak in military time, even though they may understand it.

* The male main character speaks in condescending tones to the other character, insulting in dismissing their beliefs and concerns. He has too much conceit, but he loves his dogs, almost to the point of obsessiveness.

* I absolutely adored his friends and his mother; father is not a good character, he has many of the same characteristics as the main male character.

* The narrator did a good job. I did feel that there were too many LONG pauses sometimes between paragraphs, sometimes between chapters. There were a couple of times that I could hear sirens in the background for a brief second.

I received the audio book from the author and am voluntarily leaving my review.

well worth the credit 👌

this is the most entertaining and funny book I have listened to lately. The narrator is great. loved it

Quite the romp

Creative writing. Magnificently narrated. Startlingly funny. I tuned in at work over lunch and simultaneously burst into laughter while checking to be sure there were no delicate ears nearby.

Good book with vivid imagery

This book I would put as something more for a male audience as the descriptions of women and the male characters sex exploits seem to have a man’s viewpoint specifically in mind. The mystery aspect of this seals that as the intention. I have never read a smut book that seems to be popular to a certain age of women, but I would suggest this is the male counter to that perhaps.

production quality

Production quality left a lot to be desired. There was obvious background noise, like car alarms and sirens. Very much an amateur production. Sounded like it was recorded in someone's kitchen

Don't judge by this, give it a shot

I have tried books 4 and 13 already and want to stick with the series in the hopes of enjoying the rest as I did those two.

This set of two books has a different narrator from the ones I've already tried. He is really bad. Slow.and.plod.ding. Kinda like the guy in the eye drop commercials.

Book 1 has Tempest being over-the-top judgmental (people are fat, butt ugly, poor and on the dole because they're lazy, etc) and Big Ben's dialogue is uncomfortably focused on detailed sex acts (despite the bit on the Amazon pages that states "The Blue Moon Investigation series features male and female leads, no graphic sex and very little cussing").

I have not gotten to book 2 yet. I wanted to make this review while I had my thoughts in mind.

BUT I suggest you stick with the series because by book 4 at least, possibly sooner, the series picks up and is much better. And book 13 is terrific.