Candidate for Murder

By: Lauren Carr

Narrated by: C.J. McAllister

Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

It's election time in Spencer, Maryland, and the race for mayor is not a pretty one. In recent years, the small resort town has become divided between the year-round residents who enjoy their rural way of life and the city dwellers who are moving into mansions, taking over the town council, and proceeding to turn Deep Creek Lake into a closed-gate community - complete with a host of regulations for everything from speed limits to clotheslines.

When the political parties force-feed two unsavory mayoral nominees to the town's residents, David O'Callaghan, the chief of police, decides to make a statement - by nominating Gnarly, Mac Faraday's German shepherd, to run for mayor of Spencer!

What starts out as a joke turns into a disaster when overnight, Gnarly becomes the frontrunner, and his political opponents proceed to dig into the canine's past. When one of the mayoral candidates ends up dead, it becomes apparent that slinging mud is not enough for someone with a stake in this election.

With murder on the ballot, Mac Faraday and the gang - including old friends from past cases - dive in to clear Gnarly's name, catch a killer, and save Spencer!

©2017 Terri Zaleski (P)2017 Terri Zaleski

Awesome Listen!!!

First of all, I am a dog lover and have 3 German Shepherds, so this book featuring Gnarly really appealed to me. I thought the author wrote an awesome story with so many great characters and unexpected twists. The narrator did an excellent performance. This book is part of a series and a standalone listen. I was voluntarily provided with this review copy audiobook upon my request and have voluntarily written this review. I really enjoy books that feature retired war dogs. The author wrote a very compelling mystery with so much action and suspense. Also, the antics of Gnarly and Shadow are very realistic. I do not try to write a synopsis of the book in my reviews, as I like to leave it up to the professionals as they are more eloquent. I highly recommend this book and will look for more books by both this author and narrator.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Vote for the dog!

As Candidate for Murder by Lauren Carr opens, David O’Callaghan, the police chief of Spencer, Maryland gets really fed up with the poor quality of the two candidates for mayor, so in a protest, he signs up his half-brother’s German shepherd, Gnarly, to run as an independent against the two. This infuriates the candidates and political parties, especially when Gnarly quickly overtakes the other two candidates, reaching almost 50%, while the other two candidates hover around 17%. In the meantime, Mac Faraday, Gnarly’s owner and the ostensible star of the series, ends up in the hospital and can’t participate in the scheduled mayoral debate, so the assistant police chief takes over and does a great job until the so-called journalist moderating the debate with obvious bias toward Nancy Braxton throws in a bombshell. She makes the claim that Gnarly, a former army sergeant, murdered his handler, and because the details are classified, no one can fact- check this. So the friends of Gnarly set out to clear Gnarly’s name and solve some cold cases that keep popping up, as well as a couple of hot cases too.

This book was very entertaining, especially with all the satire about politics and human nature. It seems to have been released with appropriate timing despite the disclaimer at the start that everything is entirely fictional. I laughed throughout the course of the book and became somber other times, especially realizing how close to reality many of these situations may be.

This is the first Mac Faraday book I’ve read. I once tried to listen to Kill and Run by Carr but found it too dark and intense. But I decided to give this one a try, and I enjoyed it a lot. My only problem relates to the fact that this is book 12 in the series, and it expects readers to have an understanding of previous books. The book contains a lot of characters that become confusing at times, especially because many names are unisex or seem like men’s names given to female characters, such as Dallas and Archie. Further, the book details several plot lines, and I got confused periodically. I think this series is much better to read in order.

C.J. McAllister does an excellent job of performing the narration of the book. He makes it lively and fun, keeping the book fast-moving and, in my opinion, likely to be more effective on audio than by reading it visually.

For starting with the 12th book in the series, I appreciated Candidate for Murder and definitely plan to go back to the first book now to see how everyone got to where they are now. It will be interesting to see how I review the book after I have listened to the first 11 books. At this time I give the book four stars.

I started with book 12 instead of 1 because I was given a free copy of this book. But that in no way influenced the content or nature of my review.

Love this series!

Another great entry in the series. Many returning favorite characters and my favorite canine character, Gnarly, is heavily featured. A great mystery with a good dose of humor. Amazing narrator as well! I received a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Lauren Carr Does It Again!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I really enjoy the Mac Faraday series. This is the third book I have listened to in the series and I always feel like the one I have just finished is the best yet, even when I am revisiting a story. The characters are so easy to get attached to and so interesting.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Candidate for Murder?

Gnarly was my favorite character in this book and each time he was front and center it made for great listening. Gnarly did several saves in the book and each time was a memorable moment.

What does C.J. McAllister bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

C.J. McAllister has a great voice for the characters in the book. When he is doing David's voice I can picture David, likewise Mac and all the other characters. His voice is well suited for this story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was moved in the scene where Gnarly saves Murphy. Gnarly is just such a goofy yet incredibly brave, intelligent dog.

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Knarly for Mayor!

This audiobook, Candidate for Murder... is a well-written story in which a small tourist town is faced with an election in which their choices are two distasteful characters or one four legged war hero. In this story, there are old murders and new, big politics and local issues, old crimes reopened and new murder committed, two slimy candidates and one friendly furry one.

If mystery, heroism, regular folk, and humor all wrapped up in a nicely paced, well-told story is your thing, then you will enjoy listening to Candidate for Murder!

I was given this audiobook for free in exchange for my unbiased review.

Dog Runs for Mayor of Small Town

Any additional comments?

Wonderful book. Somehow they managed to write a book where a dog has been nominated for mayor of a small town and there is international espionage and make the book both fun and exciting at the same time. When the police chief of Spencer ends up arresting both candidates for mayor for fighting at a debate he gets fed up and decides to nominate Gnarly, a German Shepard, for mayor. As Gnarly starts to rise in the popularity in the polls and the 2 human candidates start to panic that they might actually lose to a dog they start looking for dirt on Gnarly. They find what they think could be dirt but instead turns out to be an unsolved murder. As Gnarly's humans get busy defending his reputation they end up solving several cold case murders, and solving some that had been originally classified at suicides. One of those murders, the death of Gnarly's handler while he served in the Army, leads to the discovery of a traitor at the highest levels of the CIA. Of course people high up in the CIA don't go down without a fight. Will Gnarly be able to protect his human family? Will he end up as mayor of Spencer?

I revived this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

fun story, love the dogs.

I received this book free from ebalst, and the author, and this is my unbiased opion l.
Great story, good characters, definitely worth a listen. I really enjoyed it. Narley has my vote. the only complaint is the narrator is not as good as I would have liked, but easily over looked.

Worth your time

Any additional comments?

This is the second book in the Mac Faraday series I have listened to and It was just as enjoyable as the last book. From the minute the book started it pulled me in and had my complete attention. I was irritated any time I had to pause the book and couldn't wait to get back to it.

Even though these books are part of a series and have recurring characters that are all connected in some way they can each be listened to as a standalone.

It's an entertaining well written story that flows smoothly, has an interesting plot, is full of intrigue and keeps you on the edge of your seat with all the twists. You are never quite sure who the actual killer is. Just when you think you have it figured out something changes and you have to start all over again. I love a story that you can't figure out in the first couple of chapters.

Great cast of characters. I really enjoy that each book while new and focusing on different characters, the rest of the familiar cast are not left out or ignored. They all have a role or make an appearance. It's like visiting with old friends. Really enjoyed the role Gnarly played in this story.

C.J. McAllister once again does a great job with the narration. Gotta love that deep rough around the edges voice. His voice just pulls you into a story and makes it come to life. Clearly spoken with a nice even pace. Really good character voices. All of them. Male and female. I really like that he doesn't try to do a high pitched female voice. Just the slight change in cadence is enough. Great job at making Mac sound sick. It's always very enjoyable to listen to him narrate a book.

I was given this free review audiobook at my request and voluntarily provided this review.

Captivating..

Candidate for Murder is a wonderful "whodunit" that kept me guessing and turning the pages. Lauren Carr has crafted the perfect rainy-night read! Thrilling story filled with hairpin curves. A mystery that will draw you in with likable characters and a well layered plot. You won't easily put this book down.

The twisted ending surprised me, but that's good. I don't want it to be too easy to solve. The author did a bang-up job at making you get whiplash trying to decide who the killer was in their midst. It was an entertaining book. Would recommend to mystery readers as well!
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Gone to the dogs!

Would you consider the audio edition of Candidate for Murder to be better than the print version?

Always enjoy audios better than print because I can do work while I am listening to it.

What other book might you compare Candidate for Murder to and why?

Stands alone.

What does C.J. McAllister bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The different voices help to picture the different characters and make them more memorable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, helps to keep track of the characters and to follow the storyline.

Any additional comments?

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review”.

American politics goes to the dogs.

Any additional comments?

This is not a book which could be easily summerised. Nor even simple to categorise. It is a a sprightly written and amusing tale of domestic relationships, a political satire, containing more than one murder mystery, spies. And dogs. Filled with great characters, this lovely book's stories dart like coloured fishes through different scenarios - and they all seem to make perfect sense. It was a sheer joy.
The pleasure is increased by the narration of C.J.McCallister who breathes even more life into all of the protagonists with his varied and clearly differentiated voicings, including a marvellous Texan drawl for an investigative journalist named Dallas. And a personal favourite, Nigel, an AI butler who certainly pulls out all the stops to care for his people, is once again featured. I am a relative newcomer to the books of Lauren Carr - this is only my second - but I am already beginning to feel that I know some of these people personally. At number twelve in the series it might have been difficult to enter into this world, but it isn't: part of the joy is meeting the folks as the story unfolds.

This is a delectably delicious story of deception, death and dogs - amusing and easy listening with plenty of twists and turns and thrills of the chase.. Definitely recommended.