Death by Committee

Abby McCree Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Alexis Morgan

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

After a rough divorce, Abby McCree only wants to stitch up her life and move on. But other loose ends appear after her elderly Aunt Sybil passes away, leaving Abby to tend to a rundown estate, complete with a slobbery Mastiff of questionable pedigree and a sexy tenant who growls more than the dog. As Abby gets drawn into a tight-knit quilting guild, she makes a twisted discovery - Aunt Sybil's only known rival is buried in her backyard! 

Despite what local detectives say, Abby refuses to accept that her beloved aunt had anything to do with the murder. While navigating a busy social calendar and rediscovering the art of quilting, she launches an investigation of her own to clear Aunt Sybil's name and catch the true culprit. Incriminating clues roll in, yet Abby can't help but wonder - can she survive her new responsibilities in Snowberry Creek and still manage to patch together a killer's deadly pattern without becoming the next victim?

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

A solid start to a new series

Oh, how I love finding a new Cozy Mystery series. When I originally came across Death by Committee on Netgalley, I knew that I had to read it. I did not regret my choice.

While it is true that this book seemed to follow your typical cozy mystery formula, I found myself loving the story, nonetheless.

I appreciated that the author made a clear effort to mix up the stereotypical sleuth profile and feature a middle-aged divorcee along with a pack of seniors as the main character focus. I also enjoyed Tripp’s character a lot (is it possible to have a crush on a book character? asking for a friend).

As for the narration, there isn’t much to say other than I thought that Coleen Marlo did a splendid job bringing the work to life.

However, if I have to state my nitpicks about this book it was that pacing of the book was a little quick; It seemed like the police investigation had barely started when Abby started to poke around for info. Additionally, I felt that there were a few instances where Abby was excessively defensive and stubborn with little regard for safety and consequences. My final 'criticism’ is that I believed the killer was too easy to guess; I had him/her pegged upon the first meeting. Nevertheless, these points were only minor and were not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, I truly enjoyed Death by Committee; it was a start to a new series, and I'm keen to read more.

Nice start to new series

Alexis Morgan has crafted a storyline that is both entertaining and enjoyable. The characters are well-developed, enjoyable, and ones you’d like to include among your group of friends. Ms Morgan even has a mastiff mix dog as one of the co-stars. Coleen Marlo brings it all to life with her wonderful performance. I highly recommend this book/audiobook to cozy mystery fans.

Has potential, but cheesy and eye rolling

I do find the story interesting and captivating, but there were some irksome parts too.
Firstly, the murderer was pretty obvious once he/she appeared, and that took the suspense out of the rest of story.
Next, the so called 'chemistry' between Abby and Tripp was such a turn off. Their converstions, peppered with teases or flirts, often came across as cheesy and juvenile. For goodness sake they were supposed to be mature grown ups in their late 30s to 40s, not high school teens.
The author may be trying to portray Tripp as the hunky protector, but it has been overdone and he came across as too intense and crazily protective, like getting all riled up and ready to punch just because someone upset Abby. I cannot helped but rolled my eyes each time when these two interact.
I do feel this series has potential for good cosy murder story, but characters need some fine tuning.

Busy Body Biddies and a Backyard Burial

After Abby McCree’s Aunt Sybil passed away, Abby moved back to Snowberry Creek, Washington to her aunt’s rundown home and to Zeke, her aunt’s mastiff. Her aunt, an avid quilter and member of the local Quilters’ Guild was well known and loved, by all but one of the townsfolks, Dolly Cayhill, her arch nemesis and rival. Still stinging after a rough divorce, Abby takes refuge in the old house, with the gardens out back . . . that is until the body of Dolly Cayhill is found buried, wrapped in what appears to be one of Aunt Sybil’s quilts. Now with both Aunt Sybil and Dolly dead, the authorities put Sybil at the top of their suspect list. Unable to bear having her aunt’s name smeared, Abby vows to prove Aunt Sybil’s innocence. Abby’s tenant, Tripp Blackston is best friends with the local police chief, Gage Logan, both having served together in the military. Several of the Quilting Guild’s quilts have gone missing, and Abby searches for them while also looking for Dolly’s murderer. Continually being called off by Gage and Tripp, Abby stealthily continues to nose around for clues. The old ladies in the guild spread gossip quicker than wild fire, and the small town keeps loading Abby up with committee assignments which had previously belonged to her Aunt Sybil. All comes to an explosive (and satisfying) conclusion, much to the entire town’s surprise . . . I definitely will go on to the next in the series!

Death by Committee

Spoiler:
I figured out the killer waaay too early. I think everyone will figure out who the killer is before the end of the book. The story otherwise was pretty good. Young divorced woman inherits aunt's house. Aunt belongs to a quilting group. Aunt's rival is murdered and buried in the aunt's backyard. Aunt's hunky tenant and young woman get involved and try to solve mystery.

Slow

Too slow. Dialogue boring. Wasn’t a build up of clues . Red herrings were just doubting common sense.

was it the auntie

This story can be a mystery movie. has a good mystery going on. the Characters is very likable, I'm looking forward to the 2nd series. the mystery had me trying to guess who was the killer, this have a good mystery puzzle to it.

A good listen!

Good narrator! Plot good but easy to figure out who the killer was. Characters good. Gotta love Zeke.

Death by Committee

Couldn't put down! Lots of action & excitment! Never a dull fmoment! Although I did figure out the killer. Small town & a dog & great characters.

EXCELLENT ADDITION TO THE COZY GENRE

LOVED THE CHARACTERS, PARTICULARLY ABBY AND TRIPP, NOT TO MENTION A MASTIFF RESCUE DOG AS A BELOVED PET AND A HERO. I HOPE BOOK 2 WILL BE AVAILABLE VERY SOON!

Lacklustre main protagonist

The murder mystery aspect of the story OK (if you don't mind spotting the murderer early on and seeing how it unfolds while already knowing whodunnit) but the main protagonist, Abby, is the dictionary definition of lacklustre.

adjective
1.
lacking in vitality, force, or conviction; uninspired or uninspiring.

She allows herself to be manipulated and coerced into "volunteering" for jobs she's not interested in actuallyn taking on, she allows people to insult and badmouth her without any retaliation to speak of, and she allows her lodger to pull macho bullshit and tell her what to do, simply because he is good looking... Which is just pathetic.

He orders her to stay out of the investigation, not get involved in police business, and always take the path of safety simply because she's female (he's no more a member of the police force than she is, but it's OK for him to be involved and get himself injured because he's A Man, apprently), and she doesn't object to about his sexist overly-macho attitude!!

If she has no self-respect, how can the reader be expected to respect her enough to care what happens to her. Really she does not inspire anything but contempt.