Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure

Tara Holloway Series, Book 1

By: Diane Kelly

Narrated by: C.S.E. Cooney

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Tax cheats, beware: The Treasury Department's Criminal Investigations Division has a new special agent on its payroll. A recovering tomboy with a head for numbers, Tara's fast becoming the Annie Oakley of the IRS-kicking ass, taking social security numbers, and keeping the world safe for honest taxpayers. Or else.

Tara's latest mission finds her in hot pursuit of ice-cream vendor Joseph "Joe Cool" Cullen. Along with frozen treats he's selling narcotics-and failing to report his ill-gotten gains on his tax returns. Over Tara's dead body. Then there's Michael Gryder, who appears to be operating a Ponzi scheme...with banker Stan Shelton...whose lake house is being landscaped by Brett Ellington...who happens to be dating Tara. If following that money trail isn't tough enough, now Tara must face a new conundrum: Should she invest her trust in Brett-or put him behind bars? New love always comes at a cost, but justice? Priceless.

©2011 Diane Kelly (P)2017 Tantor

Not my favorite

The story got better about half way through. I did not care for the narrator. Lack of expression really took away from the story itself. Some humor.

Narrator

Like all of Kelly’s books the story is engaging and cleverly revealing. Having said that this narrator is horrible. I am so sorry to say that, I listen to a lot of books she is without a doubt the worst I have heard. I will skip to book 4

Great story!

I enjoyed this audiobook. There aren’t many stories about accountants that aren’t a bore. I say that as an accountant. This one keeps you hooked. I’ll be finishing this series.

Okay

Too many clichés and stereotypes. I barely got through this book and won't be getting the next one. CSE Cooney is not my favorite narrator but she did a good job giving the characters a different voice.

Not a Bad Series

As a tax preparer, I had to get this series. I enjoy the stories of catching tax cheats, but please tone down the explicit sex and f-bombs!

New Kind of Cozy Mystery

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook because it's something new with the main character Tara working for The Treasury Department's Criminal Investigations Division. Tara has been a tomboy and likes going out looking for people who are not reporting all their income on their taxes. This has a lot of comedy looking for and Ice Cream Vendor Joseph "Joe Cool" Cullen who sells narcotics with the frozen ice cream. Second crook is Michael Gryder who looks like is operating a Ponzi scheme with a banker. She gets romantically involved with Brett Ellington who is landscaping Stan Shelton's house who is the banker of the Ponzi sceme. A lot of laughs and action.

Needs Better Editor and Producer

As an accountant and huge fan of Ms. Kelly's Paw Enforcement series, I had high expectations for this book.

Unfortunately, the narrator sounded like a vapid, immature girl rather than an intelligent professional woman. I don't blame Ms. Cooney who has a pleasant voice; whoever produced or directed this novel is responsible.

Also, an editor should have eliminated many of the unnecessary, boring details that added nothing to the story. How many times did we need to hear how Tara likes her lattes?

On the positive side, Tara was an interesting character who didn't expect to be rescued by a man.