Get Busy Dying

Roy Ballard Mysteries, Book 2

Everyone thinks Boz Gentry died in a fiery traffic accident, but Roy Ballard and Mia Madison aren't convinced. As legal videographers, it's their job to provide evidence of insurance fraud - and the more they dig into the Gentry case, the more they realize this might be the most elaborate scheme they've ever encountered. Of course, when millions of dollars are at stake, con men will take drastic steps to protect their scam - including arson, assault, or even murder. Can Roy and Mia unravel the conspiracy before the criminals get desperate enough to kill?

Edgar Award finalist Ben Rehder's novels have made best-of-the-year lists in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Field & Stream.

©2014 Ben Rehder (P)2014 Ben Rehder

Another great story by Ben Rehder!

I enjoyed this Roy Ballard tale. very good characters and the plot moved quickly.

Captures Central Texas Perfectly!

This is my second Roy Ballard listen, but it won't be the last. Having been a Texan all my life, and a Central Texan for the last 40 years, I am delighted with the author's observations that I know to be true but wouldn't have thought to comment on. (Still smiling trying to picture a Texas motel without a swimming pool.) The characters are real and likeable; I particularly enjoy the ongoing relationship between Roy and Mia, the promise of Hannah's development as a character, and Roy's spiritual doppelganger Detective Rueles. I ennjoyed the techie stuff and the clever wordplay. Narrator is very clear and his voice draws a great picture of Roy Ballard. Only minor quibble is in a couple of pronunciations. I have no idea how to pronounce, say, Wilkes-Barre, but. I would ask before trying it. Wish the same have been true of New Braunfels - it hurt to hear the accent on the "fels". And then there was the word chilaquiles. But very minor quibbles in a delightful listen about how much trouble a Texas viideographer can get into (and how much fun he can have) doing fraud investigations. Great story, great listen, ready to start my next one already. Fun!

Even better

I greatly enjoyed the first in the Roy Ballard series, but Get Busy Dying hooked me even harder. The range of already-good protagonists begin to take on little quirks that help define them even further, and I feel like Rehder settles into a more firm tone overall. The plot is great too, with a simple insurance fraud scheme billowing out into a pretty great series of smoke shows. The side characters, particularly some of the people sucked into the antagonist’s scheme, are also well fleshed out, even when only given a few moments to shine.

One note - I listened to this on Audibl, and was almost turned off by the heavy-handedness of the first chapter’s voicework. Once the actor settled into the protagonist’s point of view, he was fantastic. But that chapter was somewhat jarring.

Apart from that, this was a superb mystery, well plotted and full of great characters. Looking forward to jumping into the third.

GET BUSY DYING

Great listen. I do enjoy a good mystery and this one had a few twists and turns.

Free Audible worth the read

Get busy dying by Ben Rehder 8 hrs 11 minutes 4/5

This was a free audiobook I found while scrolling through Audible. I had never heard of it and so decided to download it. The story was great. It's set in Austin, Texas. Johnny Peppers does an incredible job narrating. Roy sounds like he is from Austin.

The main character is a Roy in his 30s who works on trying to find out insurance fraud. Someone with a smart aleck sense of humor. His partner is stunningly beautiful and named Mia. Their banter back and forth keeps the novel light. The pace of the novel kept things moving. It kept me so engaged that I listened in 3 days. The mystery was well thought out and moved at a good pace. The ending was quite clever and I didn't see it coming.

Down loaded the next in series.