Lowcountry Boil

By: Susan M. Boyer

Narrated by: Loretta Rawlins

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

USA Today best-seller and Agatha Award Winner Winner for Best First Novel

Full of simmering suspense and intrigue

Liz Talbot is a modern Southern belle: she blesses hearts and takes names. She carries her Sig 9 in her Kate Spade handbag, and her golden retriever, Rhett, rides shotgun in her hybrid Escape. When her grandmother is murdered, Liz high-tails it back to her South Carolina island home to find the killer. But when her police-chief brother shuts her out of the investigation, she opens her own. Then her long-dead best friend pops in and things really get complicated. As more folks turn up dead, Liz must use more than just her wits and charm to keep her family safe, chase down clues from the hereafter, and catch a psychopath before he catches her.

©2012 Susan M. Boyer (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Imaginative, empathetic, genuine, and fun, Lowcountry Boil is a lowcountry delight." (Carolyn Hart, Author of What the Cat Saw)

"It's a simmering gumbo of a story full of spice, salt, heat and shrimp. She had me guessing, detouring for a few laughs then doubling back for another clue right until the last chapter." (The Huffington Post)

Great Story

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the story and thought the main character was very likeable. Like other reviewers, I thought the narrator's performance was really lacking. The "southern" (in quotes because I think that's what she was going for, but fell short) accent came and went, she used the exact same voice for all the characters, and paused in really weird places. Once I got used to the narrator I didn't mind as much, but I wouldn't buy another book narrated by her. I will definitely buy the 2nd book in this series.

Really not good

Any additional comments?

The narrator's fake southern accent and harsh voice made it impossible to listen to this audiobook. I might have stuck with it longer but it appeared that one of the major plot dynamics was an extremely unpleasant sister and the main character hating her. This might get resolved later in the book but the dialogue and mini-events were too petty and shallow to put up with long enough to find out.

Enjoyable book, not-so-enjoyable narrator

Enjoyable, light mystery. However, I would not recommend the audio version. I'm not from South Carolina, nor am I great with identifying regional accents, but something about the narrator's accent didn't ring true; it sounded forced to me. Also, the sound quality was not up to par for most Audible productions. Read the book in print instead.

Smarter than your ordinary cozy mystery.

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

Yes. Cozy mysteries aren't rocket science. They're usually formulaic with the same characters and tropes you see in every other book. This book does follow the pattern but it's better than most. Honestly there isn't much difference between great and awful in cozy mysteries but this one is definitely up the great end.

Any additional comments?

If there is one criticism I have it's that it was a bit like Spiderman 3. Too many villains and honestly they were kind of hyper evil...almost cartoonishly so. It made the book a little cumbersome. One / maybe two villains was all the book needed.

Wonderful read!

I really enjoy this series. The author is able to highlight the local feel of the community without making the reader feel like an outsider. The characters are interesting and full of southern charm and spunk. Their excentricities make them feel like old friends and family members.

Loved it!

Dialect and accent were spot on. References and customs made this lowcountry girl feel homesick. (Good mystery too)

Who done it?

This was the first i have read by this author. The story line was fantastic. Kept me guessing through out the book who killed who. Lots of shady characters. I look forward to more in this series. Loretta Rawllins did a great job with the narration.

Good book

Really liked it. I plan to read the others. The narrator did a great job.

Excellently!

Enjoyed the writing immensely, and while the narrator had a couple of vocal tics that I could live without, overall it didn't matter.

Listen to your Momma and Put a Little Lipstick On

Would you listen to Lowcountry Boil again? Why?

The author does a excellent job of pulling you in quickly and keeping your focus by adding many secondary elements that also somehow take you back to the main story and aid in the unravelling. I also find the brother/sister police/PI conflicts between Liz and Blake a great element of the story..

What other book might you compare Lowcountry Boil to and why?

While it has many elements of other mysteries it is difficulty to categorize this story into any of the common mystery families. It has supernatural elements, but they are not the main focus. She owns and isn't afraid to use her "Glock", but it is not hard-boiled. There are some very funny scenes, but there are also some hard core PI elements. A mixture of many common themes all mixed together in a satisfying whole.

What about Loretta Rawlins’s performance did you like?

I love the accent, which while a little overblown, greatly adds to the atmosphere of the story. Loretta Rawlings shows a great mastery of pacing and uses it to good effect in helping the listener distinguish between the characters.

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

I would highly recommend that you set aside some time to enjoy this story. It easily draws yo in and moves a constant pace that leaves you wanted to go just one more chapter.

Any additional comments?

The series only gets the better in Lowcountry Bombshell with an appearance from Marilyn, or not. Do yourself a favor and find out why Joey met his destiny on night in Charleston. Will Marilyn die on August 4th?.

Series has potential; narrator needs work

Overall, I like the concept of this series -- successful female P.I. living in the city must return home to her small town (in this case, an island on the South Carolina coast) due to personal circumstances which end up needing her professional attention. There are a number of quirky characters who inform her point of view (her deceased childhood best friend who appears as a ghost, an aunt who is a psychic, a gun-happy father, an insightful café owner called Moon Unit, etc.). The revelation of "whodunit" at the end was generally a surprise.

The narrator is hard to pin down. Insofar as her treatment of dialogue, she is usually brilliant, and is able to distinguish most of the voices with various timbres, accents, and other affectations. However, she frequently has this irritating way of pausing with unnecessarily length after a character's name when she is setting up what s/he is going to say or do. It's so distracting that I only gave her 3 stars. Here are a few examples: Rhett (pause) sat on his haunches. // "Lavender. Gram's (pause) favorite. // Blake stirred his coffee. I (pause) gulped (pause) mine. // "Now (pause) when you should (pause) have stayed in Greenville, here you are." His eyes (pause) locked on mine. // Blake (pause) said (pause) ...