Merit Badge Murder

By: Leslie Langtry

Narrated by: Bailey Carr

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

From USA Today best-selling author Leslie Langtry comes a mystery series of laugh-out-loud proportions....

When CIA agent Merry Wrath is "accidently" outted, she's forced her into early retirement, changes her appearance, and moves where no one will ever find her - Iowa. Instead of black bag drops in Bangkok, she now spends her time leading a young Girl Scout troop. But Merry's new simple life turns not-so-simple when an enemy agent shows up dead at scout camp. Suddenly Merry is forced to deal with her former life in order to preserve her future one.

It doesn't help matters that the CIA sends in her former, sexy handler to investigate...or that the hot new neighbor across the street turns out to be the local detective in charge of her case. And when Merry is forced to take on a roommate in the voluptuous form of a turned KGB agent/bimbo, things become trickier than wet work in Waukegan or cookie sales in the spring. Nothing in the CIA or Girl Scouts' training manuals has prepared her for what comes next....

©2014 Leslie Langtry (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Enjoyable ex-spy cozy, Sounded familiar

A burned ex-CIA agent hiding in a small town can't keep trouble from shining a light on her weak-sauce cover.

The story sounded familiar and right up my cul de sac. I enjoyed the story as an interesting diversion, while waiting for any of my other favorite cozy mysteries series to finish negotiations to release their next books in audiobook.

Overall I am glad I found this. It was entertaining but the town is no Sinful, LA. Rated on the scale of it's genre, if Fortune gets 5 stars, this is certainly worthy of 4.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

I tried...

What would have made Merit Badge Murder better?

The narration was awful. I couldn't get past the monotone, lack of inflection, lack...of anything.

What could Leslie Langtry have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Choose a different narrator. The storyline could have been great, but I couldn't listen to the book at all.

Would you be willing to try another one of Bailey Carr’s performances?

NO!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I was unimpressed

The main character acted and thought more like a middle or high school student especially when it came to the opposite sex. It was hard to imagine she was an adult much less someone with the years and experience in the CIA she supposedly have. It was very annoying and detracted from the story for me.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

weak

the narrator talked so slow. this should have been much shorter. there was a lot of unnecessary chatter which. did not make sense. the ending was not a surprise and not. imaginative. not well.written.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Nice, but might not get the next one

The story was fine. But if you want fun, kickass, CIA woman hanging out in a small town, go to Jana DeLeon's Miss Fortune Mysteries. Great stories, excellent characters and fantastic narrator.

This one doesn't hold a candle to those.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Such Potential wasted

What disappointed you about Merit Badge Murder?

The protagonist is supposed to be a former CIA field operative, but she can't lie her way out of a paper bag. The way the character is written, it was completely unbelievable.

What could Leslie Langtry have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

do some research about the CIA in general, and make me believe that it's possible that Merry was actually trained at the farm. Maybe watch a couple episodes of Burn Notice or Quantico

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Bailey Carr?

XE Sands would have done a better job, or CJ Critt is one of my favorites. Ms. Carr has a hard time with male voices, and she reads every sentence with too much dramatic pause. Pouring a glass of wine should not have the same emphasis as finding a dead body. Also, someone who can actually do a Russian access would be helpful

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

!Entertaining - not really funny

**Spoilers**
First, what CIA agent retires (her cover was blown) moves back to her hometown around the corner from her BFF and expect to live undercover? Merry Wrath did. She made superficial changes in her appearance, a change in her hair color and contact lens. Somehow after a drunken night with her BFF, she divulges to her BFF, Kellie, what her previous occupation was. How is it that no one else in town recognizes her?

The CIA gave her a substantial settlement but not a back ground to withstand the basic scrutiny of the local police? They did blow her cover.

Merry Wrath, a girl scout leader, former CIA spy, is still adjusting to normal life (she is still using Dora the Explorer sheets for drapes) after a year. Dead bodies turn up, a new police chief moves across the street and she gets a visit by her former handler. Throw in an attraction for the hot new police chief and her former handler and you have all the ingredients for this story.

Merry has a few skills in sulking around and using guns. The funny scenes are when she has to keep Rex, the police chief, the dark about her previous employment
If you take some of inconsistencies into account, then this is an entertaining story. It does not have the comedic supporting cast that you will find in Fortune Hunter, written by: Jana DeLeon or Claire in the Jackrabbit series by: Ann Charles. Nor does Merry suffer from being a blundering amateur detective like Claire.

What I can tell from the closing dialogue, Merry is looking forward to some interesting action from the mutual attraction between her and Rex and her and Riley.

This has left me with a desire to listen to another Fortune Hunter book. I miss the funny support cast.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Absolutely horrible

This was so poorly written, and the performance was so terrible that it hurt to listen to. It got to the point that I was just listening to make fun of it. It was unrealistic to the point of hilarity, the performer was like a B rated soap opera, and the plot was so easy to figure out that I knew who the bad guy was as soon as they entered the picture. It was that obvious.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Story....performer, not right for the story!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes the book was awesome, performer was not right for the part.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Riley was my favorite character...Loved how cocky he was.

Would you be willing to try another one of Bailey Carr’s performances?

She was good, but if someone was retired from the CIA, the book shouldn't be narrated by someone who sounds like they are 12.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, yes, yes!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Langtry mystery

the story was OK but the bad language took all the pleasure away from it

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

One of the daftest books I’ve ever heard

Imagine a CIA operative who refers to ‘baddies’, who has retired but decided to go back to her home town and change her hair colour, so no one recognises her (which they don’t) and who doesn’t work, but hasn’t found the time in a year to buy furnishing for her house... If you can overlook those kinds of things then this book is quite enjoyable, it is well paced and colourful, even if the main character comes across as thick as a brick!