Music City

By: Leona Bryant

Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner

Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A number-one best seller in women's detective fiction!

Homeless, mistreated, and tired of making up the difference for her alcoholic mother, a 15-year-old girl from the foothills of North Carolina leaves home with no destination in mind - she just wants to get away from the crushing burden of abuse and unwanted responsibility.

Thanks to the kindness of a stranger, she finds herself in Nashville, Tennessee, with a place to live and a job at a local café. She develops a sense of belonging at the café, and her coworkers and customers become her family. One of the regulars at the café is fascinated by this young girl, never suspecting that one day she will change his life completely - both as a music mogul and as a man.

Twenty-five years later, two detectives arrive in Nashville for much the same reason - to escape a repressive past and begin a new future. When they open their doors for business, to their surprise, one of their first customers is the reigning "queen of Nashville" - one of Nashville's longstanding megastars, who places her past in their hands and trusts them to keep her secrets. Will they be able to solve the mysteries of her life? Will they be able to protect her good name and reputation in the process?

©2010 Leona Bryant (P)2015 Leona Bryant

The Quality of the People Shine Through

My first listen from Leona Bryant. A good clean story that is not preachy.
Shelly is a country music star that cares more for her family than her fans. She makes her choices based on her moral compass rather than what brings in the most money.
This story starts with a teenage run-away as we learn some back story but quickly moves to a more present day Shelly that is looking into where she came from. We have a very interesting journey through the process.

This story is primarily about a female main character. Later in the story we also follow a couple of male detectives that are not particularly old. So why is the narrator a male with a deep gravelly voice? Sometimes that voice really does not fit with the story but I kept telling myself the story was being told by a male even though it was about a female.
Although the voice did not seem to fit the story, Mr. Turner actually did a pretty good job with the story. Kept my interest.
I can easily recommend this story to anyone who likes detective stories.

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Okay listen

I was in the mood for some J Rodney Turner in my ear and found this listen. It's a pretty straight forward listen. There is music and mystery but the story spans quite a few years. That means it never gets mired in the muck. From the time Shelly leaves home to marriage, kids and retirement it was just a few chapters. The rest of the listen dealt with Shelly's son's connection to two private detectives, their backstory's, and how they helped Shelly with an ever changing question about her parentage.

I liked the story well enough but I was in it for the narrator. Some days a nice baritone in your ear is all you need.