A Good Man Gone

Mercy Watts Mysteries, Book 1

By: A.W. Hartoin

Narrated by: Lyssa Browne

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

It's summer in St. Louis and Mercy Watts is on vacation from her parents. The great detective and his nosy wife are on a cruise and Mercy thinks she's off the hook for doing any investigating for them. But when a family friend has a fatal heart attack, Dad has one of his famous feelings and orders Mercy to look into it. Mercy tries not to get sucked in. She really does, but she's her father's daughter. Soon Gavin's death leads to a more grisly one, the death of a bride on her wedding day. Can the two be connected? Was Gavin murdered? Now Mercy can't stop. You do for family. That's all there is to it.

©2013 A. W. Hartoin (P)2014 A. W. Hartoin

A Good Man Gone

I absolutely love this series and wish all the books were available in audio. This series is clever and funny with a very well written mystery. Of course there are some outrageous characters, that is part of the charm! Mercy ends up in precarious positions despite trying to avoid them and always uses her wit and intelligence to figure things out. She is taken advantage of by her family, knows it, and helps anyway. I have listened to the few audios available a number of times and have also repeatedly read the books. Love, love, love this series.

Funny and entertaining

This was a fun lighthearted book that makes it delightful to read. Mercy is a nurse who is being enticed into participating in the family business of private investigator. While she is unwittingly cutting teeth in the investigation business, she is being hassled with being a look-a-like Marilyn Moore and having her pictures plaster on youtube.

She is surrounded with an amusing group of people, her ex-police father, her mother, from whom she inherited her Marilyn looks, two funny god mothers, and a host of others. The mystery is interesting, but remember this is a comedy first. Many of the reviewers did not like the references to Marilyn or how often. That was not a big deal to me. Actually, that added a comedic element; the paparazzi constantly chasing her catching her in compromising situations.

I am hooked on the series.

Like Lisa Lutz Spellmans

I enjoyed this novel. It reminded me somewhat of the Spellman family Lisa Lutz writes about. Enjoyable characters.

awesome

loved it! my husband and i thought it was a good listen. good story & performance

A Good Man gone

This book was intriguing but I had irritation at the thought of so many pushy relatives. The story was good.

Laugh out loud.

laughing isn't something you expect from a murder. it is a really good story and the narration was good, you could tell who the different people were, and I couldn't tell who did it until the very last.

good story line

enjoyed the book. lite fun but easy to figure who did it. now want to know about the sisters financial problems.

Fun characters, humorous, reminds me of Spellmans

Book was well-written with good, humorous dialogue.

The family detective business reminds me of Lisa Lutz' Spellmans and since she's not writing them anymore, this is a good fit!

Standard Fare

A cute little story. Enjoyable and worth a listen. Good characters. Good pacing. Humorous and fun.

Amazing Potential Lost

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would give the main character, Mercy Watts, a backbone!

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Having a beautiful, smart protagonist who happens to look like Marilyn Monroe would have been more interesting, if she hadn't let so many men in the book push her around! Mercy's inability to stand up for herself when faced with her father's friends, her cousin, etc. was so disappointing, and really unnecessary. Why waste so much intelligence on someone so easily pushed around?

Do you think A Good Man Gone needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not unless it's about how Mercy toughens up.