Daisy McDare Six Book Cozy Mystery Set

By: K.M. Morgan

Narrated by: Donna Soto

Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

This set features six cozy mysteries from the Daisy McDare series:

1. The Deadly Rock Star Affair
2. The Deadly Restaurant Affair
3. The Deadly Secret Affair
4. The Deadly Rival Affair
5. The Deadly Radio Affair
6. The Deadly Political Affair

Daisy McDare's vacation plans go awry when a washed-up rock star turns up dead and the local detective thinks Daisy's cousin Addison is the killer. Daisy arms herself with cupcakes, one-liners, and plenty of spunk to find the killer before her cousin goes to jail for a crime she didn't commit.

©2017-Current K.M. Morgan (P)2018 K.M. Morgan

Could Have Been

This could have been a great series. The stories were interesting and cute. Granny was such a great character.
I just could not get past the narrator. Unfortunately, her voice made me want to sleep or cringe.
This book was given to me free for my voluntary unbiased review.

this book was given to me at my request for review

loved the whole thing. the narrator was really good, I couldn't stop listening to this book set.

Not for me.

I love cozy mysteries so when I saw this I thought I had to listen to it.
I have to admit that I was disappointed with it. I found the main female character to be a bit rough with some of the other characters and also the stories are repetitive there is no change in who the accused is (some sort of relation or friend to the main character) and how the MC discovers who did it.
As for the narrator, I would have liked a bit more emtion put into the story telling but she was OK, I did not mind listening to her.
Others might like it more then I did. Also if you listen to each of the stories at different times you might like them more then listening to them in one go.

Pretty good - but don't listen back to back...

It's a set of six books in the Daisy McDare mysteries series and overall it's a fun listen on one condition: don't listen to all six of them back to back... Why? Let me explain below:)

Each of the stories follows exactly the same pattern: a short introducion of the victim-to-be and all the people who have motives to kill that person while at a party of some sort (charity, award giving, book release - name it, it's there); then the murder happens; then Daisy recapitulates all the information about the suspects that we've just had; then she (sometimes accompanied by a police detective, more often without him) talks to all the suspects in turn - well, talk is not the best word, she throws accusations at them waiting for them to snap while "reaching for the pepper spray in her bag" just in case they turned violent at her:); then she has a private conversation on a completely unconnected subject with her boyfriend/friend/friend's grandma during which she gets enlightened and then bang, we have the solution and the killer admits to everything....:)

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad formula, it keeps the story paced up and kind of orderly, but after the second book it stops surprising you as much as you would like it to. Also, the "enlightenment" part is a bit off the cuff - there are no indicative clues whatsoever to who the killer might be at any time earlier, and all the suspects seem equally possible... If I'd listened to the books separately, with other listens in between, it might not have seemed such a flaw, so my advice is, don't listen to all the books in the box at once - listen to one, then read something else and come back to Daisy after a while. Because generally it's a set of really entertaining cozies after all:)

Narration by Ms Soto is OK. I liked it best in the first book, but after a while it started to irritate me a bit. Some of the voices she's given particular characters just sound too unnatural and over the top; some males especially sound like hysterical females:) It may also have been the problem of volume - some voices are quieter whereas some are really loud and shrieking... But this is just my personal peeve, maybe you won't be bothered by that, because otherwise her reading is good - with a good pace and nice interpretation of the narrative parts...

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

All Basically the Same

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.

There are six books in this Mystery Set [Books 5 - 10]. Each book is a standalone [with no cliffhanger endings] and can be read in any order.

Cozy mysteries are great for light entertainment with enjoyable characters and as the series progresses, the characters develop and the adventures they become involved with change as their abilities get better, their relationships change, or new characters are introduced. Unfortunately for this series, it was packaged together and every story as you progressed from book 5 to book 10 is basically the same. [maybe this series would have been more enjoyable if you don't read them all in a row] The victim is either married [or significant relationship] and has a mistress. Just before his death, there are multiple threatening arguments involving mistress/significant other and frequently some character with whom Daisy is familiar. These arguments are witnessed and in several books were described as witnessing a "reality show." Daisy solves each case by being confrontational and at times, just rude with whomever she interviews. The detective is passive/aggressive - one minute he is happy to have Daisy around and the next he is indifferent or angry with Daisy's presence. What I found odd about this series is that Daisy's boyfriend is a private investigator but he does not really get involved with any of the cases - leaving it all to his decorator girlfriend Daisy to go about investigating on her own. It might have been more interesting had he been involved or taught Daisy how to investigate a case.

The narration, overall, was fine. There were several occasions where words/phrases were repeated - likely not caught in the final quality control.

Daisy sweet Daisy...

Daisy is, well, kind of annoying. Not in a horrid way but in a too stupid to live way. Tho that probably isn’t super accurate either. It’s just that I found myself thinking “what in the ever lovin crap are you thinking?” I know she’s doing the detective work and that is, in itself, a risky position. It’s not that it’s stupid unrealistic but it’s annoying. For instance, she just goes to these folks that she suspects are murderers homes and antagonizes them. I’m a pretty calm person but I’d probably slap her if given the chance if she did this kind of thing. I guess that’s where we get our story from is her doing these things that are somewhat ridiculous. Books are not horrid but that’s why I bumped the star down on story. Just the semi unbelievable parts. The rest works fine.

Daisy McDare Six Book Cozy Mystery Set

I was given a free review copy audio-book by the author courtesy of Audiobook Boom at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Book 5 Daisy McDare And The Deadly Rock Star Affair
Daisy is spending her vacation on a visit with her cousin, Addison, who she hasn’t seen in a while. Addison works for a very needy, has-been rock star, Blaze Billick, who won’t let her have the day off. Daisy ends up witnessing drama unfold at a party she attends to be with Addison while she works. After Addison gets accused of her boss’ murder later that night, Daisy has to go into full investigation mode to prove her cousin is innocent. There are many other suspects, but Addison was seen coming from Blaze’s mansion in the late hours of the night, so she is the prime suspect. This was a pretty good book that kept me guessing.

Book 6 Daisy McDare And The Deadly Restaurant Affair
Daisy McDare is on a new job with her interior design business. She takes on the task of remodeling an out-of-date restaurant, Tres Chic. The owner, Adam Dunning, is a cheapskate and wasn’t going to pay Daisy what the job would cost at first, but decided he needed an update if he was going to keep his restaurant in business. When Adam ends up stabbed in the back, Daisy decides to figure out who did it. This book is very much like the last book, different characters, similar plot, similar outcome. I do enjoy Daisy’s tenacity.

Book 7 Daisy McDare And The Deadly Secret Affair
Daisy is visiting her college friend, Chloe Wilson, who is having her book launch party in Vancouver. The party turned out to be a real snooze-fest, and Chloe ended up getting accused of her publisher’s death the next day. Daisy decided to solve this murder mystery. She went about things the same way she has in the past. I do enjoy her frequent mentions of cupcakes and chocolate, even though it makes me hungry.

Book 8 Daisy McDare And The Deadly Rival Affair
Daisy is back to solve another murder, this time of her neighbor and friend, Eric O’Doul. This one was a little less predictable than the last. It did still provide mentions of cupcakes and chocolate, which never gets too old for me!

Book 9 Daisy McDare And The Deadly Radio Affair
Daisy is working with Detective Crumple throughout most of this story. They need to figure out who murdered the program manager of the local radio show. There are plenty of suspects because he just fired all the DJs so he could save money. Lots of angry ex-employees have good motivation for murder. I actually found the night DJ description the funniest. I wouldn’t have minded getting to know his character some more.

Book 10 Daisy McDare And The Deadly Political Affair
Daisy finds herself in the thick of things trying to solve the mystery of Adam Mitchell’s death. He was running against the current Mayor (and jerk), so of course he is a suspect, among many others. Daisy may as well open her own private investigation firm. She sure has to solve a lot of murders.

Overall – the series is very quick and light.

same story over and over

The way daisy badgers the suspects is annoying. It is the same story over and over. Daisy, friend or relative accused of murder, daisy must investigate. Daisy badgers the suspect till they confess.

Collection of Daisy Mc Dare books

This is my honest review. I was gifted this audio set and was so hoping to enjoy it. I have read other Daisy Mc Dare stories and found them enjoyable. I am a cozy fan. The stories were okay. I found them a bit repetitive. This happens when you listen to them one right after the other. My real problem was with the narration. Donna Soto just did not keep me wanting to listen. In fact I had a hard time listening to the end. I have found that a book can be made or lost in the narrator and that was so true for me with this collection.

SWEET SWEET AND MORE SWEET COZY MYSTERIES :)

If you're a dessert fan, you're sure to satisfy your sweet tooth with these cozy mysteries! While at times a tad too sweet for me, I thought these were adorable and warmly-written stories and I really enjoyed listening to them. Liked both the writing and the narration, and I think if you're a "cozy" mystery fan, this will be a very nice edition, and it's a super amazing value to get so many stories at once! :) :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.