Murder in Vail

By: Judy Moore

Narrated by: Stacey Melotte

Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Sally Braddock's serene lifestyle atop a mountain in Vail, Colorado changes drastically each year when her three spoiled children and their spouses visit her - and her money - for Christmas. They live off their trust funds, which are disappearing quickly, and spend most of the holidays bickering and hitting up their mother for money.

This year, Sally makes an announcement that sends her children into a tizzy, an announcement so extreme that it pushes someone in the house to murder. The storm inside the house is matched by a raging blizzard outside, and the family finds themselves snowbound with a killer.

©2017 Judy Moore (P)2017 Judy Moore

Money really IS the root of all evil

Sally is a billionaire widow who lives in Vail, CO with her trusted housekeeper. She is apprehensive about her adult children and spouses coming to spend the Christmas holiday. Each child received a sizable trust fund upon the death of their father but that’s almost depleted. Sally hates the fact that her children have no regard for money and decides that it’s time for them to grow up. When she announces that she plans on donating the majority of her funds to a charitable organization, her children think that she’s lost her mind. Then Sally’s daughter-in-law is murdered and someone attempts to kill her. Will the police find the killer before Sally’s attacker succeeds? Who IS the killer? I never saw it coming!! The tempo of the book was a bit slow in the beginning but picked up speed 1/2 way through and had great ending.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Great locked-room cozy mystery

I’m a big cozy mystery fan- and this is one of the best cozies from a new author I have read in a long time. The story centers on Sally, a billionaire with very ungrateful children who invites them all to her house for Christmas. While they are there they get snowed in and a murder occurred. Clearly one of them is the killer but which one?

I thought the author did a great job of introducing the characters and making them seem really realistic. From the start you are sympathizing with Sally and despising her obnoxious children. However, as the story progressed I actually began to like them more as we got to know them better.

The ending of this story was a complete surprise, which I always enjoy. There’s nothing worse than a mystery that you solve within the first few chapters. I am definitely looking forward to reading more by this author!

The only downside was the narration. The narrator pronounced everything clearly but read a lot of it and he slightly monotone voice, and some of the voices she tried to do sounded almost cartoony. Other than that- I’d highly recommend this book!

Good mystery.

Sally Braddock invites her children and their spouses to her mountain top mansion, atop a mountain in Vail. They are there for Christmas, but Sally has some news for her family. That news will change everyone's life, because someone is willing to murder in order to stop it from happening!!

I love a good cozy mystery and this one was awesome!! I have to say that Sally's children were horrible! So obnoxious, and I just wanted to reach in and shake them, but I suppose, that's what money can do. As for their spouses, oh god, they were so ungrateful! It would be a nightmare to sit through that.

Anyway, the plot was entertaining and exciting. I actually thought I had the right person figured out, but I didn't. I love a book like this, that can throw you off the scent completely!!! It could have been any of them, because they were all set to lose an awful lot of money.

The only nice character was Sally. She was such a nice woman and just wanted to do the best by her kids, and if that meant doing what she had planned, then that was what she would do. I thought she deserved so much, what with the amount of things she had to put up with!! I will say that one of her kids redeemed themselves somewhat near the end and I ended up liking them.

Anyway, this was a great mystery and I will definitely be checking out more from this author. She made me feel a lot for the characters, and that's always good!

Stacey Melotte was clear and read it well, but I found some of her voices to be so forced and annoying! Especially for the wife of one of Sally's son. I thought she really didn't need to put on such a fake accent and force it. A subtle change would have done fine.

I was voluntarily provided this audiobook for free from the author, narrator, or publisher. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

Murder in Vail

The storyline was fantastic with twist and turns to keep you going! The characters were well developed with full backgrounds. Most of the characters you have a love hate relationship with though. Of course you kinda love Sally through the whole story. Great book!!!!

Money changes people

Both the author and narrator were new to me in this thrilling book. I loved all of the twists and turns this book had. The imagery the author wrote was very good and detailed. I could picture so much of Vail, the mountain, the home, etc. The story had unique characters and was well plotted. I enjoy it when I do not figure out who the killer is. The concept of donating a fortune to charity is something that makes one think. This book was so original and worth listening to again. I loved all of the nuances this book had, plus the subtle clues and the references to synchronized swimming. (I was a swimmer and know the discipline the sport takes.) The narrator did a good performance with the various characters but I didn't think her portrayal of Helga the Swedish housekeeper matched her accent. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. On a side note, the production of this audiobook had inconsistent pauses between chapters, which I did not hold against the author or narrator. I will definitely look for more books by this talented author.