Mystery Magnet

The Last Picks, Book 1

De: Gregory Ashe

Narrado por: Andrew Gibson

He was born to write mysteries. Now, he has to solve them.

When Dashiell Dawson Dane moves across the country to a small seaside town called Hastings Rock, he has one goal: get away from his ex. Okay, two goals - because he wouldn't mind a little help from his new boss, celebrity mystery author Vivienne Carver. With Vivienne's mentorship, Dash is sure he can get over this blasted case of writer's block and start telling his own stories again.

The only problem? Vivienne is murdered on Dash's first night at Hemlock House. And when police find a secret passage that connects Dash's bedroom to Vivienne's, they're sure they know who did it. Now Dash has to prove his innocence - and the only way to do that is to figure out who really killed Vivienne Carver.

©2024 Gregory Ashe (P)2024 Gregory Ashe

Mystery Magnet

Mystery Magnet by Gregory Ashe
The Last Picks series #1.
Murder mystery. LGBTQ M-M romance.
Dashiell Dawson Dane moved to the small seaside town Hastings Rock where he promptly got a ticket. A wonderful start getting away from his ex, his parents, and hopefully outrunning his writer’s block. Working for the famous crime writer, Vivienne Carter, should get his creative jump started. It does, but not quite in the way he expected.
Vivienne Carter has been killed and Dash is the prime suspect.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook performed by Andrew Gibson. The performance is wonderful and mostly amusing with creative voices for the various characters and emotions that are clear.
As usual, I listened at and above 1.5 to match local conversational speed.

Poor Dash. Thrown into a mystery he’s definitely not prepared for. At least Detective Bobby is helpful even if he does like to write tickets.
Cozy, slow burn mystery with fun characters on the Last Picks team.
Enjoyed and look forward to reading more of this series when I can.

Cozy mystery

Who knew I would enjoy a cozy. No cussing; no sexy times - at least on page. And what a departure from Gregory Ashe's normal story telling. He did an amazing job of adapting the rules of a cozy while still delivering a great mystery, well thought out characters, and enough angst to keep you going. Andrew Gibson is a new to me narrator. I thought he did a relatively good job at bringing the characters to life. Looking forward to being on this multi-book adventure.

Cozy up with this delightful audiobook!!

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series by the fabulous author Gregory Ashe. This is the perfect blend of charm, intrigue, and small-town secrets. I loved reading the book, but I always find that a great narrator brings the characters alive and that's what Andrew Gibson does. The Last Picks are characters that I would absolutely fit in with IRL :) It is a captivating start to what promises to be a delightful series. I was kept guessing to the VERY END. I can't wait to hear book #2 Dude Magnet -the narrator's voice makes it hard to hit pause. Please keep them coming, Gregory Ashe!!!

An enjoyable mystery with fun characters

This was different to what I originally expected from this particular author, but it kept me entertained and intrigued all the way through. I've always been a sucker for a good mystery and this series is off to a great start.
I'm familiar with this narrator, and his voice and style are an excellent fit for what seems set to be a promising series.
I'm going to go listen to book 2. Hoping book 3 comes out soon, and the narrator has assured me that he is set to be recording book 4. *Does happy dance*

Love this new series

I have to say, I was worried about this series. I'm not a fan of this authors style of writing normally. The super heavy drama, torture souls is too much for me. But after ready the reviews I decided to try.
And I'm glad I did.
This is completely different from the normal affair.

Dash is running away from a life that is just not working and has found, what he thought was going to be a perfect start to a new life.

Along the way, he finds friends, a new home, and a crush on a unattainable man.

This narrator is new to me, and I highly enjoyed the tale told through the narration.

Excellent start to the series

Definitely a shift from Gregory Ashe's normal style, but I love it. I grew up with Murder, She Wrote, so anytime I find a fun, gay, cozy mystery I jump on it. There are some great comedic and light romance elements as well. I'm looking forward to more!

Amazing Narration

I have read most (all) of Ashe’s books and I wasn’t sure how this one was going to land for me. Most of Ashe’s books are hard hitting, gritty, long, and he lives to torture his characters and that is what I am used to from him. The Last Picks series is considered a cozy mystery and compared to what I have read from Ashe this book is easy, breezy even with a murder or two.

I listened to the audio of this book and the performance of the narrator was amazing and definitely added to the overall enjoyment of this book. Dash is a little self-deprecating, a little snarky, a little condescending, and a whole lot of insecure. Narrator Andrew Gibson did such a great job with this narration that I had no interest in turning it off until the end. The book takes us through Dash arriving at the mansion, Vivienne being murdered, and then Dash having to clear his name. Dash has some help from the other staff at the mansion such as Millie, who was one of Vivienne’s assistants. I am not sure how Millie would have landed for me in written form, and although she is an over the top character, the nuances that Gibson added made her entertaining.

There is also Deputy Bobby, who may be Dash’s love interest further in the series, but since Bobby currently has a boyfriend and Ashe loves the super slow burn it will be a while to progress these two. The mystery is a little zany, slightly predictable, but a whole lot of fun getting to the end. The last picks, as the series name describes, are the staff at the mansion. Not all of them are fully explained as to why they are there and after an entire book it left a vacancy of information to be filled.

It will be interesting to see how Ashe sustains multiple murders in one small town as the series moves along but I am definitely invested. If you have the opportunity to listen to the audio it’s highly recommended. But either way, ebook or audio, this is a fun series to get started with for a light mystery with an unlikely hero whose dry wit and humor is worth the ride.

Lots of twists; I loved it!

I don’t read a lot of cozy mysteries but several of my bookish friends were raving about this so I decided to give it a try. Once I started listening to this audiobook I couldn’t stop. The voice actor, Andrew Gibson, was great and the story was absolutely captivating. Dashiell (he prefers Dash) finds himself caught up in complicated situations after accepting a job as an assistant to a famous mystery writer.

I’m not good a making notes while listening to an audiobook so I lost count of the number of murders that happened in this story but there were more than two. The main mystery in this story was concluded but once I finished it, I wanted to move right on to the next one. I can’t wait to find out if Dash and Deputy Bobby ever get together.

A very enjoyable listen

As I said in my review of the ebook version, I wish this were a bit longer/meatier. That said, I definitely enjoyed it and will eagerly await the next book in audio. I suspect I'm going to like this series more and more as it progresses and the characters become more fleshed out. Three cheers for a SFW version of Greg Ashe!

My thanks to the author for a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

New Mystery Series.

I loved the ebook and love the audio more, listening to it makes me smile!

Dash moves across the country to get a new start. When he finds his new employer dead and is framed for her murder, he decides to try to solve it himself. But then his new friends Millie, Fox, Indria and Keme try to help.

The narrator did a wonderful job, I enjoyed the mystery and getting to know the characters. Can’t wait for the next one.