Sharpe Edge

By: Lisa B. Thomas

Narrated by: Kelley Hazen

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

If Deena Sharpe had known she would soon be investigating another death, she might have skipped Christmas altogether. Buoyed by a new job and a spirit for the holidays, she carries on, blind to what the next few weeks will hold.

A Christmas party for the upper crust of the small Texas town of Maycroft turns tragic when the hostess ends up dead. Everyone assumes her death is an accident - everyone except her daughter, Estelle. She turns to Deena to help solve the mystery. A jealous friend and a mysterious heir are just two of the likely suspects.

As a school teacher turned newspaper reporter, Deena must get crafty to dig out the truth before anyone else gets hurt, including her own brother.

A little romance, some snarky suburban competition, and a lot of mystery will keep listeners guessing in this cozy whodunit.

©2015 Lisa Thomas (P)2017 Lisa Thomas

another great mystery

this is a cute and well written cozy mystery. the main character finds herself again involved with solving what was ruled as an accidental death but turns out to be a murder. I do look forward to more in this series. I received this book as a free gift through audioboom in exchange for an honest review.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Good, Clean Mystery.

Where does Sharpe Edge rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a good story. The author makes the characters come alive without resorting to stereo-types. The mystery is well-done. The clues are there all along and the suspenseful ending does not rely on last minute information. The suspects are all plausible. I appreciate that the story is clean. No swearing or sex scenes. Safe for pre-teens.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Deanne, the main character, is a lot of fun. She is nosy, witty, sarcastic and smart, yet kind. I really like the main character, but the other characters are interesting too. I think my favorite has to be the redneck long-lost uncle who answers the door with a shotgun and a pack of dogs. He's a colorful guy.

What about Kelley Hazen’s performance did you like?

She performs the different characters beautifully. She maintains their unique voices effortlessly throughout the book. She does very believable male voices which is often difficult for female narrators. She brings out the personality of the main character.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This is an entertaining mystery story. It does not lend itself to touching emotional scenes. There are however, some very tense scenes throughout the book and particularly at the end. The mystery is well-written and well paced. It is suspenseful, but not overly or artificially so. This is a good, solid story.

Any additional comments?

I received this book for free from the author, narrator, or publisher on Audio Book Boom forum in exchange for a honest review.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Excellent as always!!!

I really enjoyed this book as well as the other two I read. This is my kind of books. Just keep writing & we will keep reading. Waiting for the next one.
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Enjoying this new series!

So far, I'm impressed. Ms. Thomas writes a good mystery, interesting characters, clean (no swearing, sex, or graphic violence), and with good narration. I think my absolute favorite part of both books so far is the sweet relationship between the main character and her husband.

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

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Cute

Any additional comments?

Cute story with great characters. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

The ending was bad, but the rest was great!

This book has me torn.. I loved the narration, I loved the characters & I enjoyed the story and dynamic. However, the ending was just bad. I found myself wanting to yell at Deena for being so obliviously dumb. Without giving anything away, just know it is incredibly aggravating. It's as if the end was the only real spoiling factor, but it was a big one because it made it all feel like a frustrating let down.
Otherwise though I really enjoyed the narration & I love the characters. So my heart is torn 50/50! I hope the following books do better with the conclusion.
This book was provided to me at no cost, and I gave my honest review.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Cozy Mystery!

A cozy mystery series indeed. I just loved listening to this audiobook. It has all the perfection of a classical murder mystery with likeable yet questionable characters. I also love how the author was able to add in some humor here in there making it all around fun. The narrator is great using the perfect amount of different tones in her voice to bring each character to life.

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

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

EASY LISTENING COZY MYSTERY

SHARPE EDGE is the second book in the Cozy Suburbs series. While they mostly stand on their own, it is best to read them in the order of release, since there are multiple mentions of the previous case.

Like many women, Deena Sharpe doesn’t know how to say “no” when someone we care about asks for assistance. Whether it is baking in two dozen cupcakes for the bake sale tomorrow morning (asked at the last minute) or, in her case, determining if the death of her friend is truly an accident or murder.

I like that these are “real people.” Everything doesn’t come easily to them. At 50-something, Deena has the wisdom of life experiences and the reliability and dependability of close family and friends.

The story had an easy flow that made it a perfect audiobook for my commute. I’d love to listen to more of the series.

The Narration: With the exception of the prologue and the last two chapters, the narration was a little flat with every sentence feeling as though it held the same weight and importance. I think it may have been caused by the forced Texas accent. Otherwise, the narrator’s voice was clear and pleasant. Knowing there are many more books in this series, I think more practice with the characters will provide the familiarity needed to lose the flatness.

Note: while I was given this book as a gifted audiobook copy, my opinions are my own and are given freely.


Title: SHARPE EDGE
Series: Maycroft Mystery #2
Narrator: Kelley Hazen
Length: 6 hours 8 mins
Category /Genre: Cozy Mystery,
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Listenability: OK
Received from: Lisa B. Thomas (via Audiobookworm as an Audible gifted copy)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Pleasant to listen to

This audiobook gets 3.5 stars from me. It was a pleasant enough listen but by about 1/3 the way through I knew who had done what. It was just a little too obvious to me, however that isn't to say that I didn't enjoy this cozy mystery it was a pleasant book to listen to and the narration by Kelley Hazen was well done. I liked the plot but a couple of points didn't add up. At the end of the book I was left thinking 'oh it really was that simple' but why did the characters behave that way at the very end of the book.
I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Accidental Fall or Murderous Push?

Accidental Fall or Murderous Push?

At the end of a fund raising dinner a prominent elderly matron, Caroline Fitzhugh, is found dead at the base of a stairway. Her death looks to be accidental however Caroline's daughter Estelle insists that her mother was murdered and enlists Deena's investigative assistance.

Deena is a retired high school journalism teacher who acquired a repetition for sleuthing after investigating her uncle's cold case death in the first book of the series.

The book is well written and has some humorous moments. All in all it is an enjoyable cozy mystery listen.

Although the narration is good I prefer the narrator from the first book. The previous narrator had a softer, slower more southern sounding voice.

In contrast the narrator for this novel has a sharper, faster, harsher voice. Although she does okay giving the characters a southern accent, to me it sounds like a northern narrator imitating a faux southern accent. The narrator of the first book's southern accent sounded much more natural.

I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful