Sleuthing for a Living

Mackenzie & Mackenzie PI Mysteries, Book 1

By: Jennifer L. Hart

Narrated by: Suzanne Cerreta

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

As a young single parent, Mackenzie Elizabeth Taylor has struggled to provide for her teenage daughter. She finally catches a break when she inherits half of an apartment building in Boston from her uncle Al, along with his P.I. business. So what if she doesn't know the first thing about investigation or if their hot-but-crabby downstairs tenant is a police detective who's looking for any excuse to handcuff her? Her daughter, Mac the computer whiz, has her back. And these two girls don't know the meaning of the word quit - not even when their first case takes an unexpected turn.

The man Mackenzie's been hired to follow in a custody case seems to have upset more than just her client when she spies another person tailing him - a mysterious man Mackenzie would bet is up to no good. But when her mark suddenly winds up dead, and her first and only client is accused of his murder, Mackenzie vows to find the truth. Only one problem: she doesn't know where to start...or when to draw the line. Who is the mysterious man she spotted tailing the victim? Is he the killer? Is she in over her head, or will she uncover the secrets someone killed to keep hidden? Mackenzie and Mackenzie are on the case, and the world of private investigation will never be the same.

©2016 Jennifer L Hart (P)2016 Jennifer L Hart

Despite my reservations--I loved it!

I generally like cozy mysteries. But my hesitation about getting this one was that it had the appearance of being aimed at an audience much younger than myself (and in that regard, I’m pretty sure I was correct, even though there are a couple of older characters written in).

However, the overall book was fast-paced, filled with interesting people, and a story complicated and engaging enough to keep me interested throughout. A very nice mix and I found it hard to turn off, even when I needed to!

MacKenzie Taylor is a single mother of a teenaged daughter, Mac (named after herself), who inherits her uncle Al’s apartment house, car, and his private investigation business. She also inherits the tenants in the house, who quickly become part of the story.

So, based on Uncle Al’s collection of written comments on how to do PI work, she sets out to do it, and quickly lands in the middle of a murder case. Her daughter helps, and even her mother gets pulled in to assist here and there.

So if the author had various boxes to check when writing this, I’d say she largely succeeded. She invented a book full of varied and clever characters, has parallel stories going, plenty of action, love interest, good mystery....it’s all there, and comes together pretty well. I think in places she tried a little too hard on the humor (sometimes sounds a bit overdone and cliche) and I’m way past needing everybody to have hot love interests to enjoy a book (it can actually be a turn off when it feels too forced, which I thought it was here).

But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this listen. I have already put the next one in the series in my wish list, and look forward to listening to it. I was a little surprised at how much fun it actually was to listen to! Hope your experience will be the same!

SO MUCH FUN

I have enjoyed listening to this book several times, and laugh out loud each time. A very pleasant way to spend time listening while traveling.

Gilmore Girls Detective Agency

This story was such fun. The mother daughter and grandmother dynamics was very similar in feel to the Gilmore girls. And that’s not a bad thing. It makes it a very feel good mystery. I found myself smiling most of the way through. I enjoyed the mystery too and how Mackenzie was learning the ropes as a P.I. and even though she did make some mistakes she was smart enough to put some of the pieces of the puzzle together. So the humor wasn’t from her ineptitude but from the family and rest of the characters interactions.
I really enjoyed Suzanne Cerreta’s narration too. She was able to portray the men and women very well and her accents weren’t over done but enhanced the characters when she used them.
I was given this book at my request for an honest review. I’ve listened to the Laundry Hag series written and performed by this duo and jumped at the chance to try a new series. I’m looking forward to starting book 2 next.

Good story, recommend it

like the story, characters, will purchase another book by author. recommend to anyone who wants to listen to light hearted mystery.

Great where is the next one!

Think of Gilmore Girls becoming private detectives.
The mother and daughter are named Mackenzie. The mother is called Mackenzie and the daughter Mack. Mack is an extremely talented 16 year-old computer wiz. Mackenzie is a quirky, caffeinated, and awesome. Her morning drink is coffee with a side of coffee topped with coffee beans.

The story centers around financial difficulties of the Mackenzies. Mom-Mackenzie has difficulty finding and keeping a job when she discovers that she wants to try her skills are being a private detective. Being Mackenzie nothing is simple. Following the simple rules of a book written by her uncle, Mackenzie becomes a PI.

Add to the story that Mackenzie and her mother inherit an apartment from her uncle. Her mom leaves the captain (Mackenzie calls her dad by his service rank) moves into the upstairs apartment. There is a hot police office (who Mackenzie has promised not sleep with him) and a Jewish woman. There are movies nights with junk food, love interests and other domestic entanglements.

A great fun novel which needs a follow up. How many PI’s only have one case? So there has to be a follow up.

More sleuthing

This is an amazing book! The characters are lovable and relatable. The story is a also a great mystery with humor!! #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

LOL!!

I actually laughed out loud quite often while listening to this book. I can't wait for the next one.

Moves along

plot a little weak. Child not made known to Father then "wala-la" he has 16 year old daughter.

Fun Start to the Series

What made the experience of listening to Sleuthing for a Living the most enjoyable?

Smart, strong, funny women are my favorite protagonists and that describes both Mackenzie and her daughter Mac. Their exchanges kept me smiling and had me laughing out loud on occasion.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Sleuthing for a Living?

Anytime that Mackenzie (the mother) thinks she's being super stealthy and nailing the whole P.I. thing. Then finds out she's not in some humorous way.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, it's not really that type of story. But I had a ton of fun listening to Mackenzie's antics.

Characters are Gilmore Girls copies

The narration by Suzanne Cerreta is very good. Kudos to her, as usual.

This could have been a much better book than it was if only Ms. Hart had made her characters even marginally less like Lorelei, Rory and Emily Gilmore of Gilmore Girls fame. Don't get me wrong, I loved Gilmore Girls, but I didn't really want to read a story about what they would have been like if Lorelei had decided not to work at a small New England inn and had wandered from job to job finally alighting on being a P.I. instead. There are just too many similarities between these characters and the ones in the TV series for it to read like anything other than fan fiction. For some fans of GG, this might be a plus, but for me it was a big negative. I love Ms. Hart's writing and the case Mackenzie is solving turns out to be engaging (hence the 3 stars). If only she had made the characters a little less like copies of those on GG I would have enjoyed this book way, way more. Not only does Mackenzie give her child the same name, she has her at 16, leaves home to raise her, has a mother extremely similar to Emily Gilmore, has an addiction to coffee, doesn't cook and lives on take-out, and has the same kind of witty banter that Lorelei and Rory are famous for. There may even be more similarities but I can't think of them at the moment.

I loved Ms. Hart's Damaged Goods and Pasta Shop series (I highly recommend those on audio) and was looking forward to this one. Sadly, I don't think I will be continuing with it as I just can't get past the GG connection. If you haven't seen Gilmore Girls, I would highly recommend this series. If you have, decide for yourself if the similarities in the characters would appeal to you or bother you.

Good story

Very funny, excellent narrator, I liked the characters
Well worth buying.
Four more words to write

A real treat

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. crime and humour and personal drama. Nothing not to like.