The Case of the Antiquities Collector

A Joey Mancuso, Father O'Brian Crime Mystery

By: Owen Parr

Narrated by: Fred Filbrich

Their daughter goes missing and they don't call the cops? That’s one of many...

...intriguing mysteries deliciously and intricately layered in this audiobook. Layer upon layer, twist upon twist, secret upon secret, this is a case tailor-made for a Sherlock Holmes devotee like private investigator Joey Mancuso. From the beginning, there’s just something funny about parents who didn’t report a missing student right away, and days later still want no police.

Hold it here! This is their beloved daughter, last seen leaving for a date. Why wouldn’t they want as much firepower as they can get? Because they know too much, that’s why - and Owen Parr’s clever detective senses that. Joey’s first job is to save the girl, but no way he’s going to stop there. The scrappy PI and ex-cop’s going to get answers if it kills him.

Which, of course, it nearly does. The body count soars as his brother and detective partner Father Dom, always the adult in the room, clucks, prays, and begs for caution - to no avail. The ruthless kidnappers have something huge to cover up…an operation involving stolen art that’s being used to finance one of the greatest evils on the planet. Once Joey knows that, he’s a runaway train.

A lot of the fun is in the clever Russian doll structure of a puzzle wrapped in a mystery, each discovery leading to a bigger and more surprising twist, but it wouldn't be half as delightful without the loveable series ensemble author Parr has assembled. The usual suspects are here - Marcy, Joey’s new wife and favorite FBI agent; researcher Agnes, who goes to Father Dom’s Mass every morning, presumably to repent for her shameless hacking. There’s also a welcome new addition - a professor who’s as close as you’re ever going to get to Indiana Jones.

Full of action and exotic locales, this PI series entry will appeal to action-adventure fans as well as those who can't get enough of hard-boiled New York detective stories.

©2018 Owen Parr (P)2018 Owen Parr

I Enjoyed Listening to Another Owen Parr book.

Another great mystery story by Owen Parr. He did a lot of background on all his characters and locations they traveled. Joey Mancuso is once again in a complicated storyline with his new investigative team., Harry, Larry, Angus, Marcy, Patrick, and his brother Father Dominic. People seem to die after they are talked to by one of the team members. A very enjoyable book. I listened to the whole book read by Fred Filbrich who does a great job for each character. I highly recommend all Owen Parr's books as I go to book number 4 in the Father Mancuso stories.

Great

I love all the book they keep me on my toes and r great and keeps me thinking

loved it

yet another great multi faceted story. twists and turns keeps reader unable to turn book off

A follow up book in the seires

This is another mystery solve by the brother duo. Very entertaining and will keep on following this series.

Entertaining

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

This is the fourth book in the Mancuso/O'Brian Mystery series. I have not read any of the prior books in the series. It is a standalone book with no cliffhanger ending. There are references to events which occurred to the characters, which I assume were prior books, but, overall, the author does provide quick summaries of those events. There is a bit of a subplot involving Mancuso's FBI agent wife going through PTSD and trying to get back into the Bureau, which likely would have made more sense to me if I had read the prior book where it occurred. But, overall, it is not a problem to follow the action and the characters' motivations without having read any of the prior books.

Joey is hired to find a missing college girl but the case turns out to be so much more than that. There's lots of action, some interesting twists, and some great moments of humor. Very entertaining.

The narrator, Fred Filbrich, has the perfect baritone voice for this type of series. He has a very good narrative pace and helped makes this an enjoyable listen.