The Musubi Murder

By: Frankie Bow

Narrated by: Nicole Gose

Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Small town life, big academic egos, corruption, revenge, and Spam musubis! The Musubi Murder is the first campus crime novel set in Hawaii, and the perfect gift for mystery lovers, Hawaii expatriates, disillusioned academics, and anyone who fancies Spam (the meat). Renowned Hawaii-born voice-over artist Nicole Gose brings her spot-on vocal characterizations and impeccable comic timing to this reading.

©2015 Frankie Bow (P)2015 Frankie Bow

Couldn't finish it

There might have been a story in there somewhere, but I was lulled to sleep by the reader's pauses and voices.

some super cute moments but not nearly enough...

this story is based in Hawaii and that is fun but the characters get old fast.

Nice Try

The Hawaiian back drop was the most interesting part of the story. The plot, however, was rather trite and boring. A little overplay with the pidgin; and I don't know any younger women in Hawaii who wear stockings, even college professors. The plot was slow and tedious, only to come to a rapid and with an unrealistic "confession" and a corny epilogue.l

Fun Listen!

This was a fun listen. Good mystery, very likable characters, and a terrific narrator.

I would recommended this to anyone looking for a light mystery with a healthy dose of humor.

charming debut

Would you listen to The Musubi Murder again? Why?

I don't know if I would listen to it again but I would listen to more in this series.

Would you recommend The Musubi Murder to your friends? Why or why not?

I recommend it. It's a good beach read or cozy mystery by the fire. I liked the Hawaiian setting and was interested in the characters.

What about Nicole Gose’s performance did you like?

I liked the Hawaiian accents. I also thought she did a good job voicing male characters.

The ending was shocking

Spoiler alert!

The protagonist ends up “being an item” with the father of a murdering psychopath. But it’s all ok because he is safely away at a school on the mainland. And he killed an unpopular businessman. His good friend was collateral damage. Hahaha. WTF???

All reported just light as a feather.

Appalling. Maybe in this era of “alternative facts” and winning at any cost this kind of crap flies. Wow. This book had potential.

Narration was horrid! Couldn't finish

Th narration was incredibly painful. I had to quit listening after a couple of chapters.

Only someone who lived in Hawaii...

...would appreciate this book. I did enjoy the local pidgin and attitude of the characters, but it wasn't really enough to make a good book.

I have to admit that I bought it because I knew it had to be related to Hawaii. Nobody else knows what musubi is. Aimed at kind of a small target audience.

Good solid mystery!

If you could sum up The Musubi Murder in three words, what would they be?

Fun, humorous, intriguing

Would you recommend The Musubi Murder to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend this audio to those who like "cozy" mysteries and also to those who like things just a little bit darker.

What about Nicole Gose’s performance did you like?

The narrative was well done, in fact I often forgot that one woman was also providing the male voices for the audio. That's a great narrator!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

It's NOT a headless skull!

Any additional comments?

My only complaint with this audio is that there is at least a three second pause between each chapter...just long enough to make me wonder if it's stopped playing and just enough to be annoying.

Cozy Island Murder Mystery

This cozy island mystery was an enjoyable read. (Surprising that I can call a book that starts off with a decapitated head on a platter a "cozy" mystery. After reading the book I'm not sure I can use "decapitated" in that way. ;-) ) Lots of island flavor, lots of everyday life mixed in with your mystery, too. If you're at all connected to an academic setting you'll probably recognize some or all of Molly's problems.

While the mystery was good, I think I got a little too much of the "other stuff" (i.e. academic life, time with her friends, love interest, etc.) and it tended to slow down the book a little too much for my taste. It's not that it wasn't well-written, it's just that the other parts were a little too much of a distraction.

What really set the book apart, though, was the narrator. Nicole does an excellent job of giving you a real flavor of how people should really sound in a small Hawaiian locale. The narration was well-paced and the characters stood apart well.

Overall, this was an engaging listen that could have benefitted from some trimming. I would listen to another title by the Author, and I may even seek out more from the narrator.