Twofer Murder

By: Lauren Carr

Narrated by: Mike Alger, Anita Alger

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Twofer murder? What’s a twofer murder?

Twofer Murder is a treat for fans of best-selling author Lauren Carr’s fast-paced mysteries! Lauren’s latest novel contains the main characters from her three successful series: Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose mysteries.

The guys go away for a fishing weekend, only to get caught up in the murder of a journalist investigating fraud at a timber company. Meanwhile, the ladies are spending the weekend in the presidential suite at a posh resort, where Jessica Faraday is to accept a lifetime achievement award for her late grandmother at a murder mystery writers conference. But before they have time to get their facials, they get wrapped up in their own real mystery when an up-and-coming author ends up dead!

Lauren Carr’s Twofer Murder is a two-for-one - making it a must-hear for any mystery fan!

©2018 Terri Lynn Zaleski (P)2018 Terri Lynn Zaleski

Even when murder is setting the scene, I promise y

Even the pets have a great time when the extended Faraday, O’Callaghan, Thornton clan set off on an adventure. You will find yourself with a new favorite family member, or maybe a few, by the time is all said and done. I know I will never look at a meet and greet with authors the same again. When Lauren Carr is telling the tale, there is no predicting what direction the action will take, or even how two very different adventures can go so differently than planned. Even when murder is setting the scene, I promise you will find moments to laugh!

So good

This one was a home run! Two murders in one! It really helped that there was two narrators. And of course the dogs cracked me up!

Another Great Mystery

I chose to listen to this audiobook after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

I have read quite a few of Lauren Carr’s books and this one brings together a lot of the characters from different series. They’re all related in one way or another and the men decide to go on a fishing trip while the women go to a mystery writers’ conference to accept an award for Mac Faraday’s deceased mother. It seems that a murder occurs wherever these characters go so it just seems natural that there would be a murder but in both places? That’s crazy (but fun for us readers).

As usual, there are murders to solve and the main characters are up to the task. They get along well and there are some interesting conversations that include humor and wit. I love the dogs! They have such great personalities and although they’re well behaved for the most part, Gnarly is a bit of a thief.

I like how Twofer is narrated. A man narrates during the fishing trip and a woman narrates during the mystery writers’ conference. Both do a great job with timing and pronunciation.

I definitely recommend Twofer and it does stand on its own. If you listen to the audiobook, I would recommend making a list of the characters. The books usually contain a cast of characters because there are so many. The list isn’t needed after reading several of Lauren Carr’s books, but someone listening or reading for the first time would probably need one to keep everyone straight.

All Star cast and two murders

This is one of my favorite books so far of all the books by Lauren Carr I have had read, and I have loved them all. She takes all the main characters from 3 of her popular series, Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose mysteries and put them all in this one book. Not only that, she sends the women to murder mystery writers conference in Pennsylvania and the guys go fishing in West Virginia.

Sounds fun right? The women end up involved in a murder of one of the writers at the conference and the guys end up involved in the murder of a journalist investigating a timber company for fraud. They basically all still work together to solve both crimes even though they are states away, via cell phones. Each group works on their own case but gives and gets input from the others via cell phones.

I love how she has all the characters watching each others backs both near and far. I love the humor as well as the seriousness in the book. Lauren has really done a great job with this book. I love all 3 series, but by putting them all together this made for a really great read. I love how all the characters are so well thought out, and each person brings their own weight to this book. Everyone is a star player in the book.

I was given my copy by Lauren Carr and IRead Books Tours in exchange for my honest review.

Murder, Mayhem, & Gnarly

Twoffer Murder
By Lauren Carr
Narrated by Anita Alger and Mike Alger

It was supposed to be a simple guys-only fishing trip in the Appalachian Mountains. But nothing is ever so simple especially when murder is involved. But while Mac, Murphy, David, Tristan, JJ, Joshua, Gnarly (yup bad news for the food) and Storm are enjoying the joys of a murder mystery and fishing their better halves are having an experience of their own. And the fishing is good for some of them.

Archie, Jessica, Dallas, and Sarah are attending the Sherlock Mystery Writers Guild Conference where the late Robin Spencer is to be honored with a lifetime achievement award. What better place for a real murder to take place than in the midst of a mystery writers conference. And it is here that Dallas sees someone from the past who is about to give her a decided down and bring Cameron Gates into the mix - the Black Diamond, a notorious hitman.

Both cases have perplexities that keep the reader wondering what could possibly happen next. And when there are containers of cheese balls involved it can get down-right messy! And as to who in this wide and varying cast of suspects is the guilty party - get ready for twists that will turn you completely around. This is a one who-dun-it that will keep the suspense up while breaking up the couples into separate groups.

The story is narrated by Anita Alger and Mike Alger - and before you ask no they don't read by character gender rather the story is read by which portion of the story is unfolding. When its the guys fishing trip turned murder investigation it is read by Mike. When it is the women's writers conference it is Anita doing the reading. The book is broken into two parts for downloading so that it is quicker and doesn't take up all of your device's storage if it is limited.

I was provided a review copy of this book by the author with no expectation of a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Exciting and challanging

This book was provided free of charge in exchange for a review.

The book kept you in suspense trying to determine who did it.

This was a dual murder investigation being done at the same time. The plot would jump between the various investigations and always kept you guessing.

The book was well written and held together well.

Narration was also great with two performers.

They Keep Getting Better and Better!

Another bestseller for Lauren Carr

Twofer Murders will be another hit for Ms. Carr. The characters from all three of her series are present for this entertaining book. Each series is a pleasure, so when all combine it makes for a fun, fast, and suspenseful tale.

This time the men and the women have trips planned of their own. The men are going fishing. The women to a mystery conference. Naturally both run into murder.

It amazes me how the author is able to juggle so many different pieces without losing track of them. Complex with clues and with characters, yet she always manages to keep it so much fun. How she connects it all is intriguing in itself.

I was provided a copy of this book as part of the virtual book tour hosted by iRead Book Tours. You can read my full review at Jaquo Lifestyle Magazine. So glad to be included since Lauren has become one of my favorite authors.

Don’t miss this one.

The dogs steal the show!

Twofer Murder is the second in the Nikki Bryant series (an apparently features characters from other series as well), but it can easily be read as a standalone. This mystery is full of mystery -- two murders to be solved. As the story begins, we have Nikki and two other women at a writers' retreat. Their partners are on a fishing excursion. Unfortunately both groups stumble into murder scenes...

The characters are unique and likable, but what I loved most were all the dogs. Gnarly returns from book one, and is joined by the dogs from the other series. There are moments where these dogs made me giggle aloud disturbing my husband's sleep. The stolen cheese balls and fishing expertise were wonderful moments of comic relief.

This was a quick, enjoyable read, and I am looking forward to the third installment.

Good for Carr fans; not best place to start new

Note: This book works fine as a stand alone even though it is an intersection among 3 of Lauren Carr’s murder mystery series.
I’ve listened to many Lauren Carr novels and the Mac Faraday stories are my favorites. Still, I looked forward to seeing all of the main characters for the 3 intersecting series come together. The start was a bit slow for me and I think this was because Carr was introducing her characters for those that are unfamiliar with one or more of her series. The men are off fishing and the ladies are attending a murder mystery convention and awards ceremony. After 3 hours, I really wanted to spend all my time with the guys. There is so much about how the ladies look (pretty, gorgeous, voluptuous, luscious, beautiful, etc.) and then plenty about fashion (shoes, dresses, handbags, etc). I especially found all that very boring mostly because I know these ladies are so much more than their looks and clothing. I wouldn’t recommend starting with this novel if you’re just venturing into Carr’s novels. These characters show much better in other novels being more rounded and interesting.
There are basically two plots going on for the majority of the book. The guys are dealing with the Mud men (father and his sons) in a logging community. The Muds are bullies and there’s an old fatal car accident that has affected several people in area deeply. The ladies are on the track of the Black Diamond, an assassin for hire that some of them have run into before. There’s more than meets the eye with this lady! Our ladies have to learn how to play nice with some FBI while keeping it under wraps.
I really liked Gnarly’s addiction to cheese puffs and the trouble that leads to. There’s also Monique the tarantula who belongs to Jessica. I loved that suite’s butler had no trouble with setting Monique up in her own little bug house.
I liked both mysteries though I felt it took a little too long to get them to dovetail and bring all the main characters to play under one roof. This novel wasn’t as concise as much of Carr’s works and, once again, I think this is because she brought so many main characters into the story. All together, it’s a good tale for those that have read some of Carr’s other works, especially if you’ve dabbled in all 3 series. 3.5/5 stars.
The Narration: Anita Alger and Mike Alger tag team the narration for this book. Mike makes a good Mac Faraday and he does a pretty good job with all the male voices. Sometimes his female character voices sound feminine and sometimes they don’t. Anita had several regional accents for the ladies which I liked as it kept them distinct. Her male character voices often did not sound like men. I especially didn’t like the voice for Liam, a grown man with delusions of grandeur; he sounded like a 10 year old. The recording quality was good. 3/5 stars.

Audio Fun

Any additional comments?

The last several books by Lauren Carr that I have gotten were the audio version. I have really enjoyed this way of accessing and "reading" Ms. Carr's books. The narrators bring life to the characters and the stories. In fact, they do so much better with the voice overs then I could imagine in my head.

If you have read books from this author, then you will have a fun time with this book. It features some of the main characters from Ms. Carr's other series, Mac and Jessica Faraday. So fans will be pleased to see these two featured in this book. New fans can get a taste of just who Mac and Jessica are.

The mysteries were a bit obvious but the antics and fun that ensured in between was good. I thought that the two stories mashed up nicely. Mac and Jessica were in their elements. Another nice book from Ms. Carr. Although, I would recommend that if given the chance that you check out the audio versions.