Ukulele Murder: A Nani Johnson Mystery

By: Leslie Langtry

Narrated by: Susan Marlowe

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

From USA Today best-selling author Leslie Langtry comes the killer start to a brand-new multiauthor series....

Nani Johnson thought she had it made when she moved from Kansas to the resort town of Aloha Lagoon, Kauai. In spite of her certifiably crazy mom, Nani is determined that nothing will stop her from becoming a ukulele virtuoso! Unfortunately her Julliard training doesn't help her break into the local music scene due to some heavy competition from the Terrible Trio - three hostile local musicians. The only work she finds is a few bar mitzvahs and gigs at the kitschy Blue Hawaii Wedding Chapel.   

But when one of Nani's competitors drops dead right after a public feud, Nani becomes the police's main suspect. A missing murder weapon, mysterious threats, and a heck of a frame-up job all have Nani worrying she'll be trading in her flowery muumuus for prison orange. Enter hunky local botanist Nick Woodfield, who just might be able to help her clear her name...that is if he doesn't have secrets of his own. With the bodies stacking up, the danger closing in, and the authorities circling, Nani must track down a killer...before she ends up the latest victim of the Ukulele Murderer!  

The Aloha Lagoon Mysteries:
Ukulele Murder (book #1)
Murder on the Aloha Express (book #2)
Deadly Wipeout (book #3)
Photo Finished (book #4)
Deadly Bubbles in the Wine (book #5)
Mele Kalikimaka Murder (book #6)
Death of the Big Kahuna (book #7)

About Aloha Lagoon:

There's trouble in paradise....

Welcome to Aloha Lagoon, one of Hawaii's hidden treasures. A little bit of tropical paradise nestled along the coast of Kauai, this resort town boasts luxurious accommodations, friendly island atmosphere...and only a slightly higher than normal murder rate. While mysterious circumstances may be the norm on our corner of the island, we're certain that our staff and Lagoon natives will make your stay in Aloha Lagoon one you will never forget!

©2016 Leslie Langtry (P)2018 Leslie Langtry

Take a Trip to Hawaii

In <strong>Ukulele Murder</strong> by Leslie Langtry, Nani Johnson has moved to Aloha Lagoon, Kauai from Kansas to play her ukelele, which she studied at Juilliard. After playing for a bar mitzvah, Nani goes to a concert of the top ukulele musician on the island, Alohalani, where she runs into the two other native ukelele musicians, Kua and Leilani, both of whom are antagonistic towards Nani for not being native Hawaiian and, if truth be told, for being a better musician than they are. After an argument with Kua, Nani goes to sit in front and then leaves as soon as the concert is over.

But not long after arriving at home, Nani gets visited by a police officer. Detective Ray informs her that Kua has been murdered, bludgeoned over the head, and Leilani claimed that Kua left the building with Nani in a heated argument. Unable to provide an alibi, Nani gets nervous, but Detective Ray doesn't arrest her. . . yet. The next day the officer returns with news that Kua was bludgeoned with kwila wood, a very hard native tree, a type of wood that Nani had a special ukelele made from. What is worse, that ukelele has gone missing. Now Nani is a genuine suspect.

With the help of her best friend, Binny, and the blind date her mom set her up with, Nick Woodfield, Nani has to stand up for herself in investigating things before she gets arrested. Or killed. Things becomes even scarier when more people get murdered, each in a different manner. And each murder is enacted to frame Nani.

I earlier enjoyed listening to Langtry's first four Merry Wrath books, so I was excited to see that <em>Ukelele Murder</strong> has recently been released on audio. I was most definitely not disappointed. The plot kept me drawn into the story, with its creative side trips and clever details. The path that Nani travels in her search for the truth takes us through some interesting plot points.

However, as much as I enjoyed the plot, it is the characters who truly bring this book to life. Nani was a believable, likable character with whom we can completely identify and really want to see succeed in her life and in her ability to find the real murderer in order to stay out of prison. Binny serves as the perfect best friend, and we come to like Nick, though we understand Binny's concern over Nick's over- eagerness and find ourselves wondering about his motives. But the most lively character is Nani's alcoholic, borderline mental case of a mother. The woman lives to her own drum and decorates the living room with random objects found on the island, so Nani never knows whether she'll walk in to find coconuts or hula girls filling her living room. But further, the island life itself serves as another character in the story. We see views of the island and images of life there, from the music to the surfing and everything in between.

Susan Marlowe performs the audio edition of this book, with a strong alto voice that adds to the sense of music behind the book. She uses good voices for the various characters, both the women and men characters. The expression she uses adds to the humor that the book already contains. Marlowe effectively helps the book take us to Kauai and enjoy the experience oft1 listening to the ukelele. Pp

I really enjoyed listening to <strong>Ukulele Murder</strong>. The story was full of fun, but the characters took it to a higher level of delight. The book gave me a strong picture of Kauai and made me interested in the ukulele as an instrument. I give it five stars!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Just Not For Me

As much as I tried, I could not get involved with this book. Narration and story are not what I was hoping for. was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Blast

Love this book.

I found this book to be really funny. The author had me laughing out loud or smiling through out the book. I would highly recommend it just for that.
I figured who did it part way through but this did not put me off the book however, what I did not believe is the detective. I found him to be really slow and I felt like he acted stupid at times. I don't know if this is what the author wanted but I found that I did not like his character or believed him as a character. Other then this it is a fantastic book and I would highly recommend it. There is no profanity or sexual content with some violence which is to be expected.

Great Beachy Mystery

What could be better than a mystery? One set on the beaches of Hawaii! This was a very entertaining mystery that kept my attention throughout and wasn't predictable. The narrator did a fantastic job which only adds to the fun of this book. Definitely recommend to the cozy mystery readers.

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

great mystery

great book who is a very nice story the mystery was great and the narrator did a good job
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

The ending was unexpected. Never saw that twist.

Narration was very good. I will listen to Susan Marlowe again. The character voices were excellent.

Any story that takes place in Hawaii better be good! This book does not disappoint. The book gives you the experience without leaving your chair. The plot kept you listening. I did not guess who the was doing the killings. The ending surprised me. I will check out other stories by Leslie Langtry.

A delightful listen.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great book

This book was full of twist and action. The killer was surprising in this story and i loved the characters. I definitely won't to read/listen to more in this series. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beach Fun!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Since I love all things beach, especially Hawaii, I had been eyeing the Aloha Lagoon series for a while and when I saw that there was an audio version I had to jump at the chance to get it. The story is fun with interesting characters and good writing. There were a couple of times I thought I knew who the killer was but couldn’t bring myself to commit but in the end the clues are there but not too noticeable to be clear. The characters are fun if a bit naive and overall, I thought it was fun and I’ll be sure to move along in the series!

The narrator does a great job with the characters. She really added to my enjoyment of the story and helped to bring the characters to life!

Fun start to a new cozy mystery series.

Ukulele Murder was a fun start to a 'new to me' cozy mystery series. While I actually figured out who was behind the murders early on, that didn't take a darn bit of enjoyment out of the story for me. The book featured a great cast of characters and a fun story. I'll definitely be checking out more of the series in the future.

This is the first time I've heard any of Susan Marlowe's narration work and I loved it. She really seemed to character the charm of the story and the characters and was a delight to listen to. Hope she continues to narrate the series.

I received a copy of this audio title in exchange for an unbiased review.

Be transported to the Garden Island

Lets mix up some mystery and fun and music and a beautiful island and you have a tasty meal for your ears
with a good performance by the Narrator.




This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

You really are Nancy Drew.

Set in the beautiful surroundings of Kouai, Hawaii, this cozy murder mystery has some delightful comedic moments but was mostly rather irritating or, even worse, dull. The story is written in the first person by an ukulele player from Kansas, named Nani. After her father's death a year before, she and her mother moved to Aloha Lagoon where she tried to establish her musical career. Unfortunately for her, there were three established and lauded players there already, so work was sparce and the three held her in distain because of her lack of Hawaiian crudentials
When one of the esteemed ukulele players is murdered, Nani becomes a suspect. When the police investigation seems to stall, Nani, brand new boyfriend Nick and best friend Bernie set out to solve the crime for themselves in order to protect her from imprisonment.

Characterisation is slim apart from that of the main protagonist who comes over as silly, callous and generally unattractive. The mystery is also shallow, the who-dun-it? being obvious and the attempts to disguise the killer stretched and ridiculous. But there are some delightful episodes, most especially those revolving around Pastor Dan Presley, who runs the Blue Hawaii Wedding chapel. Pity there wasn't more set here rather than inside Nani Johnson's head. Fortunately, the book is well read by Susan Marlowe who, with a pleasant timbre to her voice and involvement with any emotional changes in the text, gives a good performance as Nani. She also voices the other characters seperately and so carried the story to it's end for this reader, something the text alone could not have done.

My thanks to the rights holder for freely gifting me a complimentary copy of Ukulele Murder, at my request, via Audiobook Boom. As a background listen cozy, with some hilarious highlights, this book is quite fun but not for anyone looking for a satisfying mystery to solve. I