Book Review: “Smoke and Secrets” & “The Corpse Wore Stilettos”

About Smoke and Secrets

Charlie and Simm, Montreal pub owners with a knack for sleuthing, thought they were taking on a straightforward case when Noah Wolfe hired them to find his missing family fortune. Their search leads them to the idyllic town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, where they quickly realize this is no ordinary investigation. Joined by Noah’s sharp-witted sister-in-law, Sarah, they dig into the Wolfe family’s past at a grand estate brimming with secrets.

As tensions rise, Simm’s estranged brother and his wife arrive at the mansion, adding to the already crowded and mistrustful atmosphere. A simple search for lost money turns menacing with suspicious deaths, an attempted murder, and buried mysteries that refuse to stay hidden. The deeper they delve, the more dangerous the case becomes. Charlie and Simm are forced to confront their own fears and face a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to protect dark secrets, leading to a shocking climax that will change everything.

Award-winning author A.J. McCarthy brings back Charlie and Simm in this latest instalment of her mystery series. Can the much-loved couple outsmart a killer and unlock the puzzles that threaten them?

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYZX35V3/?bestFormat=true&k=smoke%20and%20secrets&ref

My Review of Smoke and Secrets

I received a digital copy of Smoke and Secrets, by A.J. McCarthy, from Sandra’s Book Club in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own.

Always a fan of good mysteries, Smoke and Secrets, is up there with the best of them. This mystery is a big jigsaw puzzle, unfolding gradually as each new piece is uncovered. But each piece added brings even more mystery and more questions to the table, leaving the reader scratching her head in puzzlement all the way to the end.

My one complaint was with formatting issues, which made the paragraph layout weird and was distracting from the story. My eyes like to read in smooth lines and properly formed paragraphs, so this was a problem for me. I also noticed that the formatting didn’t offer page breaks between chapters, although that really wasn’t a big deal.

Simm used to be a P.I. and now cases keep falling into his lap, and his wife, Charlie is all in on helping to solve the case. This time an old client, Noah, shows up with a new dilemma to look into. His family was murdered in the last case they handled for him, and now, his brother has died and the family fortune has mysteriously come up missing. Simm and Charlie go with Noah and his siter-in-law, Sarah, to investigate the mystery and see if they can pick up a trail on the family fortune. Simms estranged brother and sister-in-law, Walter and Clarisse, show up unexpected and uninvited to round off our cast of characters. But, it soon becomes apparent that someone murdered Noah’s brother and covered up the crime.

Journals with poetic clues, secret passages and hidden keys all play a part in solving this well-crafted mystery. I give Smoke and Secrets four quills.

About The Corpse Wore Stilettos

SHE WORE A DONNA KARAN MARKED FOR REPOSSESSION.

Since Kat Waters’s father took a trip to the slammer on what she’s sure are trumped-up racketeering charges, life’s been tough. All their assets are frozen, and she’s down to the last few pairs of Jimmy Choos she can swap for rent. To keep her family out of the homeless shelter, the former socialite took a job at the local morgue—a job she’s about to lose when the body of a murder victim goes missing on her watch.

HE WORE A CAPTIVATING SMILE.

While Kat’s processing the latest victim in the prostitute serial killings, ex-Special Forces soldier Burns McPhee strolls in with an air of confidence, expecting access to the Jane Doe. While Burns tries to flirt his way into examining the latest victim, whom he thinks is connected to the death of his best friend, someone else steals the body right out from under them.

THE CORPSE WORE STILETTOS.

Dodging questions from the cops and kidnapping attempts from a body-snatching psycho, Kat and Burns forge a deal. He’ll clear her name and keep her safe if she gets him information on her peculiar coworkers, one of whom he’s certain is involved with the body heist. But digging up secrets can lead to a lower life expectancy. The unlikely team will need all their talents not to end up as the morgue’s next clients while they hunt for a murderer, the missing corpse, and a pair of diamond-studded stilettos.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Corpse-Wore-Stilettos-MJ-ONeill-ebook/dp/B07Q6VZ4V9/

My Review of The Corpse Wore Stilettos

I purchased a digital copy of The Corpse Wore Stilettos, by MJ Oniell, through a KindofBook Deal. I’m offering an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own. This murder mystery is book 1 of A Sharp-Dressed Corpse Mystery Series.

This was just a really cute murder mystery. Morgue worker Kat Waters finds herself in the middle of a body snatching. When all the evidence points to her involvement, and it seems the police aren’t inclined to look further, she finds herself playing amateur sleuth, searching for the real body-napper. She’s not sure who to trust, including ex-Special Forces soldier, Burns McFee, who always seems to show up in the oddest places, (like at the morgue at the same time the body was nabbed). Kat just keeps getting in deeper, and McFee offers to clear her name, so she teams up with him to investigate her slightly odd co-workers in order to discover who the inside man, or woman, is that aided in the body-napping.

While Mcfee has high-tech equipment and special ops people at his disposal, Kat relies on her good fashion sense to turn up clues about the well-dressed corpse and the body snatcher, just from observing their shoes, and eliminating suspects according to their attire. Filled with red-herrings, reversals, and lots of misdirection, this mystery leads to some surprising revelations.

A well-crafted murder mystery and a truly fun read. I give The Corpse Wore Stilettos five quills.

About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and Book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders.

Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARC digital copies, (she also accepts print copies). Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.