Light-hearted witty in the same vein as Stephanie Plum's novels. Title smacks of Sue Grafton's alphabetical thrillers ( )

Light-hearted witty in the same vein as Stephanie Plum's novels. Title smacks of Sue Grafton's alphabetical thrillers ( )

According to the introduction, Sofia Salgado was the star of a children's TV show “Half Pint Detective.” Now in her later teens, she decided to get a life outside of show business. She convinced the technical consultant for the show to hire her detective at agency. The question is can the accident-prone Sofia hack it?

Chapter 1 page 1

1 No matter how much you love the peach iced tea at the Marmalade Café, it is not a good idea to take the waiter’s offer of a third refill if you plan on spending the entire afternoon sitting in your car on a stakeout.

2. If there was even the remotest possibility that you might lose control of your bladder while sitting in the car, any meal involving asparagus is not a good lunch choice.

3. Like so much in life, you never really appreciate toilets until you need one.

The chapter continued with Sofia trying to figure out how long she could wait until she could find a place to go. There are no buildings around nor are there any bushes nor large rocks. She finally called Aidan, her boss’s son, who was watching the backside of the rehab facility trying to see their target would emerge. He said he couldn’t leave his position but finally said he'd be there in 10 minutes. Sofia tried to do what she could to wait. Meanwhile Aidan starts talking to her about waterfalls and showers and pools.

Of course Sofia can not longer wait and, seeing that the area was quite isolated stepped, outside the car door to relieve herself. It is described in some detail. She looked up and saw a young guy coming out of nowhere pointing a video camera at her.

Chapter 2

As Sofia continued with her personal mission, the videographer identified her and made some comments. Another man climbed out of the van with a zoom lens, taking more pictures. She let them know she was not there for rehab.. It turns out they were also doing surveillance.

Sofia asked them to give her the footage but they refused telling they plan to sell it. Meanwhile a black car raced to the entrance of the rehab facility. The paparazzi were able to follow it through the gates. ; Sofia was left behind.

Chapter 3

Sofia continued her watch the rest of the day (it seems that Aidan did not show up). As she left, Aidan called her on the their phones and proceeded to make some more juvenile comments. I meanwhile decided not to bother reading the rest of the book.

This book was a free Amazon download. I overpaid. ( )

The first in a series, this is a fun and funny introduction to Sofia and her friends and relations, with a murder mystery to boot!

As a child actor, Sofia played the "Pint-Sized detective" in a successful series. Now that she's grown, she is disenchanted by the acting lifestyle and wants to do something more meaningful... so she apprentices to a real-life PI. And then things happen...

The plot was solid, and so was the pacing. The characters and dialog were very funny, without heading into parody, and as a bonus, have all sorts of ways in which the series can progress. Aidan and Sofia clearly have some kind of future together, but are now stuck in the "s/he has cooties!" level of engagement, though they're both funny at it.

I will definitely read more in this series. It's a great comfort read when one needs distraction, or a solid beach read.

And now I wonder when I will see a "lustrous jewel" referenced in a romance sex scene... ( )

Sofia is a former child star who decided to get out of show business and get a real job, as a PI in training.

One thing I look for in my cozy books is a lead female character who isn't a man crazy twit.

The characters and plot of this book are delightful. Funny, engaging with a well-crafted plot.

Anyone who enjoys a well-plotted story with a good dose of laughter will enjoy this book. I, for one, am looking forward to getting the second book in the series.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com ( )