Blanche Day Manos

Blanche Manos has done it again with Moonstruck and Murderous. This book grabs you from the very beginning and keeps you on the edge of your seat for a great roller coaster ride with ups and downs and alot of twists and turns. Ned once again finds herself in the middle of a murder where she is a target too. If that wasn't enough Moe Decker has escaped from prison and he has a bone to pick with Ned. The tension mounts as more mysterious people and things happen. Can Ned find who murdered Miss Evangeline, figure out the secrets of the old mansion and family all before Moe or the killer gets to her?

I just love everything about this book. Ned and all her friends are relatable and show the strength of faith, love and friendship. Ned always is curious and seems to find herself in sticky situations. There were times I wanted to tell Ned don't go there or watch out. I love old homes and buildings and learning their history so this story was right up my alley. All the characters are well developed and have their own unique personalities. The mystery is not only the murders but also finding out the past of the house, the Carver family and more history of Ednalee OK and it's families. I from the first meeting of Evangeline Carver's family found I didn't trust or like them much. They were greedy and just something off. I wasn't sure about Ken and the other's that worked on the estate either. This book just had so many possibilities and full of so many surprises.

I don't like to give anything away but when reading this book you have so many suspects and when you have it figured out you still have surprises you aren't expecting. This book is mysterious, intense and full of surprises. It is a book of friendship, history, love and faith. I highly recommend this book and series… (mehr)

I was given this Audible book by Michelle Babb for my honest review so here goes. Unlike other books that I miss the first one in the series, I actually was almost instantly attached to these two gals. I really loved Darcy and Flora. Darcy is strong independent but still knows when to just shut up and do what her mother says. Flora is a very soothing character who observes a lot more than I think the other characters give her credit for.

I love mysteries that are based on cold cases and this one didn’t disappoint. The author did a good job of weaving the story together and building up to solid conclusion. A missing woman with a current and former spouse who also had some family issues gave the reader enough variety in trying to determine if she was missing or dead and why. My only issue with the book is the number of times it was referenced that Darcy use to be an investigative reporter. It felt like the author was trying to justify Darcy’s talent and instinct.

Michelle Babb’s narration was good as usual but during the final reveal of the story I got very confused with some of the male characters. The main male characters like Grant and Jasper were very unique but I couldn’t really hear a difference between Gary and Zack.
… (mehr)

I have to admit up front I listened to book 2 before I listened to this one and I have to say if I had listened to this one first I wouldn’t have continued the series. The mystery started with a bang but then it hit the slow motion button and just dragged on. The final ending of the book went on and on too the point I almost starting rooting for the bad guy.

I got to the point where I needed an escape from Darcy’s thoughts because I really didn’t care. Like other reviewers I found the Christian overtones a little too much in this one and at some points very hypocritical. I will give an example – Flora’s number one rule is honesty yet throughout the book her and Darcy do not tell the truth to the police when questioned. I just didn’t like this. They went on about how they wished the sheriff would catch the character yet they were holding back extremely critical information.

I don’t know if I am spoiled by Michelle Babb’s narration in Book 2 but the narrator in this one just didn’t do it for me. I couldn’t find a distinct voice for the characters in the narration that I did from Book 2. This isn’t all the narrators fault – this book is more in Darcy’s head than the next book.
… (mehr)

Darcy Campbell, newspaper reporter on leave from her Dallas job following the death of her husband, is staying with her mother, Flora Tucker, in her home town of Levi, Oklahoma. She came here for peace and recovery, but she and her mother have already solved one murder that they accidentally become involved with, and got a lot of news coverage because of it.

Now her mother has received a letter from Sophie Williams, of Amarillo, Texas. Her daughter Andrea married Gary Worth, of Levi, but disappeared without a trace two years ago.

Sophie wants the pair to investigate her daughter's disappearance.

Sophie is in pain over her daughter's disappearance, and Darcy and Flora are both kind and
compassionate women. It can't hurt to take another look at the evidence, can it?

Of course, someone doesn't want them, especially investigative reporter Darcy, poking around, and it's not long before strange things start to happen. Along the way, they make new friends, new enemies, and possibly new love.

Manos and Burgess write about the landscape of Oklahoma and northern Texas in a way that makes it beautiful and real, while narrator Babb brings it to life with her voice. Darcy and Flora are both smart, capable women, and while identifying this as a "Christian" novel, they act on their values rather than preaching. My late father would recognize them as "good Christian people;" today's "Christian right," perhaps not so much.

This is a good mystery, and the characters are very much worth spending time with them. I liked them, and I think you will, too.

I received a free copy of this audiobook and am reviewing it by my own choice.… (mehr)