Murder Past Due

Megan Clark #3

by D.R. Meredith

To increase membership in their Murder by the Yard reading group, Megan Clark and Dr. Ryan Stevens lead the group on a tour of famous Amarillo murder sites, including the Gorman estate, the scene of an apparent murder-suicide, a visit that prompts a reopening of the old case and the return of a killer who will do anything to hide the truth. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Books About Books, Audiobook, Murder Mystery

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

(from Fantastic Fiction online)

D.R. Meredith, Doris to friends and family, has a split personality--by day, she is a conservatively dressed legal secretary at her husband Mike's law firm. By night she turns into Mrs. Hyde dressed in jeans, flip-flops, and Texas Rangers tee shirt, and commits bloody murder.

She is now in double digits. In her fourth book in the Megan Clark mystery series, the 18th book of her career, D.R. Meredith has just committed her 35th murder.

"I usually average 2 murders a book, because one murder in a closed circle of suspects usually leads to another in the accepted Agatha Christie fashion. In TOME OF DEATH there are two murders, but they occur 150 years apart. I like linking the past and present and exploring the effect our past has on our present. I can't tell how I use the past without giving a broad hint to the killer's identity, but I will say that human beings don't change over time except in dress and customs. My Comanche warrior amateur sleuth isn't all that different in emotional feelings from modern paleopathologist Megan Clark, except Megan isn't into scalping."

Reviews

[Britt, Book Habitue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh where to start.
It doesn't help that I was shooting for Murder Past Due- book 1 of the Cat in the Stacks series....
But seriously.
The mystery was interesting enough. All of the information about other random past murders in the town felt superfluous and somewhat confusing though.
The romance? No. Just no. Ick. (Also, did I miss something? Why was there suddenly random kissing that was... well, random? And apparently confusing? That was odd.)
Weirder than the romance though is the total lack of familial characters. Sure, Megan's mom holds a press conference and calls media and things, but she's never, not ONCE, actually "on stage" so to speak... even though Megan lives with her. And Ryan's daughter is never ever referred to by name... nor are his other children. (Who must have been had while he was fairly young and be quite close in age for them all to be so completely removed from a stage of life where they would be around... you know, ever.)
If Megan and the nameless daughter were really best friends, how does she not show up? No phone calls to either her friend or her dad? Not even with all the press attention Megan's mom made she the threats to Megan got??
It's just bizarre and frankly kinda makes the romance creepier.
And really, I agree with the reviewer who was annoyed at the split narration. Normally that works for me, but Ryan's first-person sections were sooooooooo much about how amazing Megan is and his feelings for Megan that it was pretty ridiculous.
(Audiobook-- which made the quotes at the beginning of each chapter harder to follow but wasn't bad overall)

[Anne Hawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Megan Clark and the Murder by the Yard Reading Circle decide to do a book tour of all the old murder sites in Amarillo, TX. Her best friend, Ryan, hopes that this will keep her out of trouble. Ryan is her widowed next door neighbor and father of her childhood best friend. He comes to the meetings of the book club with her in hopes of keeping her out of trouble.

Megan is a petite young woman who has a Phd in anthropology and an interest in murder. Her training helps her to see relationships that the police often miss, but lead her into danger. While conducting this tour, Megan is approached by the grandfather of a murder victim and asks her to find out the murderer of his grandson even though it is almost assuredly a member of his own family. As Megan circles closer and closer to the murderer, Ryan becomes increasingly alarmed by her danger.

I found this to be a better than average cozy murder and the characters are quite likable. The relationship between Ryan and Megan is a stretch, but adds interest to the plot.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does anyone out there honestly think that reading a lot of detective fiction qualifies a person to be a successful detective? No? No one? This author and her characters seem to think it does. It was a cute book, but pretty silly. Plus, the author likes to compliment her main character way too much. In fact, the chapters are told alternately from the main character's 3rd person point of view and a secondary character's 1st person POV just so that the secondary character can talk about how amazing the main character is. I'd rather decide for myself if the author's creation is awesome, thank you very much.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a little slow going at times. Also with so many stories going on in past and present, the characters started to get jumbles.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the one I was listening too. Not the Miranda James one and I didn't even notice until the last chapter. LOL!!!!

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2018/comm...

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy reading Mysteries. I have seen procedural TV shows like NCIS, Criminal Minds, etc. Neither of these facts makes me qualified to go out and solve mysteries. But that is the premise of this book/series. We have the MC who's a member of a book club which focuses on mysteries. Which somehow makes them think they are perfectly qualified to run around solving mysteries. And she wonders why the police don't like her. She even argued about it saying the officer was wrong for not want the help of an amateur. And I'm like key word there Amateur! you have no training and you don't even want training. Reading a book about a master detective does not a Master detective make. What irks me is that everyone is all on board with her investigation. Like even the retired police detective was all like I'm going to ignore the advice of my fellow officer and throw in with this random person. Who I'm sure only solved those other two mysteries by luck. No I'm not going back to check.
I didn't really like Megan. I get that she was suppose to be the spunky likable female lead, but honestly I found her arrogant and manipulative. Not to mention the fact she continually harps on how short and cute she is. That should have stopped after like the first chapter. We get it you're short. I don't need to you to reiterate it in ten different ways every other paragraph. And I like a woman with confidence in her looks. But stop shoehorning cute into being a bad thing. Particularly when you're batting your eyes at every other guy to get your way. (okay she didn't really but it came across like she did, all while complaining about the disadvantage of being cute.) So yeah, not into Mega or her sidekick.
Speaking of Ryan. I was a bit weirded out by him. It's bad enough to have a guy your own age creeping on you, an older guy who's supposedly like an uncle if he happens to be your best friend's dad. I repeat your Best Friend's dad. Generally when you joke about your bff being a part of the family, you've adopted them because they're practically living in your house anyway, or they've married your sibling. Marrying a parent is ...yeah moving on. You know the BFF would totally freak out if the two started dating. Speaking of what is her name anyway. Ryan only mentions her in relation to Megan. Like dude you don't even mention your own daughter's name? and then there's the thing where he says he loves her more than he did his wife? Honestly I don't have a problem with relationships that have an age gap. But the set up for this one, just creeped me out. Not to mention he kept harping on how cute and short she is, as well. I GET IT ALREADY!
the side characters were negligible. I don't even remember the officer's name. Although I'm sure it's Jerry. Probably.
The plot, meh.
The narrators got me through this story. Although I wasn't expecting the dual narrations. And I preferred the female narrator. Since I kept hearing every breath the other one would take before he spoke. although he's no where near as bad as two other narrators I will never listen to again if I can help it.
Overall this story wasn't for me and I won't be tracking down anymore books in the series.
Recommended? No
Buy/Borrow? Neither

[Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book largely boring and forgettable, but I want to finish the series based on the strength of character of the main protagonist. She is Megan Clark, she is 26 years old, she stands five feet tall, is rather small in build, and she holds a PhD in forensic archaeology. Megan may be short and slender, but you would do well not to refer to her as “cute!” It's a moniker she prefers to avoid at all costs. And by the way, if you were to somehow become part of her fictional world, you would also want to avoid referring to her as a Nancy Drew character. She grumbles about that a lot in this book.

The book club Megan hosts as an assistant reference librarian is looking for new members. The group determines one way to gain new members is to have one of its members guide a tour of historic murder sites in and around Amarillo, Texas. The meeting occurs; new members do indeed join. One of them is an old gentleman whose grandson committed suicide 20 years ago after apparently murdering his young wife. But not so fast. Grandpa believes there's no way his grandson could have killed the 19-year-old girl. Megan and her book club friends ultimately find a killer, and it probably is one you will predict early if you read the book. Some of the characters turned me off. Doctor Ryan Stevenson is a club member who is in love with Megan. He was a happily married man until the death of his wife, and he was also the father of Megan's best friend. I found the whole relationship just a bit creepy, but that's me. She isn't sure what to think. He is extremely overprotective of her, and that was a bit of a turnoff for me. He was always screaming at others for using bad language around her but had no problem using words like “double damn” and other such things during his own speech. I just found these characters rather blasé and less-than memorable.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book now comes as a recorded book (9781470318161) and that is what I ‘read.’ On the positive side: there were some genuinely funny interactions between characters. Otherwise, I found this book to be awful. The reading by Julia Gibson did nothing for the story; her voice was perky as was needed for the heroine, Megan Clark. However, (to my ears) she sounded like this was her first reading assignment. Alan Nebelthau’s voice was much more convincing, even though the dialogue he had to work with left much to be desired.

I quake at the thought of disliking a mystery; I love the genre. However, there was too much padding in this novella (240 pages); the author even interwove an older murder mystery (a red herring). This made the jump from one mystery to the other tedious.

One of the most ridiculous aspects of this story (the murder took place 20 years before) and all of the characters remembered exactly what they played at the bridge table, ate, discussed, etc. I know death in the family would be shocking and be a fixed memory (much in the vein of: ‘Where were you when you found out that President Kennedy had been shot?’). I might have accepted this amazing recall at a Mensa convention, but this seemed to be a bit over the top.

[Rebecca]

I gave up on this one pretty quickly for a few reasons. It started out well, with a scene set in the past (I think) of someone who is about to be murdered, but then it switches to the present-day for a long, way too drawn out account of book club members recounting the history of a local feud--so expositional. And none of the names associated with the feud matched the names in the first scene, and while I'm sure there's a link, it was irritating to have to try to hold so many names and backstories in my head at once. But when I really gave up because I was squicked by the notion of a relationship between a middle-aged man and the 26 year old who was his daughter's best friend growing up. That's just...no. If they met at their present ages, that might not have bothered me, but your daughter's best friend? Whom you now claim as your best friend? Plus he sounded kind of reactionary, which made me roll my eyes. So, on to something else.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time staying awake reading this book. The beginning with the old Texas cases was boring for me. Fortunately, the second half of the book was much better. I found the characters ok but I didn't feel any real connection with them.

Here's a few points I will make: I had a hard time believing that people's memories were so sharp after 20 years. I have no idea what a dummy is in Bridge. The ending left me confused. There were a few editorial misses as well.

[Susan Pickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the way historical real murders we pla ed into the story in different places and used to solve the mystery of the book. The bit of romance placed into it from both perspectives. I like the smooth change of the story telling from 1st person to 2nd and 3rd persons. It did not detract from the story. Well done. Motivated to read others by this author.

[Delores Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of a mystery book club that decides to solve a 20 year old murder and suicide. The family is the richest in town and the senior member asks Megan and her friends to solve this so he doesn’t pass his company on to a murderer. Much of the investigation is based on mysteries both from books and movies. That made the reading even more fun.

[Lynne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this story at all. I felt like I was wading through quicksand trying to finish this. The character, Ryan, was not likable at all. He creeped me out. He was a worry wart and clinging. Ick.
The overall mystery was so boring! I will not read another of these by D. R. Meredith.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy, southern mystery.

[Priscilla Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series!!!

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical recreations were confusing until the solution to the mystery was revealed. Not many of the characters were pleasant, certainly not the main characters.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far from great but found it entertaining. The only reason I have the book is I picked it up by mistake - Miranda James has a book with the same title. LOL

[William Wehrmacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to Murder Past Due after reading Murder by the Book. With my 5 stars, you will know how much I liked it.

With that said, I found it a bit misleading as about the first 1/3rd of the book walked us through several famous Texas murders. I must admit I didn't look up any of them to see if they were real. I usually do such things. In any case, the story progresses to a fascinating murder mystery solved by Megan and company.

The mystery is solved only when comparing the motives in those early mysteries.

All in all, I liked Murder Past Due very much and will continue to read other members of the series as they become available at the library.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

good story with great characters. will look for more. book club solves mysteries Interesting relationship between members. Older man plays Watson to his daughters best friend who leads the group and is Sherlock. Group leader in an anthropologist looking for a full time job. Her Watson a College Professor. The group works on real unsolved crimes in their area

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Megan Clark, reference librarian, and her book club, Murder By the Yard, are asked to look into the murder of Melinda Gorman from twenty years ago. But, is the Gorman family member who asks her to solve this mystery ready to hear that it may be another Gorman who murdered Melinda?

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than her second, but not as good as the first. I have another one in the series. May not look for any more. Cosy mystery around a mystery reading book club. Like the characters, but she picks rather boring plots.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading others in the series.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mystery combining historical (and real) Amarillo, TX murder mysteries, and a current, (fictitious) murder mystery for Megan and Ryan, and their mystery book club to solve.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third in the series did not disappoint. A great light read. But dangit, when are Megan and Ryan going to get together?

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/...

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast and comfortable read. Had to try one in the series me being a librarian and all. More a dog person than a cat woman so wasn't enamored with Diesel.

[Amanda Aelker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I actually read this one before - just forgot to mark it as read. Luckily with my memory, I didn't remember who done it. :)

[Laurelle Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

the writer is fluid in his description of small town life through the eyes of a man and his cat. Very relaxing books to read. And good twists on who is actually the murderer!