Someone Bad and Something Blue

Angel Crawford Series #2

by Miranda Parker

An Angel Crawford Novel Beautiful, brainy, and tough-as-nails, single mom and bail recovery agent turned sleuth Angel Crawford has a lot on her plate. But between crime-solving and kindergarten carpool, it's all in a day's work...
Ordered to take a vacation, Angel gives in--and sets out to solve the mystery that's got her living on the a disturbing delivery and haunting message that transports her back to the tragic day her fiancée, Gabriel Hwang, was murdered. Convinced the trail to the killer is no longer cold after six long years, Angel embarks on a hunt for the truth that propels her into Atlanta's secretive speakeasy society, the annual Running of the Brides, and a romp around a swamp with a handsome U.S. Marshall that may ruin her future with Pastor Justus Too-Hot-To-Be-Holy Morgan. That is, providing she has a future. . . .

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Miranda Parker is the author of the Angel Crawford Bounty Hunter Series. After graduating from college, she began working as a features editor for various magazines and spent many years as a publicist for national recording artists, actors, ministers, and authors. However, writing fun, fiesty, redemptive bad girl gone good stories was her passion. She resided with her family in Georgia near a horse ranch and her daughter's Girl Scout Troop. On a perfect day, she used to be found curled up with a good book or in a movie theater with a bucket of popcorn.
Unfortunately, she passed away on Friday, October 5, 2012. She battled a rare heart disorder, gracefully to the end. She was an active supporter of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement to raise awareness about women's heart health.

Reviews

[OOSA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Limits

As "A Good Excuse To Be Bad" ended, readers learned that Angel Crawford, our witty, bail recovery agent, received a mysterious card implying that her fiancé, Gabriel Hwang, just may still be amongst the living. "Someone Bad and Something Blue" opens and it's obvious that Angel is doing all that she can to find out if Gabe is alive. With Tiger's help, they just may have a new lead. While piecing together clues Tiger asks Angel to allow Avery Riddick, another bail recovery agent, to be of assistance.

On a paid vacation, Angel finds herself in a PI course. There she meets Marshal Maxim West. Soon her expertise is needed on a manhunt in the swamps of Georgia. Hot on the trail of a murderer, she still doesn't understand how her snitch, Rosary DiChristina, and frienemy, Sean Graham, fit into the folds. Can Angel help save the day?

Unique to Angel is her desire to learn the truth, her eccentric family, and her keen knack for finding and involving herself in drama. With Justus Morgan declaring his true feelings for Angel, is she finally ready to reciprocate?
I really enjoy the vast details Miranda Parker shares about Georgia with readers. I love the entire family, their wittiness, and I find myself rooting for their happiness. This book seems really heavy in details and sometimes it doesn't seem relevant to the story. My biggest pet peeve is having to wait for part 3 to see if she will or if he is. Patience is NOT my strong suit.

Reviewed by: Crystal
3.5 stars

[Priscilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angel Crawford, former news reporter turned bounty hunter, has a knack for smelling trouble. She loved her job but for some reason trouble always seemed to find its way to her. It all started with Cesar Cruz, who had a Failure to Appear (FTA) jacket on him. Angel knew that Rosary DiChristina, who needs money for commissary, would help. But contacting Rosary, led to a concussion, a missing child and a dead senator’s assistant. Something Bad and Something Blue by Miranda Parker takes reader on an adventure through the mountains of Atlanta to find a killer.

From the first paragraph to the last, Parker has readers engrossed in the world of shady characters, secrets, romance and lies. Angel weaved her way through cover ups from the criminals and the police as she tried to find her friend and informant. Though I did not read the first novel in this series, I found it very easy to follow along with the story as I held my breath with each page I turned to see the outcome. The story is fast-paced and a thriller for any mystery reader. I eagerly wait for the next installment.

An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review purpose only.

Priscilla C. Johnson
APOOO BookClub

[Angelia Menchan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angel Crawford is a widowed bounty hunter with a young daughter. She is also quite fond of a certain minister but is not sure if she is ready for all a relationship requires. She loves the involvement that her job provides.

Someone Bad and Someone Blue by Miranda Parker is the second book in a series, though I did not read book one, I had no problem keeping up with the story. I enjoyed the elements of action intertwined with bits of romance. Angel is a modern heroine with a quirky sense of justice. She pretty much makes the rules work for her.

I recommend Someone Bad and Someone Blue to readers who enjoy fast paced books, with just the right amount of suspense. I was provided a proof copy by the author.


Angelia Vernon Menchan

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

looks and sounds awesome can't wait to read it.....

[BLUF Listens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this audiobook so much. The author seemed to be very multicultural, and accepting of non-black persons. As an off-white (Asian–European descent) person, I appreciate this.

It is so unfortunate that the author passed away. May God bless her Family members and her soul.

[Deborah Paige-Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thriller from beginning to end.

[Chauntae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one but the cliffhanger at the end definitely has been anxious to know what happens next.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not get interested in this book. Maybe if I had read book one, but my library's e-book site didn't have it.

[Susan Ashcraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angel Crawford, former reporter for the Atlanta Sentinel, became a bail recovery agent for a number of reasons. First she needed job (she discovered it wasn't always the wisest thing to quit a job without having a backup plan) and then when she discovered she was pregnant, she needed one with the kind of flexibility of hours that a recovery agent has. Plus no one else offered her one!
With her daughter in kindergarten, the man that she likes, Pastor Justus Morgan finally asking her for a date and what looks to be an easy recovery on her hands, the unexpected happens! After a blow to the head from a woman she only wanted to ask a question or 2 too, she is in the hospital getting stitches. To her surprise her boss Tiger won't back her up and insists that he will deal with the problem and that she must go on vacation. A paid vacation where she can finally work on the private investigator license that she has decided she wants. Eventually agreeing to taking the vacation, she didn't agree to stop trying to talk to the woman who hit her, nor to find out what people, including her boss are trying to hide from her.
Being a single mom with a daughter who needs her, a new boyfriend, a friend's wedding and her PI studies, Angel still has time to look into the woman, and the man who paid her. The more she looks, the more she finds, this is not going to be an easy fix. But Angel has never feared to tread where she is not wanted, not when it means getting to the truth.
I had a few issues with this novel. It seemed disjointed at times and hard to follow. The characters themselves where interesting, humorous and believable, the storyline a little too convoluted and unbelievable at times. I have wondered if perhaps I had read the first book in the series, A Good Excuse to be Bad, if that would have made it a little easier to follow. The flow was off a little at times as well, bounced around a little too much for me. A good read, I will definitely read the next Angel Crawford novel.
I won this copy on GoodReads FirstReads and my review was unsolicited.

[African Americans on the Move Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone Bad and Something Blue opens with Evangeline “Angel” Crawford, the journalist turned bounty hunter, on a search for Cesar Cruz, a skip who has jumped bail. That initial search leads her on a quest to uncover an even bigger cover-up when the tip she receives lands her in the hospital and on the wrong side of her boss and fellow bails bondsman, Big Tiger.

Forced into a vacation as well as a training course to become a Private Investigator, Angel’s skills are put to the test when Senator’s aide, Sean Graham, and U.S. Marshal, Maximus “Maxim” West enlist her to go undercover as her informant that has gone missing in order to help them break up a moonshine operation.

All the while, Angel is also juggling single motherhood, a budding relationship with the pastor, Justus Morgan, a questionable attraction to Maxim as well as a personal interest in the mystery surrounding a card she received following the death of her fiancé, Gabriel Hwang.

Miranda Parker keeps you on your toes as you find yourself trying to solve the crimes right along with Angel. With a diverse assortment of characters, a quick wit and a love triangle thrown into the mix for good measure, Someone Bad and Something Blue is a good read that closes one chapter, but leaves you in suspense as new ones are opened and left hanging in the balance.

Not having read the first installment, A Good Excuse To Be Bad, I was still able to keep up with the storyline since Miranda includes enough backstory to catch you up to speed, while not breaking up the momentum of the current sequence of events. The next installment, Can't Keep a Bad Bride Down, will be released in July 2013 and will hopefully answer the questions she cleverly closes out the book with.

If you like your mysteries with a twist of romance, then Someone Bad and Something Blue is for you.

Michelle Cuttino
AAMBC Reviewer

[Chrystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

...Parker with her fresh writing style introduced readers to and caught their attention with tough-as-nails, Angel Crawford in A Good Excuse to Be Bad and is destined to do so again because Miranda Parker's heroine, Angel Crawford is back in, Someone Bad and Something Blue . In this installment, Miranda takes us into the secretive world of Atlanta's speakeasy society, the interworking of the moonshine industry and much more; as Angel and U.S. Marshall Maxim West, who just happens to be a hellva hot hottie, trudge around the Okefenokee Swamp in an effort to solve the murder of The Honorable Elaine Turner's campaign manager, who just happens to be a bull in bear’s clothing.

If you read the first book, you know Angel isn't the type of bail bond recovery agent who just sits around filing her fingernails, not unless she's planning to use them to scratch someone's eyes out. But if you haven't read A Good Excuse to Be Bad don't fret, Someone Bad and Something Blue reads wonderfully as a standalone and readers will get an actual glimpse into the real Evangeline Crawford. However, you will want to pick up a copy of A Good Excuse to Be Bad because it's a terrific read as well.

Angle Crawford is such a well-developed character, Read More

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

So Angel Crawford is one BAD, shut yo mouth. As a reformed news reporter to bail recovery agent to private investigator...Angel does it all. She evens opens her heart to love well just a bit. You will get that when you read the story. She has a knack of digging for the story and it's pays off as she solves problem after problem.

Is this a love story or detective crime novel...an amazing combination of both. Anyway, the story has a few editing issues but not enough to make me put the book down. The flow of the story starts slow but picks up dramatically at the halfway mark. There is nothing like a smart Sally get your gun type of character. It's clear that Angel Crawford is my type of detective.

[Ingrid Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won an autographed copy of Someone Bad and Someone Blue on Goodreads. It is an interesting read. I didn't know white lightening and hooch was still being brewed in Georgia. Someone Bad and Something Blue is an average detective book. The main character Angel seems to be a hard core chick that thinks she’s an police officer but she is only a bounty hunter. Sometimes it seems she is out looking for trouble because she always finds trouble whether its at an bridal gallery or in an bar. I do feel the author could have did a better job developing the storyline because a few scenes seemed unrealistic.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. It is the second installment in the Angel Crawford mystery series. I didn't read the first book, but this book stands alone quite well. There is enough background to fill you in.

Angel is a bail recovery agent and a single mom just trying to make her way in the world. There is a lot going on in this book and at times the storyline seems a little fragmented. The novel ends with a cliffhanger of sorts, so you are left wondering what will happen in the next Angel Crawford novel.

Thank you Goodreads First Reads and Miranda Parker for the gift of this autographed book.

[Rochelle Brockenborough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good mystery

Good mystery

Wow this is my second mystery novel by Miranda it was really good. I did not know what to expect from this writer. This was a pager Turner looking forward to reading the next book.

[Kesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was better than the first book and the first book was very good. I can't wait to read the next book, too bad I have to wait till June I think.

[Sherry Love]

It was really good I recommend it to all my friends.

[Teresa Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. Loved the characters.