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For this struggling, overweight lawyer, a simple audit suddenly turns deadly, and his legal practice becomes a personal nightmare overnight.

258 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2013

26 people are currently reading
336 people want to read

About the author

David M. Selcer

6 books20 followers
David M. Selcer authors the Buckeye Barrister mystery series, the first of which is DEADLY AUDIT. After graduating Northwestern University, he attended The Ohio State University College of Law, which led to an exciting and satisfying career as management labor lawyer for 35 years. He now lives in Sarasota, Florida with his wife, where he decides employment cases for federal agencies as a Federal Agency Decision Writer. Always a buckeye, the Buckeye Barrister is an avid OSU fan
www.davidselcer.net.

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5 stars
41 (45%)
4 stars
31 (34%)
3 stars
12 (13%)
2 stars
6 (6%)
1 star
1 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Barbara Coast.
Author 4 books83 followers
November 13, 2014
Welcome to Columbus Ohio Guys and Dolls,

Home of the Buckeyes and our main character Winston Barchrist III a big teddy bear of a man. Winston who is a lawyer has returned to his hometown after what he refers to as his "Great Catastrophe" in Chicago. He has reinvented himself and his career which means an office located above a Dairy Mart and cases for small-time clients.

In Deadly Audit he is hired to look into both legal and financial matters by a wealthy female client who then disappears. Yours Truly, never knew that accounting could be so exciting and dangerous. Winston finds himself in a heap of trouble as he tries to get to the bottom of a number of clues and gets tangled up in more than one investigation,with the police not far behind.

David M.Selcer introduces readers to a canvas of memorable characters. Tramp-Stamp Trudy (as I like to call her) the computer hacker with a heart of gold whose day starts at four in the afternoon. Rabbi Billy Goldman, Winston's rabbi even though he isn't Jewish. Rosanne Harmon, a friend and confidant who he is beginning to feel more than a friendship for and her eleven year-old daughter Gayna who affectionately refers to Winston as "Pizza Man". There is also Miranda a very attractive office cleaner turned assistant and Ron Hermius client,friend and sometimes body guard. There are many more colorful people to discover in Winston's world.

I love all the the quirky and suspenseful,twists and turns that make this a mystery worth getting to the bottom of!
Profile Image for Frank Kelso.
Author 12 books368 followers
March 13, 2022
The right mix of humor and who-done-it?

I liked the self- depreciating humor of "the fat man," reminiscent of detectives of old who were known for their rotund profile. It was hard to remember in all that happened he was supposed to do an audit - not bring down several criminal enterprises!
664 reviews
May 16, 2017
Such a fun read. Winston is a lawyer in Columbus Ohio trying to get his life back together after a failed career in Chicago also doomed his marriage. As he takes a case investigating a trust for a woman who suddenly disappears he uncovers a lot of secrets.

All of this takes place in my hometown as he goes from one part of town to another and from one restaurant to another. Love that he includes Katzingers and the Claremont.
Profile Image for Cynthia A.
698 reviews
March 12, 2022
When lawyers get involved with thugs

Barquisimeto was a hotshot lawyer in Chicago that got blackballed for not reporting something he should have. He moves to Ohio, finally hanging his own shingle since no one would hire him. He gets a big case and before he knows it he is being chased, shot at, and in the middle os several cases he didn’t bargain for.
Good reading.
15 reviews
March 29, 2022
Heavy on description of Colombus, the roads, parks, streets and restaurants. This is boring and distracts from the main story, one can easily skip these boring passages and not miss the story. also equally boring is the ball game which people outside US don't connect too.
The storyline is interesting. The protagonist eating gluttonously is a turnoff.
352 reviews1 follower
May 24, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. As a fan of John Grisham I was interested how this would go down and I really enjoyed the mix of action, mystery, romance and humour. When I first read the description of Winston Barchrist III, I really was curious. We are often used to dashing, mysterious leading men but as the story progressed so did my admiration for him. An enjoyable read.
356 reviews
April 23, 2022
Deadly Audit

Really is a good read and characters. The storyline is good . Only thing I think there was too much explaining and description of something that really didn’t matter. Just my opinion, yours could be totally different. But I do recommend reading it.
2,000 reviews10 followers
December 12, 2022
Pretty good mystery. Likeable protagonist. Moves along fairly well. Lots of misspellings though and some editing errors. Decent plot.
142 reviews
March 10, 2023
This was a good lawyer-based mystery. The plot lines were unexpected but believable. I enjoyed it.
714 reviews4 followers
February 7, 2025
I thought that this was an okay read. Reasonable pace, quirky at times, some secrets. An entertaining and undemanding read. The eBook could use another round of editing / proof reading.
Profile Image for Beth.
680 reviews16 followers
August 14, 2013
"Deadly Audit": is the first in a series called "A Buckeye Barrister Mystery" by an author who practiced management labor law for 35 years and is now retired to FL to "sleep or write mysteries". The book was a gift from the author as one of the "Goodreads" giveaways.

Told in 1st person by a lawyer who weighs over 300 pounds and has friendships with one woman who can hack computers and another who performs accounting for his practice.

Suddenly he get one gigantic account from a socialite that promises to bring in the dough. The plot twists through various cases and dangerous undertakings with friends and enemies. The mess of the cases end with results that eventually loop each case together. The setting of Columbus, Ohio and University of Ohio football are intrinsic to the story.

The biggest danger to the reader is gaining an appetite. Most meals are accounted for with generous menu listings and huge amounts of food ordered at every one. My hunger increased with each meal he took.
31 reviews
November 3, 2013
Won this book in giveaway and looking forward to future writings. Very impressed with this first book for this author. Quirky and fun. A touch of a Janet Evanovich, Stefanie Plum mystery series which I love. Only complaints would be sometimes lengthy religious pages which could be one paragragh and becomes boring briefly. Also many overly wordy street directions which seem unimportant. All in all a good first book by D. Selcer.
65 reviews5 followers
June 4, 2013
I won this book in the Goodreads first book giveaway.

This is one of those quick start beginnings that you can't put down until you have finished the book. I love the main character he is not one of the tall, buffed, good looking characters you usually find in a story but more the average joe with some quirks that make you like him immediately.
I can't wait for the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Cindy Brown.
5 reviews2 followers
March 24, 2013
Author Dave Selcer captured my attention immediately in Deadly Audit, and I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. The central character, an Ohio lawyer, is just quirky enough without being over the top. The story has just enough turns to stay interesting throughout. An enjoyable read.
Profile Image for Allen.
Author 6 books10 followers
June 13, 2014
I got this book through the Prime Lending Library. It is the second one of the Barrister mysteries I have read and I thought this one was even better than the last one. Unfortunately it had 9 errors that I found, keeping it out of the 5 star rating. Still a fun story even if it does need proofing.
Profile Image for Stephen Kessler.
44 reviews1 follower
August 4, 2013
Loved it! Dialogue was crisp and realistic. I am anxious to read book #2.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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