The Blingsters

by Andrea C. Neil

Grandmas. Good Times. Grand theft?

Griffin Beckett is pretty sure her grandma Marge’s “canasta team” is up to no good. Unhappily married and newly unemployed, Griffin heads to the seniors’ Florida beach house to extract G-ma and bring her home—and ends up with more than she bargained for. Marge doesn’t want to leave … and why is there a huge diamond buried in the carpet? When her crafty grandma gives her the slip at the airport and the “canasta team” turns out to be a ring of jewel thieves, Griffin realizes she’s in way over her head. Desperate for help, she calls on her other grandmother, Delphine, who might be a retired super spy. But local police detective Roland Magnusson is also on the case, and he’s determined to get his man. Or grandma!With the clues stacking up against Marge and her friends, their retirement looks set to end behind bars. Meanwhile, Griffin has a dilemma of her own. Is everyone as innocent—or guilty—as they seem?

The Blingsters is the first book in a brand-new humorous cozy mystery series—nab your copy today! >Publisher’s there are no dead bodies in this book! Mystery and yes. nope!

194 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2023

About the author

Andrea Neil is the Amazon bestselling author of eleven books and writes lighthearted fiction about loveable late bloomers. She lives in Oklahoma but grew up in Southern California—and the latter will always be home in her heart. In 2015 she left a job in finance to follow her passion for writing and creating art. With age comes wisdom—or at least a few more stories to tell—and soon Andrea began self-publishing quirky novels with the intention of brightening her readers’ day. When she’s not trying to get her own words onto a page, Andrea edits other people’s fiction, eats dark chocolate, and goes on walks if the weather’s nice. You can find her at www.acneil.com.

Reviews

[Vickie Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A crazy story seniors ,who are jewel theives.

[Paul Preuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a couple of years now, I've admired author Neil's believable if wacky characters, always interrupted by extraordinary circumstances (her first novel dealt with the Sasquatch) that keep us readers laughing from start to finish. Now comes her best novel yet, "The Blingsters," still preposterously hilarious but filled with touches of sorrow and loss and troubles, characters not just believable but fully human.

We first meet young Griffen Beckett, recently fired from her job as a financial analyst for the FBI. Since she's out of work, her parents send her off to drag her grandmother, whom she calls G-ma (real name Marge Flanders), back home to Oklahoma immediately. Apparently Grandma Flanders stepped off a cruise ship in the Florida Keys to start a new life. Not only is she having too much fun (in her offsprings opinion), she's also spending too much of her own money. This will never do.

While trying to coax G-ma home, Griffen loses what little money she personally is carrying, unable to nudge G-ma away from her friends. This group in the seventies call themselves the Blingsters, and Marge loves everything about them except the mess they leave all over the house they share.

In desperation, Griffen calls for help from her other grandma, Delphine. Grandma Delphine is no stranger to the FBI, although her own agency is far more secretive, and Delphine, also in her seventies, can stare down just about anybody—even the local cop, Roland Magnusson, who closes in on the Blingsters.

Reader, you won't want to miss a page to learn what happens next, right to the very last sentence. Go for it as soon as you can.

[Alan Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introducing Griffin Beckett of Fort Worth, Texas dispatched by her parents to fetch her grandmother, Marge (aka G-Ma) and return her to her home in Enid, Oklahoma. You see G-Ma went on a cruise and never came back. She started hanging with a group of ladies who call themselves the Blingsters.
So Griffin flies to Florida and drives to Key West to take charge of her grandmother. She finds out that G-ma is living with the Blingsters in a nice but messy house and that grandmother likes her new life, and her new clothes, and jewelry and has no desire to head back to Oklahoma.
So from there, it gets kind of crazy. Griffin although married (is she really though?) finds herself attracted to a police detective who is investigating the Blingsters (he doesn't know what they are doing but suspects they are up to no good, why else would a bunch of elderly women be so happy?)
Griffin ends up having to recruit her other grandmother, Delphine to help her out. Turns out that Delphine is kind of a pill also with her own agenda.
So Griffin's buttoned down world begins to unbutton. Her huge purse with multiple inside and pockets, some zippered for security, the cargo shorts with enormous pockets (I added this detail, don't blame the author.) does her no good as the hot detective gets a scent of what is going on.
Meantime Griffin has her own criminal secret.
The book is fun, moves along at a good pace and is totally satisfying. Give it a read.

[Quinn Fforde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old school cozy mystery is a good label for this story. Griffin has been sent by her family to bring her grandmother home from Florida. No big deal, right? That would be the case if her grandmother, Marge, hadn't gotten involved with some sketchy friends. Nothing goes at all the way Griffin expects, and she finds herself in over her head. She calls in her other grandmother, Delphine, who has a special set of skills. Then things begin to go even less as expected. Fortunately for us, it is all very funny in a very dry sort of way. I'm looking forward to more stories in this world.

[Imogen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay.
I didn’t really find myself getting immersed into it like I do with other books and I didn’t feel like the characters were that well characterised, so the reader didn’t feel a connection towards them.

The whole story also seemed a little slow, like you were constantly waiting for it to happen, then once it did it felt quite anticlimactic.

It was a nice and fun story, I’m just not too sure that it was for me!

[JonCPup · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up as a change from the usual fantasy sagas I read and it was exactly what it claims: a cozy mystery… and I loved it! The journey of Griffin and her grandmas was a delight to read from her highs to her lows and all of the frustrations and laughs along the way. I’m putting the next book on my reading list to see what happens next.

[Lisa H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book and the ending is the best ever! The characters are well developed and hilarious. New funny things are constantly happening. I love Griffin and can't wait to read the next book. Well, I looked ahead at the next 3 books, and I think I need to wait until book 4 for more of Griffin!
I'd better get reading!!

[Karen greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read!

I really enjoyed this story. It was a lot fun…..fun characters and fun story. I truly different look at seniors and the trouble they get themselves into. The story was a hoot! I will continue to to read this series as I loved these characters.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Neil’s Beverley Green series so I was really excited when I stumbled across this series. This one didn’t do much for me, but I remember liking subsequent books in the Beverley Green series more than the first, so I’ll give the next books a try. 3.5⭐️

[Vesta Tobin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, entertaining

Funny. Not so mysterious but
Definitely a mystery. Laugh out loud lines and so human the characters reflect us humans.
Loved the ending. Unexpected to me at least

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, quick read about a woman and her mysterious/cooky grandmothers! Looking forward to starting the next book!

[Mary McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

light reading

Zany characters and an improbable plot lead to an easy read full of laughter.
A bit of a mystery with a light touch.