Mirth, Murder & Mystery

Savannah Martin Mystery #1

by Jenna Bennett, Sally Berneathy, L.J. Charles

Seven spellbinding stories by seven award winning authors with characters you'll never forget.

A Cutthroat Business by Jenna Bennett
Everyone has warned new-minted realtor Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business. But Savannah doesn't think she's supposed to take the warning literally ... until an early morning phone call sends her to an empty house on the 'bad' side of town, where she finds herself standing over the butchered body of a competitor, face to face with the boy her mother always warned her about.

The Ex Who Wouldn’t Die by Sally Berneathy
Amanda has been trying for a year to divorce her lying, cheating, scam artist husband, Charley. Then he turns up dead, murdered. Finally they are no longer married! But she is the primary suspect and, as if that isn't bad enough, Charley's ghost shows up in her apartment. He was rejected, kicked back to earth, not allowed to go into the light. Even death did not them part.

A Touch of Ice by L.J. Charles
When Everly Gray touches photographer Mitchell Hunt and sees the image of a dead body, she dives into the murder ESP fingers first. Caught in a web of intrigue, El discovers an aptitude for breaking and entering, the pain of a gunshot wound, and the terror of facing a killer. What she doesn’t learn—to keep her fingers to herself.

The Chase by Adrienne Giordano
Hard-driving attorney Jo Pomeroy is as determined as she is sexy—in other words, a major pain in NYPD Sergeant Gabe Townsend’s butt. Working together on a high-profile task force charged with busting sales of counterfeit goods has been rocky from the start. Now, she’s on the radar of a mysterious smuggler not afraid to use violence to evade the law. At the risk of their lives—and their hearts—Gabe and Jo must find him before he finds them.

The Secret Ingredient by Misty Evans
During a live cooking show in her hometown, celebrity chef Katelynn Karr's father dies in front of millions of viewers, and suspicion falls on Kate when his autopsy reveals he was poisoned. Nick Juno, the boy she left behind and who is now mayor, is the only person who can prove Kate's innocence.

Let Us Prey by Jamie Lee Scott
Mimi Capurro is trying to put her life back together after the sudden death of her husband. Using the skills she learned as a secret service agent, she runs the Gotcha Detective Agency, along with her skilled computer forensics partner Charles Parks. Gotcha specializes in executive protection (bodyguards), and tailing cheating spouses. Mimi never expects to run into her old college flame Nick, when she takes on an executive protection case for New York Times bestselling author Lauren Silke. But when Lauren’s assistant is murdered, the homicide case, along with Mimi, land in Nick’s lap. Will Mimi and Nick be able to solve this murder without killing each other first?

The Throwbacks by Stephanie Queen
To salvage his career, exiled Scotland Yard "Flying Squad" detective, the not-so-young David Young, joins the Boston Police Department. But this rogue detective can’t resist an unlikely romance with his young and vivacious decorator, Grace Rogers, even when she becomes a key witness in his high-stakes case--and like Kryptonite to his career and well-being.

Alternate Cover Edition can be found here

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Fiction, Amazon, Ebooks

1094 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 9, 2013

About the author

Jenna Bennett writes the USA Today bestselling Cutthroat Business mysteries featuring Southern Belle and new-minted real estate agent Savannah Martin in Nashville, Tennessee.

As Jennie Bentley, she writes the New York Times bestselling Do-It-Yourself Home Renovation mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime, featuring designer and amateur sleuth Avery Baker and her boyfriend, handyman Derek Ellis, who renovate houses in Waterfield, Maine.

She also writes a variety of romance for a change of pace.

aka Jennie Bentley

The DIY series:

FATAL FIXER-UPPER (November 2008)
SPACKLED AND SPOOKED (August 2009)
PLASTER AND POISON (March 2010)
MORTAR AND MURDER (January 2011)
FLIPPED OUT (October 2011)
WALL TO WALL DEAD (September 2012)
HOME FOR THE HOMICIDE (December 2013)

The Cutthroat Business series:

A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS (May 2011)
HOT PROPERTY (June 2011)
CONTRACT PENDING (July 2011)
CLOSE TO HOME (September 2011)
A DONE DEAL (December 2011)
CONTINGENT ON APPROVAL (November 2012)
CHANGE OF HEART (May 2013)
KICKOUT CLAUSE (October 2013)

Soldiers of Fortune series:

FORTUNE'S HERO (December 2012)

Various:

ISLAND GETAWAY (October 2012)
VIRGINIA CREEPER (October 2013)
BEFORE YOU (March 2014)

Reviews

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome group of murder mysteries

[Mephistia · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, for the price I got it at ($2 and change), this 6 book anthology isn't terrible. A few are pretty good. One even has recipes. I mean, it's not my normal cup of tea ... but I might look a few of these authors up again.

1) A Cutthroat Business, by Jenna Bennett.

Setting the tone for the anthology, it quickly became apparent these were less straight "murder mystery" and more "romance novel with a side of murder." Maybe I should've realized that, but this was an inexpensive ebook purchase and I didn't recognize any of the author's names.

Anyway, this one was okay, with the murder mystery dominating most of the plot. There were some annoying interactions between the protagonist (Savannah Martin) and her designated bad-boy love interest, with swooning and I swear to gods the actual use of the term "alpha male," in a complimentary and non-mocking way.

I will say, I didn't like how the author perpetuated the fetishization of the Old South/ Southern Belle thing with her protagonist-- Savannah is wealthy, was raised on a plantation (that still has slave outbuildings), went to finishing school, and is descended from an Old South family. She frequently references her Southern Belle manners/ upbringing, yet has been written as the divorced/ working girl/ law school drop-out of her family to make her more relatable/ sympathetic. She is quietly appalled/ disapproving when older (racist and homophobic folks) behave and speak in racist and homophobic ways, but although she doesn't take a stand, the reader is supposed to understand that Savannah is one of the Good Ones. She has black friends.

If it weren't for the Southern thing, I might pick up more of these books for a quick, easy and entertaining light mystery. I would not choose her as a romance author, though.

2) The Ex Who Wouldn't Die, by Sally Berneathy

No romance (although I think there may have been some setup for future books) in this one, which I appreciated. I also liked the motorcycle riding scenes, which I felt captured the experience of riding pretty well. I did feel like the intertwining mysteries were a little too easy to work out (like how did Amanda not figure out the family blackmail thing waaaay earlier?), but it was a fun, light, quick read. Definitely my favorite in the anthology.

3) A Touch of Ice, by L.J. Charles

I only got a few paragraphs in (Emery hugged her client and had some sort of touch-induced vision; started advising her client-- who is evidently husband hunting and argues with everything Emery says-- and then had a weird murdery-related vision seizure just before the end of her client's session). That is when I noped out.

I don't care about visions or fortune telling. I mean, I think they're bunk in real life, but obvs I'm okay with them in fiction. It's fiction. It was just laid out confusingly and kind of annoyingly, and I wasn't hooked enough to stick with it.

Skipped to next book.

4) The Chase, by Adrienne Giordano

The most explicitly romance novel in the anthology, with the mystery/ criminal investigation being little more than a thin pretext of plot between bedroom scenes.

The writing itself is... not great. For one, Giardano frequently seems to forget she broke Jo (her protagonists) hand early on, and then she'll remember and mention Jo's cast even though Jo was JUST doing a 2 handed activity that you can't do with a cast! On that note: maybe it's different when 3 fingers are broken, I don't know, but when 2 of my fingers were broken, I was splinted, not casted. Minor detail, not all that important, but it did throw me out of the text. A few other details that bothered me:

* Joking around about workplace sexual harassment like it ain't no thang. Hey. Harassment isn't sexy or flirting. It's not fun. If both characters are on board/ consenting about the flirting/ etc, how about DON'T HAVE ONE CALL IT SEXUAL HARASSMENT even as a joke?

* Every time Jo got horny/ around her erotic interest, she got overheated/ had hot flashes. She's like 33. At one point this is dismissed/ explained by Jo as early onset menopause, but she later says she was joking and she doesn't have early onset menopause. She just, apparently, gets noticeably overheated/ sweaty/ hot flashes when sexually aroused? Like, we're not talking the romance novel trope of a little flushed, or blushing. She's legit overheated. That's so weird. I think she needs to see a doctor.

* Jo also refers to her erotic interest as an alpha male, in a complimentary/ completely serious/ non-sarcastic and non-mocking way. WTF. Is this a thing in bad romance novels? Why?

Final assessment: Based on this, I wouldn't read Giardano's other stuff, and I'd only recommend it to someone I specifically knew liked this type of book.

5) The Secret Ingredient, by Misty Evans

Eh. More romance than mystery. A pretty cookie-cutter romance (small town teen sweethearts with unhappy past reunited as adults; one stayed in small town and the other went to the big city and made good). It's the type of romance novel I like, in that it spends a bit of time establishing the relationship between the two before sex happens, and the conflicts can usually be resolved with a bit of healthy communication. There are some bonus recipes at the end, which is nice.

I might read more by this author, if I were in the unlikely mood for a modern cowboy romance.

6) Let Us Prey, by Jamie Lee Scott

I dunno. I just started it. So far it's okay. I'm past the first murder (I assume there's more). It's not super gripping, but it's not 'Touch of Ice' repellent. Lots of throwing up. Hard to believe she's a former Secret Service agent. Umm.

There was a scene that kind of weirded me out. Mimi (protag) owns/ runs a detective agency, and has a gay employee (Charles, who she describes as a 'fop' for dressing in pastel polos and matching argyle socks, leading me to believe the author does not know the meaning of the word 'fop,' or did not know how to spell "fashion-impaired preppy"), and a college-age employee (Jackie).

So they're all three-- boss-owner Mimi and her two employees-- in the office for a morning meeting, and Gemma--who is, according to Mimi, used to men falling all over her-- is 'teasing' Charles with unwanted "accidental" touches that make him flinch (fingertips on arm, brushing her boob against shoulder, etc). Mimi (THE BOSS) tells the reader this is a regular thing, and that Gemma (HER EMPLOYEE) is trying to seduce Charles (HER OTHER EMPLOYEE), apparently believing she can turn him straight. Mimi doesn't think Gemma has a chance, but apparently finds the spectacle of her gay employee being sexually harassed by her other employee amusing enough that she normally does nothing to stop Gemma, and in fact says she's told Charles his best option in dealing with his co-worker's unwanted behavior is to accept her proposal and even suggest an MMF threesome. On this particular occasion, though, Mimi is having a bad day and is unamused by the sexual harassment, so exerts her power as boss/owner to stop Gemma.

I think the author intended this scene to show:

1) These characters are chill and LGBT friendly! Progressive! Gays are cool!
2) Mimi is not one of those uncool elitist bosses who stay aloof from her employees-- she's a friendly, cool, approachable, with-it boss!
3) Mimi's detective agency is professional, but fun. Her employees are more than just employee/ coworkers, they're family/ friends, whose primary loyalty is their (non-work) relationships with Mimi. See how they horse around even at work? They do have fun.

That is not what I got from it. Imagining this scenario in a real life work environment, my reaction was more along the lines of:

1) Holy shit, toxic work environment
2) Hoooolllyyyy shit, no professional boundaries or chain of command? Hello, toxic work environment
3) I bet Mimi is one of those bosses who thinks she's the bomb because she pays her employees *juuuuust* over Federal/ State Minimum Wage (but still not a living wage). Like most small business employers I've dealt with, I bet she also doesn't provide healthcare or retirement benefits-- but she thinks she's an amazing boss because she provides coffee and snacks ... can you say underpaid, underappreciated, overworked employees? And hello, toxic work environment.

I'm kind of rooting against Mimi right now. Not a great start.

[Sandra Holladay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Cutthroat Business-3 stars:Though the author inserted herself too much, I enjoyed the storyline and the character’s interactions, especially Rafe; who doesn’t like a ‘hot’ protagonist? Savannah didn’t exactly solve the mystery as it fell into her lap, so to speak. It was nice to read a cozy mystery where the police weren’t portrayed as inept. Savannah often referred to herself as ‘nice,’ but referred to other people as ‘common’; bit of snootiness there. There were some definite issues a good editor or even a good proofreader should have caught.

Savannah got a call from the police detective stating they couldn’t lock the house (scene of a murder) and would she get a key and do so? When Savannah gets there, she “… had to snake my hand under it [the police tape] to find the doorknob and insert the key in it.” Then she went into the house. Why? She was just supposed to lock the door. So, was the door unlocked or locked? The police said they couldn’t lock it, Savannah didn’t try the door beforehand, just inserted the key then walked in.

When the author talks about a woman being ‘fat’ she goes into exceedingly great detail, so we don’t miss the point; it’s pretty much a turn-off.

Wow! This woman can’t keep her mouth shut. Things about an ongoing murder investigation that she knows and has no business telling anyone she just keeps blurting out.

So Maurice invited Savannah into the house and took a step back. When Savannah insisted they talk outside he unlocked the screen door and stepped out. This book has some definite continuity problems.

The Ex Who Wouldn’t Die-4 stars: Needs proofreading, too many minor words left out and some left in (i.e. “Greg Carter hadn't been surprised that she at the idea that Kimball had been involved in his wife's death.”).

Despite needing further proofreading, I’m giving this 4 stars because it’s a great read with some wonderful characters and an ending I didn’t see coming.

The Chase- 2 stars: We start off with Gabe, an obviously horny guy who makes all sorts of internal comments about Jo’s appearance and what he would like to do. Then, after the meeting, when they are alone in his car, her internal dialogue starts up about wanting to see him without a shirt.

Why is it so important to be in the shop so fast during a warrant search that Jo can’t wait for the go ahead? She’s supposed to be smart. Wow! After a huge seizure or counterfeit goods, the mayor names the people responsible in his press release. Does he want to get them killed?

In between the hot sex, Jo and Gabe are constantly mad and yelling at each other because Jo (who feels Gabe is her intellectual equal) hasn’t got the sense of a Gad Fly. And then there is dear Gabe who says it isn’t just about the sex (yeah, right).

The Secret Ingredient- 4 stars:Love Kate’s spirit and the way she handles things while trying to not offend people. The misunderstanding between her and Nick made for some good tension. Lots of hints about a past secret, then another secret mentioned later, finally a murder about ¾ through the book. Several of the characters were well fleshed out and I could see them behaving the way they did.

I waffled on giving the story 3 or 4 stars. There were too many times a word was left out, usually something as small as ‘a’ but sometimes other words. That usually knocks points off for me. However, I really enjoyed the story (despite the explicit sex scenes) so decided to go with 4 stars.

Let Us Prey- 2 stars: I didn’t care much for any of the main characters, Nick was rude (I guess it was supposed to be ‘tough talk’ but no, it was just rude) until he got to the point he wanted to bed Mimi; no, he was still rude after that. Mimi judges everybody by their looks and if they aren’t ‘hot’ she’s pretty nasty in her thoughts, pretty shallow really. In addition, she seems to think rubbing her breasts up against police officers/detectives is the way to get what she wants. I shouldn’t be surprised as an earlier occurrence in her office by a co-worker smacked of blatant sexual harassment. As ex-Secret Service you would think she would know how to behave in a professional manner; it never states how long she was with the Secret Service, but hopefully she behaved better (and barfing at the sight of a corpse, maybe she was a file clerk). And she was embarrassed after Nick called her out for her actions, she should have been. Mimi’s partner, Charles, is a fun character, actually, the only ‘developed’ character who is.

Detective Natalie Simon had a new pairing (Nick) as her regular partner was on vacation. Once her partner returned, the case stayed with the new guy who didn’t have a partner? Not what I would have expected.

After Mimi’s house was broken into (by someone using her spare key), Mimi had the lock’s changed and was going to hire a security alarm company. Did she not do this? Because she never set a code coming or going from her house after that.

Confusing, the dog (Great Dane) was growling at a noise, then repositioned herself to sleep on the bed. At the next noise the dog jumped from the bed growling. The intruder has time to grab Mimi, shove her back against the bed, grab her hair and slam her back against the headboard, yank a pillow out from under her head and shove it over her face long enough for her to start blacking out before the dog barked again and the intruder screamed. That does not jibe. With the dog there the most that should have happened is the first grab. It was never explained how the intruder got into the house the second time as there is no indication in the story that the intruder knew how to pick locks and there was no indication windows were broken.

The role playing scene was interesting as was the tension in the story. The police were not shown as too stupid to do their jobs, which was a definite plus; and Mimi was able to worm her way into the investigation in a believable way. I thought the racist part was off-putting (the only mention of Latinos is as criminals). The proofreading was better than some of the e-books I’ve read, though there were still some issues.

The ThrowbacksIn Chapter 3 Grace said she was working (decorating) Nick and Teresa’s loft. In Chapter 5 Dan and David pull up to the loft which had been on the market but was taken off due to the ‘sudden death of Rick’s brother.’ The couple had been packing, boxes were stacked around. Grace is unpacking china, as well as decorative items, and placing them on shelves. So, are they coming or going?

Oh my gosh, I get so tired of the ‘he said’ ‘she said’ stuff. (i.e. We’ll have David set it up through the local gallery manager,” Dan said. “I know the drill,” Nick said. “This is exciting!” Grace said. “This is going to be boring,” Theresa said.) There are so many ways of doing conversation without resorting to the boring repetitive spiel.

There were several continuity issues. Grace and Sophie are talking as Grace pulls up to the curb of their building. They do quite a bit more talking as the car (finally) came to a stop at their building.
In Chapter 5 we learn that Theresa spilled the beans to Sophia about Nick still being alive. Chapter 6 David states that Grace, Sophia, and Theresa have to remember to keep secret that there was no murder. In Chapter 13 Grace almost askes Sophia to go with her to Theresa and Rick’s then remembers that Nick is there, and it’s supposed to be a secret so she can’t take Sophia.

Grace, who is wearing black lace nothing for bed and threw a short robe over it when she ran out looking for her dog, Noodles, packs to move into a hotel due to someone trying to break into her apartment, and the manager throwing her out because she isn’t supposed to have a dog. Once packed she goes out the door. No mention on her changing her clothes, or rather, into clothes.
End of Chapter 15 the time is announced as being 4 a.m. A bit of conversation, Grace packing in record time, checking into the hotel, more conversation, told they were leaving for the sting operation in 3 hours where they arrive at 6 p.m. I find it hard to believe it took 14 hours for that amount of action.

I’m confused about the sting operation. If it’s supposed to be a celebration of David’s position with the police department and solving the case, why bring the fake vase as a lure. But then again, they were planting a fake vase at Rick’s place? Totally confused on this.

Need a good editor to catch the continuity problems. They left the building and got in a cab. David called and gave a location he felt was were the kidnappers were. Then they caught a cab and drove back to the hotel.

Sigh, David and Grace were told to be at police headquarters in one hour for their statements. So, what do they do, go make love and never make it to the police station.

Grace is a Marilyn Monroe look alike who typifies the term ditzy blonde. For the most part you can forgive her actions and enjoy the ride, until David goes on a bust and she sneaks along after him because she can’t bear the thought of him being in danger and her not being there with him; never thinking for a minute that her presence might put not only herself, but him in danger. And then, afterwards every official is absolutely ok with what she did, even giving her part credit for the rescue (which she really didn’t deserve).

I really wanted to give this story 4 stars, but between the continuity issues, words left out or added words, and Grace’s hairbrained efforts during the raid, I couldn’t justify it.

[Nancy Atwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mirth, Murder & Mystery

I loved this mystery series. A couple kept me on the edge of my seat. I could not put the Throwbacks down. I think it was the best of all of them. The love between a younger woman and an older man was so touching. What a way to end a series of mysteries! What can I say—I'm a romantic!

[Mjuneb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swords and Vamires

An author is threatened then her assistant is murdered just like a vampire in her just released book. Fans friends and enemies are all suspect. I was surprised a Former secret service agent was such a normal person. She is not your normal tough female detective. The story is good, however, and kept me hooked to the end.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

5 out of 6 ain't bad, I guess

5 of these stories were fun to read. One really needs some help to tighten the plot.
Several have inconsistencies.
Each of them has fallen victim to lazy word processing. Words spelled correctly only they were the wrong word. Wrong verb tenses. Poor grammar and punctuation.
These could be really good with decent editing.

[Bob Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chick mysteries

What you would expect. Light reading about murders, ghosts, vampires and studs. And always a beautiful protagonist. Their men that got away, then found their way back.
Pleasant to pass the time late at night while in chronic pain and find out what I wish I had knew 55 years ago...

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thrill ride.

A very intricate plot , with vivid character descriptions. Enough sexual tension to Keep you interested, and just a touch of m/m relationships without being explicit.

[Priscilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little romance, a little laughter, alot of murder!

A great read, 5 different stories, 5 different authors. Perfect for a long weekend or a hospital stay! Great price!

[Charleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories!

All the stories in this book were great. I didn't want to stop reading any of them. They kept me going from beginning to the end. Thanks all of you for writing them!

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

the Chinese stories are all great set of mysteries and each book beings together people from that part of the country..

[Lee Hoekje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty Good

Light weight cosy romantic mystery, some sex, dog involved, handsome cop and female PI. Usual grammatical errors as is true with most of these inexpensive books

[Amanda Desrochers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible!!! Was torture to try and finish, wasted my time

[AmyLaurie Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

I loved the collection of mysteries. I hadn't had that much fun in a long time. I hope to find more

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only liked 3 of the books in the collection.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mysteries abound!

Great read! These just quit too soon and left you hanging.
Short enough to enjoy but long enough for development

[Peggy Puetz]

All great mysteries

I loved all of these books. They were great mysteries. The last book I read was about people acting. Each one different but all good.

[CRISTINA LEYVA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

To pass time and, have a laugh.. good pandemic reading. Easy reading for teens and adults no negative feelings. CL

[sharon sobzak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mirth, Murder & Mystery

A variety of stories, some better than others. Some need editing for spelling, grammar and consistency. Not a waste of time though.

[Claire Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dipped in and out of this book of novellas by different authors over quite a long period of time in between other, longer books.

A Cutthroat Business by Jenna Bennett:
Really enjoyed this book. Characters that were endearing and interesting and a good whodunit plot based around the disappearance of an estate agent/realtor. Nice length and held my interest. Prompted me to seek out other work by the author.

The Ex who Wouldn't Die by Sally Berneathy:
A fun and interesting novella, but not as good as the other books and did not stand up to being placed between two really good books. I did enjoy it, but not nearly as much as the other books here.

A Touch of Ice by L. J. Charles:
I absolutely loved the main character Everly and could clearly see her in my mind's eye. The murder mystery story and Everly's budding romance with Mitch intertwined throughout which was a great touch, and I found this one very hard to put down. The romance is emotionally descriptive without being slushy or too graphic, and I found myself rooting for Everly and Mitch to get together, and delighted when they seemed to be heading in that direction. I've since downloaded the rest of the Everly Gray series and some other work by this author. Great stuff!

The Chase by Adrienne Giordano
I found this really slow to start, and I almost gave up a couple of times. Once it got going it was quite good, but not great. I think the slow start would put people off reading this, there is nothing to grab your attention straight away.

The Secret Ingredient by Misty Evans
Literally could not put this book down. Perfect mix of mystery, murder and romance, with a good bit of revenge thrown in for good measure. Love the characters and looking forward to reading more of Misty Evans' books.

Let us Prey by Jamie Lee Scott
I really enjoyed this book - the combination of a murder to solve and a will they/won't they romance was great, lots of twists and turns leading to a happy ending, adorable characters in Mimi and Nick, with great supporting characters, particularly Charles and Lola the dog. Fast-paced and engrossing, I loved it.

The Throwbacks (Book 1: The Scotland Yard Exchange Programme Series) by Stephanie Queen
This book was quite well written with just the right amount of both crime-fighting and romance. Not by any means a traditional romance story, this will they-won't they tale is one of Grace and David and their twenty-something age gap. The story is really fast paced, lots of exciting crime fighting happening along the way, murders and the small matter of the two main characters trying to fight and deny their feelings for each other. I found it hard to put down, especially once the crime elements went up a notch and the romance started on it's on/off journey. Good stuff, I'll be looking out for more stuff by Stephanie Queen.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great compilation

All of these books were very enjoyable, and I especially loved the last one!
I probably wouldn't have read all of these if they weren't in the compilation, so I'm glad the books were provided in this format.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS: Savannah Martin, Southern Belle, divorced and struggling Realtor, stumbles on the crime scene of a co-worker with a hot bad boy client! Quick read and very entertaining!
THE EX WHO WOULDN'T DIE: Haunted by her Ex! Fun, quick read full of snarky humor!
A TOUCH OF ICE: A fun mystery adventure that keeps you reading to see what happens next.
THE CHASE: Hot, steamy romance and crime fighting task force! Fast paced fun!
THE SECRET INGREDIENT: Wonderful story about second chance at love and going home! Great mystery and intrigue that keeps you up reading well into the night!
LET US PREY: Strong heroine with a PI business stumbles into a murder investigation with an old flame! Great fun! Loved it!
THE THROWBACKS: Quirky, but deeply romantic crime mystery novel! Loved this deeply moving and fun whirlwind romance!

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Cut Throat Business: Savannah Martin a southern belle trying to make her way in the real state business, when she makes the mistake of answering the phone to learn the lead real state agent didn't show for her appointment. Savannah goes to the house and finds her dead. The race is on to find her killer, who is closer than anyone realizes. It's the southern version of the Stephanie Plum series. Got the woman, the hot sexy bad boy and the stuff shirt want to be boyfriend. The best part of this story was the bad boy, the rest of it too wordy... not funny nor did you care who was the killer. Savannah spends too much time whining about her southern upbringing and how to present herself as a lady.

[Julie Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cutthroat Business 4 stars - really enjoyed both the mystery and romance
Ex who wouldn't die - didn't read this one as I'm not keen on ghost stories
A Touch of Ice - couldn't get into this one
The Chase 1 star - got about half way through this one and realised that I didn't care enough to find out what happened.
The Secret Ingredient 3 stars - OK on both the mystery and romance
Let us Prey - 3 stars - good mystery, so so romance
The Throwbacks - completely unbelievable 1st chapter, I read no further.

I only paid £1 for this on Kobo consider the first story more than worth that, hence the 4 stars overall, might not have been so generous if I'd paid more.

[Mary Schildman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good mix

All the books had a little of romance and most had a good mystery. One had a little more graphic foreplay than I care to read, but all interesting. Several with good twists. Some really funny, actually "Mirth" is a good word for it. I think I paid 99¢ for all of them. SUPER BARGIN AND WORTH 50 X's IT. Glad I bought I bought them.

[Erinw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was well worth reading. I had read A Cutthroat Business and enjoyed it, so I thought I would give this a chance. All were four star books except the novella by Adrienne Giordano and The Throwbacks by Stephanie Queen which was sweet, but ridiculous as far as believability. If you like light, romantic mysteries, you will like these.

[Angela Mahany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and murder and real heroines and manly men

All the reads were great fun. None took themselves too seriously. A wonderful rainy late summer weekend's diversion. No more sunburn or stay inside regrets.I

[Sarah A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy these fairly short mystery stories. Some were 3.5 stars and others 2 stars. I would not however describe them as mirthful - I have read much funnier murder mysteries!
A fun gentle set though.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sampler of fun mystery stories by different authors. It was a nice introduction to a bunch of new authors I hadn't read before.

At least one of these stories tempted me to buy more books by the author.

I'm sure I'll be reading more in future.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this boxed set!!! Especially since it had so many of my favorite authors!