The Voicemail

by Jack E. Davis

After listening to a brutal murder take place over her phone's voicemail, schoolteacher Samantha Harris sets out to discover who's responsible for the crime. Unfortunately, while trying to solve one murder, she inadvertently uncovers another. Now, pulled into the center of her normally quiet town's latest murder, Samantha begins to see her enigmatic friends as cold-blooded killers. Armed with only a 15lbs dachshund by her side, Samantha is determined to uncover the truth. But when a new mysterious stranger blows into town, they bring up a few skeletons from this not so quiet town's past... from both the dead and the living.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

257 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2023

About the author

Children's

- The smelliest smell I've ever smelled
- Achoo, Bless you, from little Miss Kung Fu

Murder Mysteries

- The Voicemail

*** My new murder mystery will be published in December 2024. It'll be the 2nd book in this "you've got mail" trilogy. With each of the three books having the word mail somewhere in the title.

I am married to my supportive husband Scott, and we live in Michigan, with our two dogs and cat named Grace. While my passion is writing murder mysteries/suspense novels, I also enjoy writing poetry and plan on publishing my first book of poems later in the year.

Reviews

[Heather Ferguson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The concept of a murder being recorded and then discovered on a voicemail was such a concept, but the author didn’t really run with it… you hear about it in Chapter 4/5 and that’s it. The rest is all about a one woman show trying to solve said murder on her own while uncovering the skeletons in her towns closet. Very bland. Def disappointed.

[Kimberly · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. I listened to this (as I do almost everything), and it started out intriguing, but became implausible on so many levels. I liked and was attracted to the premise, but there is so much that doesn't add up: not just the plausibility of the story, but the characters' responses to situations. I did like that the characters were imperfect, making them more realistic. However, the emotional content of many of the characters did not ring true. Kind of reads like a Hallmark story; so although it's not for me, some folks might enjoy it.

[Caroline Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teacher Samantha Harris hears the brutal murder of an influencer she met earlier that day on her phone’s voicemail. She decides it’s up to her to solve the case. Samantha lives in the town of St Lux, Michigan, a place that seems to be related to Twin Peaks! Everyone is very strange, there is an air of eccentricity hanging over everything and characters just pop up and start yelling. Nearly all the dialogue is “shouted”, “screamed” or “shrieked.” Samantha herself is also eccentric. She threatens to break a teenager’s legs and when a friend is upset she thinks it’s a good idea to respond to that by doing the Single Ladies dance. The author does have a nice turn of phrase and I didn’t see the ending coming but spending time with the people of St Lux is a bit exhausting.

[Megan Holman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sounded so promising, but was unfortunately a huge let down for me. It was really all over the place and the characters all exhibit erratic and bizarre behavior, which made it very difficult for me to get through more than one chapter at a time. What time frame is this set in as well? It seems like these people are stuck in the 50's or something "golly gee willakers" kind of stuff, but at the end, the main character hits us with a "get this douche out of here." Then, when she's trying to show Sean some "tough love" and says she's going to break his legs if he's not back by curfew.... that was kinda disturbing y'all.

[R J Mckay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads in exchange for a review.

I had a hard time getting interested in this story line. The idea of a murder being recorded sounded interesting at first, but the author never really took that part of the story any where. And a lot of the conversations were shouted...really, can't people just talk? I really tried to remain enthused but couldn't.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal book!

First off, I'm going to stop looking at reviews for my book recommendations because people are terrible at rating them. I almost didn't read this one but out of the 3 I read last week this was by far the best one.

I read negative reviews for this book and their biggest complaint was that the author didn't spend enough time covering the "voicemail aspect" of the murder... Well that wouldn't make sense now would it since the story is being told from Samantha's POV, if she already knew everything from the who/why/and how then it wouldn't really be a book to read. Duh!!!

I like to read books and rate them on the material that the author actually wrote, not on what I think they should've written. My recommendation for this book is, if you're looking for a good murder mystery with a twist you won't see coming then look no further.

Looking forward to reading the follow-up.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took a bit for me to get into this book simply because of the writing style, as it reminded me of middle or high school narrative writing that doesn't flow well from paragraph to paragraph. Once my brain accepted this, I was able to get hooked on the content of the mystery. I didn't suspect the villain at all, and question whether or not it was intentional or amateur writing.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book interesting with the main character full of spunk. Samantha determined to solve things. I can't wait till next book comes out . I I love the plot and characters. I recommend this book to those who like a good mystery

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an awesome book. It was an exciting ride following the main characters journey and figuring everything out at the end!!! I completely recommend this book and can't wait to see what else this author puts out. Def got a new fan in me.

[Yolanda Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this yesterday after a friend told me about it and I loved every second of this book. For sure in my top three murder mysteries of the year so far. A must read if you're a fan of thrillers.

[Deborah Hearn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved the humorous one-liners from the author and the narrator was exceptional with her delivery. Highly recommend this book.

[Della Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a interesting read from a new author. The protagonist stayed hidden throughout the story. I look forward to Davis next book.

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure: this was a win from Goodreads..thanks
Plot synopsis: A widowed schoolteacher in a small town is left a voicemail on her phone that is unmistakably a murder. She recognizes the victims voice as the voice of a young lady she had met previously in the day while out on a walk. She had given the young lady her phone number in case she ever wanted to get to know the town better. Why was the young woman calling her? And who was she? Better yet, who would want her dead?

My review: Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I hate to say that, but I just could not get into it no matter how hard I tried. I would read for a while, put it down, go back to it, put it down again, and try it again later. I just couldn't feel any kind of attachment to the characters or the story at all. I don't like to have DNFs and I really tried. I just think it was not my cup of tea. In the world of reading, some love some books, while others hate them. Just the way the page turns.

[Christin Alagnon · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐
(This is so bad I would give it 0⭐, but that's not possible)

What a waste of a plot with potential.
This book was truly awful. I bought it on sale for 7$ and even that feels like I was cheated.
First things first Samantha is probably the most insufferable PoV character in existence. She is a self important idiot with neither survival instinct or any sense of priorities.
This book truly felt like an overwritten, both over and under explained fever dream with not a single person actually feeling like a human being.
Also the author strikes me as misogynistic with his cartoonish character Suzy, the evil, mean, slutty Barbie Bimbo with even less depth as her description would lead you to believe. Her character literally has no other purpose besides making Samantha look like the "better" woman, but this book is so poorly written, that the author even fails at that.
this book gave me severe tonal whiplash several times, like when it goes from "let's confront a murderer" to "but first let's talk about how HOT this character looks in their skintight shirt"
the writing is incredibly repetitive during dialogues, with constant he/she verb adjective-ly. characters are constantly shouting and yelling or shrieking during regular conversations.
everything in the book is so painfully overwritten, as if the reader isn't trusted to understand ANYTHING. no you don't have to remind the reader Samantha saying something persuasively, when she's actively trying to persuade someone of something.
The entire book I spent frustrated and baffled at every persons behavior.
there is an honest to god "and everybody clapped" moment in this book. Sam arbitrariy puts people on her suspect list with no real rhyme or reason. Suzy she just puts on there because she's mean. and honestly? suzy has a point in disliking Sam Sam. I couldn't stand her the entire book.
the author loves dragging out so much of the story and every reveal. he gives so much information, but hardly any information that is actually important. people routinely forget a bunch of stuff to make plot happen.
I wouldn't listen to this again if someone paid me. I ended up putting it to 1.5x speed to just get through the book, since I read this for a book club. So disappointing, because the premise was genuinely a great one, but the execution was dreadful.

[Stephanie Lockhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so badly to love this book!! I love a good mystery and was excited to read from a Michigan author, but I was disappointed. There was a lot of chaos and disconnect throughout the story. The conclusion left me with so many questions that I was beyond frustrated.

[Scott Frazer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Agatha Christie style who dunnit murder mystery. Good use of humor with banter between main characters.