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Deadly Deeds
The ‘Gang’ is back. The death of garden club member Cecelia Davis, age 93, sends Paula, Eleanor, Alice and Jean ‘undercover’ to the high-end nursing home where Cecelia lived her last two years. They’re not even certain if they’re trying to solve a murder: at 93, you’re no longer on the actuarial tables. But Cecelia’s wake provides tantalizing tidbits of information and an initial roster of people to investigate, and Cecelia’s granddaughter is convinced there was foul play.
But at the same time, another of the Gang’s ventures is about to come back to haunt them. Three months earlier, investigator Samantha Ayers sent the group into an auto dealership in search of insurance fraud. They found it, and exposed Pokvovsky Motors in a most spectacular fashion. Now, ‘Smilin’ Al’ Pokrovsky, the patriarch of a chain of dealerships, wants revenge.
Deadly Deeds brings back the cast of The Garden Club Gang with a twisting plot that is as suspenseful as it is a great mystery. They’ll try to catch a nursing home murderer while keeping out of the clutches of an auto magnate who wants to silence them.
But at the same time, another of the Gang’s ventures is about to come back to haunt them. Three months earlier, investigator Samantha Ayers sent the group into an auto dealership in search of insurance fraud. They found it, and exposed Pokvovsky Motors in a most spectacular fashion. Now, ‘Smilin’ Al’ Pokrovsky, the patriarch of a chain of dealerships, wants revenge.
Deadly Deeds brings back the cast of The Garden Club Gang with a twisting plot that is as suspenseful as it is a great mystery. They’ll try to catch a nursing home murderer while keeping out of the clutches of an auto magnate who wants to silence them.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 22, 2013
5 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Neal Sanders
22 books26 followersBack in 2005, I helped sell the company that had been my long-time employer. When the sale was done, I had two ‘sensible’ offers that would have kept me in the corporate world. To make a long story short, neither option appealed.
There was something else I wanted to do, something that had been on my mind for a couple of decades: I wanted to see if I could write fiction.
Not the Great American Novel. Not poetry. Not some thinly disguised autobiographical cathartic work. I wanted to see if I could tell a rousing good story using believable characters people would root for. I wanted to write stories with satisfying conclusions that sprinkled enough clues about the outcome throughout the story to make a reader say, ‘why didn’t I see that coming?’ Oh, and I wanted to write stuff that people would actually go out and buy. In short, I wanted to write mysteries, suspense, and thrillers.
Since then, I’ve published 15 books. Apart from being mysteries, what they all have in common is that their central characters are strong, independent women. Some of these women solve crimes. Some commit them. But they're all memorable.
Five of my books are stand-alone titles. The others are part of two series featuring recurring characters. But if your next question is 'where do I start?', the answer is, 'anywhere'. My pet peeve about most authors is their lack of charity toward new readers; unless you've read everything else in the series, you're at sea three pages into the book. My stories are deliberately designed to stand on their own.
My books are also, well, humorous. For example, if four 'women of a certain age' are going to take a giant step outside of their comfort zone and rob the daily gate of a large New England fair (as happens in 'The Garden Club Gang'), you can count on a rash of unexpected complications.
I invite you to hop over to my website and sample the wares. You'll find the first few thousand words of each book and a handy guide to which books belong to which series.
There was something else I wanted to do, something that had been on my mind for a couple of decades: I wanted to see if I could write fiction.
Not the Great American Novel. Not poetry. Not some thinly disguised autobiographical cathartic work. I wanted to see if I could tell a rousing good story using believable characters people would root for. I wanted to write stories with satisfying conclusions that sprinkled enough clues about the outcome throughout the story to make a reader say, ‘why didn’t I see that coming?’ Oh, and I wanted to write stuff that people would actually go out and buy. In short, I wanted to write mysteries, suspense, and thrillers.
Since then, I’ve published 15 books. Apart from being mysteries, what they all have in common is that their central characters are strong, independent women. Some of these women solve crimes. Some commit them. But they're all memorable.
Five of my books are stand-alone titles. The others are part of two series featuring recurring characters. But if your next question is 'where do I start?', the answer is, 'anywhere'. My pet peeve about most authors is their lack of charity toward new readers; unless you've read everything else in the series, you're at sea three pages into the book. My stories are deliberately designed to stand on their own.
My books are also, well, humorous. For example, if four 'women of a certain age' are going to take a giant step outside of their comfort zone and rob the daily gate of a large New England fair (as happens in 'The Garden Club Gang'), you can count on a rash of unexpected complications.
I invite you to hop over to my website and sample the wares. You'll find the first few thousand words of each book and a handy guide to which books belong to which series.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 24, 2023
This mystery novel was gripping enough to read to the end, in fact kept me up late to finish it. But it becomes ever convoluted and messy toward the end, as is typical of most mysteries. Confusion reigns as crimes are resolved that have nothing to do with the Garden Club's two investigations that are the focus of this book. Sort of like red herrings, but there are other redder herrings earlier on. There are some leaps of knowledge that are unclear how these are discovered.
The author does a good job of balancing the "bad guys" with the good Garden Club Gang women and Samantha, their leader who is an insurance company investigator. The criminals-- the owner of a string of car dealerships and a murderer to be known at the end of the story-- are equally as savvy as the smart women "detectives" but get caught anyway.
There are some frustrations for the reader-- too many named characters bombard the first few pages and continue being added to the story even to the very end. Some of this confusion might have been resolved for me if I had vividly recalled the first book in this series. There are also more typos than I'm used to seeing. Mostly wrong words (than/that) and a couple character names misspelled along the way.
The author definitely shows the underside of crooked car dealerships, predatory law firms that focus on wealthy elders, and nursing homes that hide evil doings to protect their reputations.
The author does a good job of balancing the "bad guys" with the good Garden Club Gang women and Samantha, their leader who is an insurance company investigator. The criminals-- the owner of a string of car dealerships and a murderer to be known at the end of the story-- are equally as savvy as the smart women "detectives" but get caught anyway.
There are some frustrations for the reader-- too many named characters bombard the first few pages and continue being added to the story even to the very end. Some of this confusion might have been resolved for me if I had vividly recalled the first book in this series. There are also more typos than I'm used to seeing. Mostly wrong words (than/that) and a couple character names misspelled along the way.
The author definitely shows the underside of crooked car dealerships, predatory law firms that focus on wealthy elders, and nursing homes that hide evil doings to protect their reputations.
October 3, 2017
The Girls are back and ready to solve another crime. A dear friend dies in a retirement home. While attending her funeral they are approached by her niece who believes she was murdered. As so it begins. The twists and turns the garden club ladies take to solve this crime make you want to keep reading. In the process of solving this crime an old case becomes tangled up in this web. They are in grave danger and old colleagues come to the rescue.
This was enjoyable and a lot of fun to read, it was not only fun it was tense, scary and thrilling.
Loved this book.
This was enjoyable and a lot of fun to read, it was not only fun it was tense, scary and thrilling.
Loved this book.
March 14, 2020
I enjoyed this second book in the series. It's a page-turner, and I couldn't put it down.
I read the first book because a group I belong to was organizing his presentation at our Library. The first book was great and I was hooked. Hearing and seeing his presentation is a great experience! Definitely recommend the series. I need to get the next book!!
I read the first book because a group I belong to was organizing his presentation at our Library. The first book was great and I was hooked. Hearing and seeing his presentation is a great experience! Definitely recommend the series. I need to get the next book!!
January 22, 2020
I enjoyed this book a lot, at one point I couldn't put it down. It was a real page turner!
December 29, 2013
We were introduced to the clever quartet at the heart of Deadly Deeds in 2011 when garden buddies Paula, Eleanor, Jean and Alice successfully executed their first caper together. (You’ll have to read The Garden Club Gang yourself for all the juicy details – no spoilers here!)
Now The Garden Club Gang is back, reunited at the wake of garden friend and mentor Cecelia Davis. At age 93, no one was overly surprised to hear of her passing. No one except Cecelia’s granddaughter, who finds circumstances surrounding the death to be suspicious.
She asks the Gang for help and in turn, the quartet turns to investigator Samantha Ayers to lend her expertise to the nursing home inquiries. Three months earlier Samantha had the group infiltrate an auto dealership in search of insurance fraud. They found it in spades and now ‘Smilin’ Al’ Pokrovsky, patriarch of a chain of dealerships, wants to shut the witnesses up – if he can find them.
In the meantime, goings-on within the ritzy and ultra expensive nursing home make the Gang think Cecelia’s granddaughter is on to something. Before long, the lives of these “women of a certain age” are in danger on a second front thanks to a cunning murderer no one even suspects.
Neal Sanders has certainly done his homework on nursing facilities, asset protection schemes and the personnel within theses homes who can be angels of mercy or killers.
That subject alone would’ve carried the tale, but Neal offers so much more in this beautifully paced mystery that examines subjects from mercy killings to crooked car dealerships to art theft at the highest level.
Each of the characters has a unique talent that contributes to the success of the investigations. When you finish the book you’ll feel as though they are friends, and you’ll be anxious for Neal to get busy with Volume 3 so you can spend time with this savvy, knowledgeable and delightful Gang as soon as possible.
Now The Garden Club Gang is back, reunited at the wake of garden friend and mentor Cecelia Davis. At age 93, no one was overly surprised to hear of her passing. No one except Cecelia’s granddaughter, who finds circumstances surrounding the death to be suspicious.
She asks the Gang for help and in turn, the quartet turns to investigator Samantha Ayers to lend her expertise to the nursing home inquiries. Three months earlier Samantha had the group infiltrate an auto dealership in search of insurance fraud. They found it in spades and now ‘Smilin’ Al’ Pokrovsky, patriarch of a chain of dealerships, wants to shut the witnesses up – if he can find them.
In the meantime, goings-on within the ritzy and ultra expensive nursing home make the Gang think Cecelia’s granddaughter is on to something. Before long, the lives of these “women of a certain age” are in danger on a second front thanks to a cunning murderer no one even suspects.
Neal Sanders has certainly done his homework on nursing facilities, asset protection schemes and the personnel within theses homes who can be angels of mercy or killers.
That subject alone would’ve carried the tale, but Neal offers so much more in this beautifully paced mystery that examines subjects from mercy killings to crooked car dealerships to art theft at the highest level.
Each of the characters has a unique talent that contributes to the success of the investigations. When you finish the book you’ll feel as though they are friends, and you’ll be anxious for Neal to get busy with Volume 3 so you can spend time with this savvy, knowledgeable and delightful Gang as soon as possible.
July 22, 2016
The Garden Club Gang is back! It was such fun to read the continued adventures of some of my favorite characters. As usual, the characters are all well developed and the plot is believable, intricate, and very exciting. I laughed in places and my heart raced in others!
All in all, a very good read.
- but I can't get the AC/DC song out of my head whenever I read the title!
All in all, a very good read.
- but I can't get the AC/DC song out of my head whenever I read the title!
July 28, 2014
Another garden club gang story. What fun, interesting topics, nursing homes, art painting fraud, car dealerships, counterfeit car parts (from quess where, CHINA). Enjoyed very much. Recommend to others.
October 27, 2015
Loved this latest book with The Garden Club Gang. Lots of subplots. Murder in the nursing home, art painting fraud, car dealership fraud and sub par car parts. Lots of action and the "girls" go undercover once again to ferret out the bad guys.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews