Mick Abruzzo: The Second Wire

Blackbird Sisters Mystery #9.5

by Nancy Martin

The son of New Jersey's last remaining mob boss, Mick Abruzzo wants to live in the real world with a legitimate job, a wife and happy family. But when his family needs him, Mick feels obligated to help. This time, it's his presumed-dead brother, Little Frankie Abruzzo, who needs help getting out from under a pushy bookie. But the simple job of getting Frankie out of debt soon escalates into bad business that threatens the life Mick wants with his lover, Nora Blackbird.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction

70 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 15, 2014

About the author

Winner of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement award for mystery writing from Romantic Times magazine, Nancy Martin announces the release of the 8th book in her popular Blackbird Sisters mystery series, NO WAY TO KILL A LADY. Set in Philadelphia, the story features three heiresses whose parents have run off with their trust funds. Now thay have a chance to regain their wealth when their aunt, "Madcap Maddy" Blackbird dies in a volcano and leaves her estate to the sisters. But Nora Blackbird soon discovers all the treasures in Aunt Maddy's house have disappeared...information that leads her to believe maybe Maddy didn't die the way everybody thinks.

Author of 48 pop fiction novels in mystery, suspense, historical and romance genres, Nancy created The Blackbird Sisters in 2002--- mysteries about three impoverished heiresses who adventure in couture and crime --as if “Agatha Christie had wandered onto the set of Sex and The City.” Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery of 2002, HOW TO MURDER A MILLIONAIRE won the RT award for Best First Mystery and was a finalist for the Daphne DuMaurier Award. Currently, she is at work on the Roxy Abruzzo mystery series for St. Martin’s Minotaur. In 2009 she received the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award for mystery writing.

Nancy lives in Pittsburgh, serves on the board of Sisters in Crime and is a founding member of Pennwriters. Find her on Pinterest and Facebook.

Reviews

[Jane Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Martin's Mick Abruzzo: The Second Wire is great! I thoroughly enjoyed it. This short story / novella (72 pages) is #9½ in the Blackbird Sisters Mystery series. All of the works in this series are highly recommended — four or five kitties! — and are a pleasing mixture of cozy mystery and chick lit. I always look forward to the next book in the series, so I can find out what happens next to Nora, Libby, Emma and Mick — and if a mystery or two get solved along the way, that's just icing on the cake!

The Second Wire is told, as you might have guessed, from Mick's point of view, rather than in first person from Nora's POV, as are the primary books of the series. I was hooked from the first sentence:

Against his better judgment, Mick Abruzzo agreed to meet his idiot brother at a noisy South Philadelphia college hangout where Little Frankie swore they'd blend in.

Idiot brother? Details — I wanted details!

It is a nice change of pace to get Mick's thoughts and viewpoint on things, since his background is so different from Nora's. Some of this background is revealed in The Second Wire, so if you've ever wondered about what makes Mick tick (ooh, bad pun, sorry about that), here's your chance to find out.

If you're like me and you want to read books of a series in order, be sure to read Mick Abruzzo: The Second Wire first (after reading Little Black Book of Murder, #9) and then read A Little Night Murder (#10 — release date August 5, 2014).



Note: The review copy of Mick Abruzzo: The Second Wire came from my personal library.

{Originally published at www.janereads2.blogspot.com}

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to take a break from these series... It's beginning to feel too much like "a series of unfortunate events" for adults. Really disappointing since I really enjoyed the first four books.


Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Linda Smatzny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short novella taking place between Little Black Book of Murder and A Little Night Murder. Mick is approached by his brother Little Frankie about doing a job. Mick trying to avoid trouble actually gets involved in a lot more trouble by trying to help an old girl friend. It was a very short easy read on my ereader.

[Michaela Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Once again, I liked getting to see inside Mick's head and hear his stories. I liked that we get to see that Mick is as crazy about Nora as she is about him, and I loved the ending.

[Sharon Redfern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little taste of things to come. Can't wait for the next book!!!!

[Suzanne Cosentino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute tie in?

Love that this gives us a look into the mystery Mick’s Abruzzo’s business! It’s a great tie in and really made the previous book more well rounded.

[Julianne O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

These little novellas always seem a bit rushed, but I appreciate the additional info between stories