The Body in the Parking Structure

Roger and Suzanne Mysteries #4

by Jerold Last, Virtual Voice (Narrator)

Suzanne Foster discovers the body of a Bolivian scientist in the parking garage next to the Medical School at UCLA. The police treat the killing as just another drug deal gone bad. P.I. Roger Bowman, Suzanne, and his team investigate the murder, which seems to be linked to a small biotechnology company and a new anti-cancer drug they are developing. The reader is off on a whirlwind tour of Los Angeles and Westwood in search of clues. The clues are all Can you figure out whodunit before Roger does? This fast-paced novella features characters from the author's popular South American mystery novel series working on a murder case at home in Los Angeles.

Audible Audio

First published July 25, 2012

Reviews

[Rowena Hoseason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rapid read which mixes murder with medical biochemistry, ‘The Body…’ feels like a 21st century interpretation of a traditional English private investigation, relocated to Los Angeles. The detecting is done by married couple Roger and Suzanne with assistance from their sexy male nanny, Roger’s previous police colleagues, off-stage computer hackers, and a conveniently qualified biotech expert… who also happens to be a dab hand at undercover work and comes with first-class unarmed combat and seduction skills to boot. So yes, you do need to employ the willing suspension of disbelief to enjoy this investigation, which contributes to its olde worlde charm.

Author Jerold Last presents us with a dead body, a connection between the victim and the investigative team, a plausible motive involving pharmaceutical trials, and a bunch of bad guys with suitable clues to identify the killer culprit. All suggestions of sex and violence take place off the page: this is a clean read for folks who prefer to skip explicit language and activity.

The style of writing won’t suit everyone. I’m always a great fan of ‘show don’t tell’, and for me there was a touch too much ‘telling’ going on here.

However, I really did enjoy the bio-chem plot background. It’s also refreshing to read a detective story in which the characters are mature, competent individuals who don’t unnecessarily imperil themselves through dumb-ass activity, but instead control the investigation in time-honoured Holmesian fashion.

If the storytelling evens out in the full-length novels in this series, then I suspect the Roger & Suzanne books will go down a treat with fans of cosy crime and whodunit mysteries.

7/10

There's a longer version of this review over at:
https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress...

[Dolores Ayotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Body in the Parking Structure" is a great introduction to mystery/suspense Author Jerold Last. This is my first exposure to him and to the main characters Suzanne and Roger Bowman in this fictional novella. Suzanne discovers a murdered body in the parking lot where she works. She quickly recognizes the man as a Bolivian scientist that both she and her PI husband, and former police officer, have met in the recent past.

They do not want this murder to go unsolved so they decide to do a little sleuthing on their own with the help of colleague Vincent, and their child care worker, Bruce. It doesn't take long for Roger to piece together the puzzle in this 'whodunit' case. With the co-operation of Detective Brown, the murder is quickly solved much to his surprise and pleasure. This novella is well-written and good clean entertainment...appropriate for a wide range of reading audiences.

I downloaded a free copy of this novella on my Kindle.

[Kim (Wistfulskimmies Book Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short novella involving Suzanne and Roger Bowman. This time around it is Suzanne who finds a body - in the parking lot at her workplace. Bringing back familiar characters and some new ones, plus something terribly wrong at a drug testing lab. Can Suzanne and Roger solve the mystery and find the killer?

This was a great little novella. Even if you haven't read any of the previous books, it doesn't matter as each character is introduced well. This was an intriguing mystery that got my brain cells working, as to who committed the murder and why the crime was committed. The story flowed well and the pace was good. This was a worthy addition to the Suzanne and Roger mysteries and a great place to start if you are a newcomer.

[Wanda Hartzenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short, fast paced read that has all the elements of a detective series with a notable shortage of detail.

This may sound like a negative but it is not.
This turned out to be a fun read.
All the necessary information is contained herein but all those details that are used to drag out a story and flesh it out was absent.
Making it a really easy and nice read. None of the essential information is missing. The characters are fluffed out enough for the reader to connect to them though not so fluffed that they become THAT family member, you know the one! The family member where you know every single breath taken.
This is a nice read and worth it's 4 * review rating.
WaAr

[Olga Miret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any of the other books in the series. I found the story well written and very well researched, particularly the world of pharmaceutical companies and how new drugs are researched. Technically very detailed. I would have enjoyed more detail about the investigators and the main characters as I wasn't already familiar with them and I felt as if I would have enjoyed it more had I had more background.
All characters were interesting and the structure was that of a classical detective novel.
I think there is enough story to make it a full length novel.
Olga Núñez Miret. Author of 'The Man Who Never Was' 'El hombre que nunca existió'

[Sharon Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining addition to the Roger and Suzanne series of mysteries. Could probably be read as a stand alone but the background and character development from previous books in the series would make this much more enjoyable.

Very well crafted, tightly written novella with returning characters from a series I enjoy. I particularly like this series for the way the characters are presented, a married couple, mature, well educated and sensible. The author manages the plot lines very well without having to resort to "doing something stupid" which is something that is more rare than I'd like it to be.

[Angus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a murder mystery private detective case book that is part of a series. It is a very short work, two hours reading time and it gets the job done with excellent editing and plot development. This could easily convert into a script for one of the crime shows that used to roll over us on the TV networks when I was growing up and here's a big bonus. They did their research.

The descriptions of chemistry processes, biotech business development, geography and forensics bring the work home and make it fun. Awesome job.

http://www.amazon.com/Body-Parking-St...

[S.E. Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short and fast story. It is very technical but engaging. The story is written like a sitcom episode. The reader learns about what the characters do for a living but unless the reader has prior knowledge of the characters, there is no insight of who they really are. Maybe the character development was done in the first series. Roger, who is the main character, is written in the first person, which pulls the reader in, but at some point in the story Vincent's character is also written in kind, which becomes confusing. This can easily be corrected. All in all, this story is a good read and very informative about the world of pharmaceutical companies.

[Ey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Roger Bowman/Suzanne Foster South American Mystery Series I have read. I wasn't disappointed when I read it. It's amazing the reasons people will kill others. I like the step by step way the story is written to bring you to the conclusion without giving away the killer. Jerold is descriptive just enough so you can picture exactly what is going on. The couple are enjoyable and work well together and make you want to read the author's other books just so you can know how their union started. I had to chuckle at the choice of nanny they picked for their infant.

[Monica Akinyi Odhiambo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Interesting read,an investigative series about a dead body that turned up at UCLA parking lot compound,of a scientist who was coming from Bolivia to sell some patent for anti-cancer drug ,probably because that was once my line in College so I was able to understand everything they talked about.Everything Pharmacological...am glad I took time to read it.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow moving

The book started out to very interesting. Then developed a lag time. The book finally became very interesting about two-thirds through. The characters were well-defined. The plot was good. It just took too long to get to it.

[Glenda · Rating 1 out of 5]

too much of something..I did not enjoy it.

[Issa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stilted and unbelievable dialogue, random and unmarked change in POV, and a ridiculously unlikeable main character made for a poor story.