The List of Dead Smiths

by D.L. Williams

Adult Content. The Uber-Rich Smiths of Port Royal are dropping like flies, and in the most bizarre fashion. When Cousin Sheldon suffers death by heavy-set Asian hookers, and Cousin Lura Lee falls prey to death by pterodactyl, Sydney Smith gets the feeling she might be next on the list. She hires private investigator Tate Pendergast to solve the mystery. Tate believes the Seven Deadly Sins are somehow tied to the Smith deaths, if only he could find the elusive Pedro (a dead-ringer for the Mexican actor Cantinflas). Pedro, a man of mystery, seems to be nearby each time a Smith dies, but finding Pedro is harder than finding an honest politician. Could Ernie be involved in the killings or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Can Tate solve the riddle and save Sydney’s life, or is he just driving Sydney’s Aston Martin around Naples, Florida, waiting for the last shoe (or the last Smith) to drop?

Genres: Mystery

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2014

About the author

D.L.Williams was born in San Diego, California and raised in Borrego Springs. The small California desert community and large assorted family helped create his unique personality.
Recently, after spending 24 years working for a New England based grocery wholesale company, he retired and moved to Naples, Florida, to start(he hopes)a successful writing career.
His first novel is Pennies from Hell, published in 2013.
When not writing, D.L.Williams enjoys riding his bike around Naples, losing New England winter weight (ten pounds in two weeks) and lounging by the pool in the sun (so he wont be confused with the Vampire race).
He is also writing Children's books with the cover artist that created his Pennies from Hell cover, Tim Campbell of Keene, N.H. Their first book should be out at the end of October, The Almost True Adventures of Whyboy.

Reviews

[P Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The List of Dead Smiths is a wonderful quirky mystery romp that you'll love from start to finish. It's really fast-paced and I found myself not wanting to put the story down until I had it all figured out.

The author introduces the deaths of some of the Smiths in the beginning chapters and the circumstances are just absurd, hilarious and for some strange reason completely believable once you get to know the characters.

I really enjoyed this one and I wanted to recommend it. If you like your mysteries with a load of humor, you'll love this book. The characters and the settings were perfect. You'll be sad it's over but laugh all the way through.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!!!!
The author definitely knows how to write a good mystery book!
The book was one of the best I've read in a while and I would recommend to start it on a Friday or when ever you break starts cause you might not be able to put it down (I stayed up too late :P )

[Syd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through a goodreads first reads giveaway.

The first thing you should know about this book is that everyone is obsessed with dicks. No joke, almost every
character sounded like a 12 year old boy at some point (or nearly every point). I think that was supposed to be the majority of the humour in the book but that was old before it was new.

So the constant dick thoughts were not funny but was seriously overkill. The Smith family attraction to inanimate objects was weird and then annoying. I rolled my eyes at the chapter about the lesbian member of the Smith family. I was not expecting bestiality to make the list for things that happened/were mentioned in this book but there it was. Sydney went from being terrified for her life to pushing down the detective to have her wicked way with him in about two seconds, I just ?????? Everything Sydney did or said was stupid and didn't make sense or fit right. Ernie was a better character. Sylvie's confession to Regina sounded stupid (pretty sure she should have figured that out for herself years ago as well). Why was Detective Frank acting like an idiot when he has to talk to Bessie? It seemed very pointless even for him. I feel like most characters were pointless or weirdly gross and pointless. Kind of seems like killing off this family was a public service.

The "humour" seriously overwhelmed the plot. I liked the sound of the mystery but it gets buried under some weird and annoying stuff in just the first chapter. The one thing I did like was finding out for sure who was behind taking out the Smith family. I did not enjoy reading this book.

I believe there are missing quotation marks on pages 94 and 171. And an unnecessary quotation mark on page 281. And a name that wasn't capitalised on page 284.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept of this book and I could tell where it was going and what it was trying to do. I just think that it wasn't developed quite enough to get a good sense of a solid plot. It however, was an interesting read and I'm interested in how Williams continues with his writing. I received this book for free through goodreads, but I'm not being paid to write a review. Despite the lack of depth in the characters the story was quirky, and had a good twist.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am rarely surprised by the outcome of any mysteries, but I have to admit, this D.L Williams did it!
He made this a really fun book to read and one really crazy ride with all the twists and turns!!