Atlanta Graves

Sunny Childs Mystery #1

by Ruth Birmingham

Meet Sunny Childs -- the hard-nosed, sharped-tongued P.I. who is the lead detective at Peachtree Investigations."In Atlanta Graves", Sunny sets out to reclaim a stolen painting. But instead of the painting, she ends up with a dead body, unanswered questions -- and a full-fledged killer on her hands.

With Peachtree Investigations facing bankruptcy, Sunny must work fast -- not only to catch the murderer, but to save her job.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

283 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Also writes under the pseudonyms of Lynn Abercrombie and legal name Walter Sorrells.

Reviews

[William Maya]

This gem of a mystery is written by the award wining author Walter Sorrells under the pen name of Ruth Birmingham. This is the first of the Sunny Childs series. Sunny is an experienced PI in Atlanta, Georgia. The book is written from her perspective, so you get a ring-side seat of Sunny’s mind as she juggles multiple life-threatening situations over a long Memorial Day weekend. Peachtree Investigations, in which Sunny is essentially the managing partner, is hired by an insurance company regarding the theft of a valuable painting from a local gallery. An offer has been made to return the painting for $100,000 in cash. As the claim for the painting is $350,000, Sunny is hired by the company to make the trade of the cash for the painting. This seems like a straightforward assignment, but it goes horribly wrong and nothing is as it appears. To make matters worse, the founder of Peachtree, Gunnar Brushwood, is years past any effective investigational skills and runs the company on his reputation and contacts with the movers and shakers of Atlanta. Unfortunately, he also tends to disappear for days or weeks at a time, disappearing into the void without saying where he is going or when he will be back. Of course, he is the one everyone needs to talk to and Sunny has to lie and cover for him hoping he will pop up soon. In the meantime, the bank which provides a $250,000 line of credit, that Peachtree uses to cover daily expenses, is very nervous since Gunnar had removed his $100,000 certificate of deposit which was the collateral for the credit. This means Sunny has only four days recover the painting, solve a murder, and raise the hundred grand or Peachtree will be forced into bankruptcy.

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. It had a lot of twists and turns and some unexpected aspects of it which is exciting and rare in books today. It was able to capture the tone of Atlanta with all its idiosyncrasies and for a mystery which I generally classify as trash reading, I felt pulled into the story line.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great book. I loved the characters, and Sunny was a blast. I have not read such a well put together mystery in a while, it grabbed me from the beginning and kept pulling me in the whole way. Loved it.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

pen name for Walter Sorrells. Atlanta Graves '98 first in a mystery series featuring Sunny Childs, PI with Peachtree Investigations in Atlanta, GA. Can't remember why I didn't like this one, but I remember really not liking it!

[Jenine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and a little quaint as 10 year old popular fiction is. I enjoy the female private detective protag. Another one in this series (Feet of Clay) was engaging but the murders were much too gory for me.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun, & fast paced. i picked it up because i was traveling to atlanta and though i didn't a great sense of the city, i had a good time learning a lil' about the intersection of art and insurance.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sunny Childs, P.I.
Art theft, insurance deal turns into murder.
Good.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Sunny Childs of Peachtree Investigations is looking to reclaim a stolen painting but finds a body.