Without a Head

Dying to be Beautiful #1

by M. Glenda Rosen

“Dying To Be Beautiful,” is about the billion-dollar world of beauty, a mystery series that take place in "The Hamptons," where the murdered and suspected murderers are often arrogant and obnoxious with a sense of entitlement. Private Investigator Jenna Preston and her long-time friend, Detective Troy Johnson, work together to solve these murders and other crimes. These cases lead Jenna to philosophical perspectives, danger, romance (thanks to her dog, Watson) as well as secondary stories of human behavior and life in The Hamptons. Intriguing and fascinating stories of bad behavior, they recount mistakes and misdirection, because in the billion-dollar world of beauty there are those who are literally...
dying to be beautiful!

The 2015 Southern California Book Festival
UNPUBLISHED
HONORABLE MENTION:
“Dying To Be Beautiful” – M. Glenda Rosen

140 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2016

Reviews

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded up for its unexpected charm.

I will be upfront: the writing is wooden interspersed with what I feel to be weird interjections and the dialogues are equally as stilted.

The storyline itself was at least interesting, but it was the descriptions and background about the Hamptons that I found oddly charming; there's so much love for the place that just shines through.

It was unfortunate though that the descriptions sometimes felt out of place - the jumps between actual story, flashbacks, and world building was fairly abrupt at times and made the overall story feel jumbled. There were times where I forgot where we were in the actual story.

I'm not sure why it bothered me, but my first impression of Jenna was that of a single dog mum nursing a lost love, Dave. So I was a bit confused when Dave later came onto the scene, not a lost love, but very much involved in the relationship.

Thanks BookSirens for a copy of the book.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky easy read. As always mystery murders must have a dead body and this one is quite unique. Might make you think twice about having your hair done. Nice descriptive writing about the Hamptons, at least well enough to make you feel the setting. I like this type of detective. Actually all the characters had their own distinct personalities. I will say there is some strong explicit language here and a few scenes are quite graphic. It surprised me to find it in what I think was like a cozy. I can’t say the exact description here, so I hope you get my meaning.

Overall not a bad book. Hope we’ll read some more about a few of these quirky characters.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story starts out with a head in a shampoo bowl and it's off to the races.

Main character, Jenna Preston, was multi faceted and often as much as a mystery as the story. I like that she and the police work together to solve the problem.

Living in Florida with Spring Break I found her picture of Summer in the Hamptons quite accurate.

Each time I thought I was onto the "perp" the trail was blocked and another one opened. In the end, I realized the clues were there to be seen.

This is a stand along book the doesn't force you to read more. However. I will be

looking forward to the rest of the story of Jenna.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sofface · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to be nasty, but I just did not enjoy this at all. Firstly, too much information about the dogs and other things that I felt had nothing to do with the story line, and not enough information about things directly relating to the story line. Also, they're were quite a few spelling & grammatical errors which really pulled me out of the story. Not that I was all the way in anyway, but it's still annoying.

[Diane Edbauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Without a Head' by M. Glenda Rosen is an easy read about a young sleuth who works as a private investigator. Jenna Pearson PI often solves crimes with long time friend and police investigator Troy Johnson in the beautiful vacation land of the Hamptons on Long Island. The story opens with Jenna's hair dresser finding a severed head in her salon sink. Although the victim was recognized as an former employee of the salon solving his murder is challenging without his body. The set up of this book and telling of this book is well done.I like the characters and the dog Watson and even the fact that Jenna is environmentally aware. The romance aspect is a nice side story too. However, I think that the antagonist was revealed too early in the book. I like to keep guessing right to the near end. This book was a fun read. Thank you Goodreads for sharing it with me

[Dorsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.

[Ruth Coulson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot in Without a Head is very well thought out, and comes to a satisfactory conclusion, which makes for a satisfying read.

However, for me, the book just did not have any real appeal. Perhaps it was my fault. After all, a severed head in a shampoo bowl is a little off-putting. Even more off-putting for the owner of the salon in which it was found, of course. But even though I liked the way the story flowed and the setting I did not feel engaged with any of the characters, except perhaps Watson who is very appealing. Watson is the dog.

In a few places a lack of good editing showed because there was a break in continuity and some obvious changes of mind that had not been edited in properly.

All in all, though, as it is the beginning of a series, it does promise that there are to be more, and I hope even better books to come.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Calvin Shepard’s (37, former hair stylist, Darcy’s salon) severed head had been found in the sink at Darcy’s salon in Long Island.
Darcy Monroe (43, owner), Antonio Russo (hair stylist, Darcy’s salon), & Beth Foster (30+, hair stylist, Darcy’s salon) were all interviewed by Detective Troy Johnson, & Jenna Preston (PI, Columbia, journalism).
Watson (Irish setter) accompanies Jenna wherever she goes.
Doc Bishop (coroner), & Lara Stern (head of forensics), arrived on the crime scene.
Jason Marks 23, Jimmy Marshall (21), & Evan Brooks (23) had found a head close by the dockside bar/restaurant. It was confirmed it belonged on the body of Hank Walker (48).

Suspense murder thriller from here on out?
Will the crimes be solved?
Who will be brought to justice?

Warning: This book contains extremely graphic adult content, violence, or expletive language &/or uncensored sexually explicit material which is only suitable for mature readers. It may be offensive to some readers.

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written murder mystery book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great murder mystery movie, or a mini TV series. 1 book you must read to the very end. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free Goodreads; MakingConnections; Lulu Publishing service; Autographed; paperback book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Gay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The “Dying to Be Beautiful” mystery series. This story is set in The Hamptons area on the east end of Long Island, where the rich and famous are pampered, specifically in Darcy’s salon. Alas, she discovers the head of a man in one of her sinks.
She calls Private Investigator and friend Jenna Preston, a native of the area. Jenna calls the P.D. in the person of Detective Troy Johnson.
The head is identificd as that of a former stylist whom Darcy fired because of being drunk and disorderly too many times. By delving into his background and his relationship with the wife of a man whose financial dealings are questionable, and by looking at the victim’s associates, they discover there is more going on in their community than they knew about.
The love of Jenna’s life is Watson, an Irish setter, and boyfriend, Dave, who raises dogs. Lulu Publishing Services.

[Ellie Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be better with some solid editing. I found the descriptions of life in The Hamptons to be very interesting. The characters are quirky enough to be entertaining. I found the story line to be a bit unique, which was pleasurable. The author seems not to have a great deal of experience writing fiction: the mechanics of writing show through too clearly. I enjoyed reading the novel and wouldn't hesitate to pass it along to someone who also would enjoy it. The print is very small. Since I am a senior, I had to read it with a magnifier. I appreciated the lovely bookmarks that accompanied the copy. Receiving this as a giveaway was a pleasure, and I appreciate the book and its author. I think Ms. Rosen's next titles will be at least as entertaining as this one. I will look forward to reading them.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought it was a very good book. loved the book.

[Lora]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and will review once I've read it.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won on Goodreads. This was a very simply cozy mystery. It was okay. Would I read book 2 in this series? Yes I would.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

To begin with, the story line was terrific, well-thought out, proceeding from beginning to end with some glitches, as may be expected in a murder case, and with a couple of sub-plots to complicate matters.

However, the story line cannot stand alone. There are too many errors in grammar and punctuation, and the print is ridiculously small! The vocabulary is about third grade level.

The only characters very well fleshed out were Jenna and Sergeant Miller, and the latter had a limited role in the story.

The good guys were too good, and the bad guys too evil without us understanding why.

Some interesting points about the environment and the plight of the homeless were brought in, but were not part of the story.

Some of the items included within the story would have been better in an epilogue, particularly the fact that no one claimed the body of one of the victims, and the adoption of the Irish Setter puppy.

The latter, complete with naming it Agatha, would have made a perfect last line!