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Reightman & Bailey #1
Done Rubbed Out
In this first book of the Reightman & Bailey Series, deceit, corruption and murder tangle together with vivid, unconventional characters in a story of unlikely new friendships and their power to change us.
Things are going well at the Time Out Spa, but the night young proprietor Toby Bailey discovers his former lover naked and dead on a massage table, more things are spoiled than just his white leather shoes. Detective Melba Reightman and partner, Sam Jackson are called in to investigate and soon become embroiled in the most perplexing homicide case seen in years.
After a Hunting knife engraved with Toby's name is found in a pile of wet, bloody laundry, he's arrested for the murder of Geraldo Guzman. He enlists the aid of Madame Zhou Li, practicing attorney and owner of Green Dragon Chinese Herbs and Teas. The peculiar octogenarian seems an unlikely choice to defend him, but has a few tricks up her sleeve. Toby joins forces with Reightman and Jackson and a shocking string of clues leads them closer to the killer. The bad news? Successfully solving the crime might unleash a firestorm on this southern city, and come with a price none of them are prepared to pay.
Things are going well at the Time Out Spa, but the night young proprietor Toby Bailey discovers his former lover naked and dead on a massage table, more things are spoiled than just his white leather shoes. Detective Melba Reightman and partner, Sam Jackson are called in to investigate and soon become embroiled in the most perplexing homicide case seen in years.
After a Hunting knife engraved with Toby's name is found in a pile of wet, bloody laundry, he's arrested for the murder of Geraldo Guzman. He enlists the aid of Madame Zhou Li, practicing attorney and owner of Green Dragon Chinese Herbs and Teas. The peculiar octogenarian seems an unlikely choice to defend him, but has a few tricks up her sleeve. Toby joins forces with Reightman and Jackson and a shocking string of clues leads them closer to the killer. The bad news? Successfully solving the crime might unleash a firestorm on this southern city, and come with a price none of them are prepared to pay.
- GenresM M RomanceMystery
340 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 7, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 27, 2016
(Originally reviewed for Love Bytes Reviews with a copy provided by the Publisher / Author for an honest review.)
I stumbled onto this book on a list of available to review books that we had at Love Bytes. I knew nothing about the book, or the author, but I’m always willing to give a new to me author a chance.
Wow, am I glad I did. I absolutely loved this book. It is extremely well written. The world building was flawless. And, most importantly, I was hooked from the first page. I will admit that I wasn’t super thrilled at the cliffhanger ending on this one, but luckily for me book two, Hard Job, was already out, so I didn’t have to stop! I read straight through both books, and now have to remember where the first one stopped so I don’t include anything from the second one!
Toby Bailey is a young business owner, co-owning an upscale massage spa with his childhood best friend Geraldo Guzman. But Toby has discovered something beyond disturbing as the book opens. He walks into one of the rooms at the business to find his friend Geraldo, or Geri, dead on the table, with blood sprayed everywhere and Geri’s green eyes wide open and looking at the doorway where Toby is standing.
Who killed Geri, and why? At first there are no clues except a knife found at the scene that has “Toby” engraved on the handle. Things don’t look good for Mr. Bailey. But there is more to the story. When Toby is arrested and released we meet his delightful attorney, Madame Zhou, as well as the head detective on the case, Melba Reightman. I loved both women’s characters. One thing that this author excels at is character development. Everyone in the book is very well described, and detailed. I felt I knew them all by the time I finished the book. Brilliant characters.
Toby and Detective Reightman are off on a journey of discovery. Who killed Geri, and what is in the package that Geri left instructions for Toby to find? A whole Pandora’s Box of shit storm for some of the leading citizens in the city…that’s what. And they might not be that happy to have that Box opened.
The book is an excellent mystery and police detective story, incorporating some politicians and religious leaders who could have been pulled from current headlines. Excellent job Mr. Craig.
I highly recommend this book, as well as the next one in the series, which as I said I’ve already greedily consumed. One word of caution. These books are not romance, so if you’re a romance only person, they wouldn’t be for you. As for me…I’ll be anxiously awaiting book three, which hopefully is coming soon!
I stumbled onto this book on a list of available to review books that we had at Love Bytes. I knew nothing about the book, or the author, but I’m always willing to give a new to me author a chance.
Wow, am I glad I did. I absolutely loved this book. It is extremely well written. The world building was flawless. And, most importantly, I was hooked from the first page. I will admit that I wasn’t super thrilled at the cliffhanger ending on this one, but luckily for me book two, Hard Job, was already out, so I didn’t have to stop! I read straight through both books, and now have to remember where the first one stopped so I don’t include anything from the second one!
Toby Bailey is a young business owner, co-owning an upscale massage spa with his childhood best friend Geraldo Guzman. But Toby has discovered something beyond disturbing as the book opens. He walks into one of the rooms at the business to find his friend Geraldo, or Geri, dead on the table, with blood sprayed everywhere and Geri’s green eyes wide open and looking at the doorway where Toby is standing.
Who killed Geri, and why? At first there are no clues except a knife found at the scene that has “Toby” engraved on the handle. Things don’t look good for Mr. Bailey. But there is more to the story. When Toby is arrested and released we meet his delightful attorney, Madame Zhou, as well as the head detective on the case, Melba Reightman. I loved both women’s characters. One thing that this author excels at is character development. Everyone in the book is very well described, and detailed. I felt I knew them all by the time I finished the book. Brilliant characters.
Toby and Detective Reightman are off on a journey of discovery. Who killed Geri, and what is in the package that Geri left instructions for Toby to find? A whole Pandora’s Box of shit storm for some of the leading citizens in the city…that’s what. And they might not be that happy to have that Box opened.
The book is an excellent mystery and police detective story, incorporating some politicians and religious leaders who could have been pulled from current headlines. Excellent job Mr. Craig.
I highly recommend this book, as well as the next one in the series, which as I said I’ve already greedily consumed. One word of caution. These books are not romance, so if you’re a romance only person, they wouldn’t be for you. As for me…I’ll be anxiously awaiting book three, which hopefully is coming soon!
August 26, 2019
DNF @ 5%.
The prologue really captured my attention, but from then on, it was all downhill.
The prologue was told from Toby's POV, but then Chapter 1 starts from Detective Melba's POV and from there it just starts switching from one paragraph to the next with no page break or anything to indicate the switch. I prefer a singular POV, but if you insist on head-jumping, at least format the story in a way that you can tell when the POV has changed.
Not only does the POV change from one paragraph to the next, but we jump into flashbacks from one paragraph and back to the present in the next. The first chapter starts with Melba walking in her from door, describing her 2 bdrm apartment, and then jumps into the flashback of her working her way to a promotion, having grand kids, finding out her husband is cheating, getting divorced.... being told as if that is the story for page upon page, and then suddenly we're back to present day.
Thoughts are in italics and in quotations. At one point, we get the line: "Well, those are ruined," she thought. Which, do you need to indicate the "she thought" if you have formatted thoughts in a particular manner?
Melba describes Toby as youngish, fairly tall, but slightly built. In the next sentence she described him as looking young and as being frail and fragile. Upon approaching him, the young man (in case you weren't already aware he was young), she notes that he was somewhat thing, in-line with her earlier observation and that there was nothing fragile about him. In fact, she notes that his body looked fit and strong. So, the youngish man looked young and slightly built and frail and fragile, but not fragile, but rather fit and strong. Got it.
Melba walks into the scene of the crime. She notices the room is soft brown colors accented with silvery brushed metal storage cabinets with frosted glass fronts and stone surface counter tops. She notices the beigey walls and tasteful black & white photos. She notices Toby's ruined white suede shoes. She notices the wide, padded massage table on a mechanical lift. She notices the blue sheets. Then she sees the body which, by the way, was on top of the blue sheets, on the table, in the middle of the beigey room with the tasteful photos. A crime tech tells her to be careful of the puddles of blood. "Yeah. Good thing you told me, I probably would've missed them," she quipped sarcastically. Well, the body was like the 10th thing she notices in the room, so it stands to reason that she may miss a puddle of blood.
This line really sealed the deal that this book wasn't going to work for me: He occupied himself by keeping trying to keep completely still..
The prologue really captured my attention, but from then on, it was all downhill.
The prologue was told from Toby's POV, but then Chapter 1 starts from Detective Melba's POV and from there it just starts switching from one paragraph to the next with no page break or anything to indicate the switch. I prefer a singular POV, but if you insist on head-jumping, at least format the story in a way that you can tell when the POV has changed.
Not only does the POV change from one paragraph to the next, but we jump into flashbacks from one paragraph and back to the present in the next. The first chapter starts with Melba walking in her from door, describing her 2 bdrm apartment, and then jumps into the flashback of her working her way to a promotion, having grand kids, finding out her husband is cheating, getting divorced.... being told as if that is the story for page upon page, and then suddenly we're back to present day.
Thoughts are in italics and in quotations. At one point, we get the line: "Well, those are ruined," she thought. Which, do you need to indicate the "she thought" if you have formatted thoughts in a particular manner?
Melba describes Toby as youngish, fairly tall, but slightly built. In the next sentence she described him as looking young and as being frail and fragile. Upon approaching him, the young man (in case you weren't already aware he was young), she notes that he was somewhat thing, in-line with her earlier observation and that there was nothing fragile about him. In fact, she notes that his body looked fit and strong. So, the youngish man looked young and slightly built and frail and fragile, but not fragile, but rather fit and strong. Got it.
Melba walks into the scene of the crime. She notices the room is soft brown colors accented with silvery brushed metal storage cabinets with frosted glass fronts and stone surface counter tops. She notices the beigey walls and tasteful black & white photos. She notices Toby's ruined white suede shoes. She notices the wide, padded massage table on a mechanical lift. She notices the blue sheets. Then she sees the body which, by the way, was on top of the blue sheets, on the table, in the middle of the beigey room with the tasteful photos. A crime tech tells her to be careful of the puddles of blood. "Yeah. Good thing you told me, I probably would've missed them," she quipped sarcastically. Well, the body was like the 10th thing she notices in the room, so it stands to reason that she may miss a puddle of blood.
This line really sealed the deal that this book wasn't going to work for me: He occupied himself by keeping trying to keep completely still..
February 11, 2021
I love these characters! The protagonists are engaging and my interest in their lives continued to grow throughout the book. And just when I thought I knew who did it, another development kept me on my toes. Looking forward to the second book, and hoping the bad guy (or girl) gets their due!
October 11, 2018
This was so awfully written, I couldn't even finish. The manuscript was filled with abverbs, redundancies, stage direction that didn't add to the story, and over-explaining. I feel like this was a first draft that never went through edits to carve out the head-hopping, telling not showing and the obvious statements. For example: "He stood on his feet." What else was he going to stand on, his hands? His stumps? This, in conjunction, with the too often used character thoughts, which were both italicized and quoted (okay, can we pick one please?) and swinging back and forth between calling the main character by her first name and her surname, as if the author couldn't decide how well he knew her, if he knew her at all, and how he wanted to present her, left me irritated and exasperated
The dialogue didn't seem natural and the dialogue tags were abundant with all of the adjectives that basic creative writing tells you not to use, which, of course, becomes distracting - which is why they teach you not to use them.
The main detective, Melba Reightman, is middle-aged and in menopause. The number of hot flashes this woman has in the first two chapters seems to pound this home - relentlessly; that and her aching feet. Her under-developed character made her indistinguishable from her partner. Her backstory, which was dumped early on the reader gave me what she was supposed to be, but we were never shown that.
The suspect, Toby Bailey, although young, seemed childish and unbelievable in many aspects. He's supposed to be a college graduate whose lover/friend he finds dead and he's worried about his shoes. Also, the first time he meets his lover, he cums in his pants by the pool because the guy is slathering his chest with oil. Has this kid never had sex? Has he never touched himself? What kind of 20-something blows his wad like that? Maybe if he were 15, but not college-aged. It just didn't seem real.
The only saving grace of this novel, at least within the first two chapters, because I couldn't get past that, was Madam Zhou. She seemed better conceived and thoughtfully developed. If this had gone through beta readers and proper substantive and/or developmental editing, it might have become apparent that the real main character for this book was her - not the detective(s).
I also noticed in one of the other reviews that this doesn't conclude with the mystery being solved. That's a basic violation of the contract between reader and writer. When a reader starts a mystery, they expect it to be wrapped up by the end. If it takes two novels (or more) to resolve it, then there's something wrong, but I've identified what I think is wrong with this above and that's only in the first 57 pages.
The dialogue didn't seem natural and the dialogue tags were abundant with all of the adjectives that basic creative writing tells you not to use, which, of course, becomes distracting - which is why they teach you not to use them.
The main detective, Melba Reightman, is middle-aged and in menopause. The number of hot flashes this woman has in the first two chapters seems to pound this home - relentlessly; that and her aching feet. Her under-developed character made her indistinguishable from her partner. Her backstory, which was dumped early on the reader gave me what she was supposed to be, but we were never shown that.
The suspect, Toby Bailey, although young, seemed childish and unbelievable in many aspects. He's supposed to be a college graduate whose lover/friend he finds dead and he's worried about his shoes. Also, the first time he meets his lover, he cums in his pants by the pool because the guy is slathering his chest with oil. Has this kid never had sex? Has he never touched himself? What kind of 20-something blows his wad like that? Maybe if he were 15, but not college-aged. It just didn't seem real.
The only saving grace of this novel, at least within the first two chapters, because I couldn't get past that, was Madam Zhou. She seemed better conceived and thoughtfully developed. If this had gone through beta readers and proper substantive and/or developmental editing, it might have become apparent that the real main character for this book was her - not the detective(s).
I also noticed in one of the other reviews that this doesn't conclude with the mystery being solved. That's a basic violation of the contract between reader and writer. When a reader starts a mystery, they expect it to be wrapped up by the end. If it takes two novels (or more) to resolve it, then there's something wrong, but I've identified what I think is wrong with this above and that's only in the first 57 pages.
April 14, 2016
Great suspense! Love the character development. The ending is as dramatic and suspenseful as the beginning, which makes me very happy Volume 2 is out. Can't wait!
June 27, 2017
Toby Bailey and Geraldo Guzman own a high class spa called Time Out Spa. One night Toby walks into one of the rooms and finds his business partner and former lover dead on the table. After looking around a hunting knife is found with Tody’s name carved on it. He is quickly arrested and accused of the murder. But he calls in Madam Zhou to help defend him. Detective Reightman and Toby are going to have their hands full solving this murder, especially since the box by Geri’s body has a whole bunch of dirt on some very powerful people and it’s up to then to find it.
Toby is a great character and well developed. You can’t help feeling for him losing his best friend. Then you have a full cast of characters that add at little to the story with their little perks and quirks. You don’t realize how they all fit together but they all help this story shine.
This is a great mystery that will draw you in with the first couple pages and leave you guessing at who the real killer is. Just when you think you might know who did it something will pop up that will throw you off kilter. There is a wide case to keep everything rolling and a cliff hanger that will leave you wanting more.
If you are looking for a really good mystery, look no further. I was completely surprised by this book and I can’t wait to start reading book 2.
I received Done Rubbed Out from Silver Dagger Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.
Toby is a great character and well developed. You can’t help feeling for him losing his best friend. Then you have a full cast of characters that add at little to the story with their little perks and quirks. You don’t realize how they all fit together but they all help this story shine.
This is a great mystery that will draw you in with the first couple pages and leave you guessing at who the real killer is. Just when you think you might know who did it something will pop up that will throw you off kilter. There is a wide case to keep everything rolling and a cliff hanger that will leave you wanting more.
If you are looking for a really good mystery, look no further. I was completely surprised by this book and I can’t wait to start reading book 2.
I received Done Rubbed Out from Silver Dagger Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.
October 2, 2019
Decent book with many grammar and spelling errors
As a gay man myself I'm always happy to come across good stories with interesting gay characters, and Toby Bailey is an okay protagonist, but not nearly as interesting as Melba Reightman, Madame Zhou, Grams, and other female figures in this story. I feel I know the women I met within these pages, but Toby and his dead ex-lover, Geri Guzman, are still largely a mystery to me. And it is really too bad Mr. Craig didn't have an editor to sift through all the wrong words, dropped words, and other spelling/grammar errors, because having to re-read things to figure out what the author meant to say did affect my enjoyment of the story. The fact that it ends on a cliffhanger irritates me, too. Will Geri's murder be avenged in book 2, or will it continue on into book 3 or 4? I might never know, because I'm off now in search of a page-turner that comes to a satisfying conclusion when I've read the last page. I'm rounding up to 4 stars because writing is hard work and I don't feel that I wasted my time reading this book, but I didn't love Toby Bailey enough to want to continue on his journey.
As a gay man myself I'm always happy to come across good stories with interesting gay characters, and Toby Bailey is an okay protagonist, but not nearly as interesting as Melba Reightman, Madame Zhou, Grams, and other female figures in this story. I feel I know the women I met within these pages, but Toby and his dead ex-lover, Geri Guzman, are still largely a mystery to me. And it is really too bad Mr. Craig didn't have an editor to sift through all the wrong words, dropped words, and other spelling/grammar errors, because having to re-read things to figure out what the author meant to say did affect my enjoyment of the story. The fact that it ends on a cliffhanger irritates me, too. Will Geri's murder be avenged in book 2, or will it continue on into book 3 or 4? I might never know, because I'm off now in search of a page-turner that comes to a satisfying conclusion when I've read the last page. I'm rounding up to 4 stars because writing is hard work and I don't feel that I wasted my time reading this book, but I didn't love Toby Bailey enough to want to continue on his journey.
July 1, 2018
Ok but a longer novel split in half
Plotting is slow and for a longer novel but this is just the first half. Actually made it to the end with out finding the solution to the murder and have no desire to start the second novel (second half) as I expect that one will also end mid plot.
Plotting is slow and for a longer novel but this is just the first half. Actually made it to the end with out finding the solution to the murder and have no desire to start the second novel (second half) as I expect that one will also end mid plot.
June 29, 2022
Disappointed
Others have noted that this book is only Part One; that is a disappointment, but only masks a bigger problem: much of this novel is filled with unnecessary detail and information that does nothing to develop plot or character. It's padding and bogs down the story. I suspect 35-40% could have been edited out. Moreover, sections like Toby's past aren't integrated well into the novel and just seem tossed in. This is a shame because I can see this author has potential. The sections introducing Madame Zhou and the Councilman's rally are excellent. They almost sing. If only the rest of the novel had this focus, this tightness. And the Zhou character is wonderful. With some attention and focus, I'd happily read a novel or series based on her life.
Others have noted that this book is only Part One; that is a disappointment, but only masks a bigger problem: much of this novel is filled with unnecessary detail and information that does nothing to develop plot or character. It's padding and bogs down the story. I suspect 35-40% could have been edited out. Moreover, sections like Toby's past aren't integrated well into the novel and just seem tossed in. This is a shame because I can see this author has potential. The sections introducing Madame Zhou and the Councilman's rally are excellent. They almost sing. If only the rest of the novel had this focus, this tightness. And the Zhou character is wonderful. With some attention and focus, I'd happily read a novel or series based on her life.
September 9, 2016
A Fantastic book of mystery, murder and mayhem
When I downloaded the book, I didn't have too much enthusiasm but I was soon proved wrong. The personalities in the story blossomed into people that would be the best of friends if they were met in the 'real world'. The full spectrum of human emotion can be found in this, I hope to be the first of many stories involving my newly made fictional friends and enemies.
When I downloaded the book, I didn't have too much enthusiasm but I was soon proved wrong. The personalities in the story blossomed into people that would be the best of friends if they were met in the 'real world'. The full spectrum of human emotion can be found in this, I hope to be the first of many stories involving my newly made fictional friends and enemies.
May 7, 2016
I could not put the book down. I immediately became immersed in the story and HAD to find out what happened...the characters are believable, some very likable and one not likable at all. A good book...
July 5, 2016
Received this in a Goodreads Giveaway. May have been a 4- or 5-star if things were resolved by the end of the book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews