What do you think?
Rate this book
Dahlia Moss Mysteries #3
The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss
Veronica Mars meets the World of Warcraft in this mystery romp with a hilarious heroine.
Working for a games development company is my dream job. So, when a slightly sketchy lawyer offered me the opportunity, I had to take it! Who cares that the company has some quirks? No job is perfect. Some questionable, but probably totally normal issues:
A mysterious whistle-blower is posting the industry's dirty laundry on Reddit.
An unidentified corpse is in the staff room.
The game under development is for filthy casuals, and unwisely involves matching talking peppermints.
My job, technically speaking, is "Industry Spy."
It's all just a typical day at the office. Right?
Dive into Dahlia Moss's brilliant, bonkers mystery and enjoy pure, geeky fun!
Dahlia Moss Mysteries
The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss
The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss
The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss
Working for a games development company is my dream job. So, when a slightly sketchy lawyer offered me the opportunity, I had to take it! Who cares that the company has some quirks? No job is perfect. Some questionable, but probably totally normal issues:
A mysterious whistle-blower is posting the industry's dirty laundry on Reddit.
An unidentified corpse is in the staff room.
The game under development is for filthy casuals, and unwisely involves matching talking peppermints.
My job, technically speaking, is "Industry Spy."
It's all just a typical day at the office. Right?
Dive into Dahlia Moss's brilliant, bonkers mystery and enjoy pure, geeky fun!
Dahlia Moss Mysteries
The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss
The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss
The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 2018
17 people are currently reading
518 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
Want to read
March 26, 2024Preread
₊˚✧🌊🪸🪼✧˚₊‧
.
Sososososo very excited to read this book bc when I saw the words game developer and murder mystery I actually gasped
.
Even my mom said “how did you find a book that’s so much like you” love supportive mamas<33
₊˚✧🌊🪸🪼✧˚₊‧
.
Sososososo very excited to read this book bc when I saw the words game developer and murder mystery I actually gasped
.
Even my mom said “how did you find a book that’s so much like you” love supportive mamas<33
May 20, 2022
It took me longer than it should have to read this, because I kept stopping to laugh out loud. And it made me sad to think of all the people who haven't discovered Dahlia's unique voice yet, and sadder to realize that despite my feelings there are undoubtedly many people who wouldn't find it funny, humor being as personal as it is. Dahlia is hired to go undercover as a temporary receptionist at a firm that makes game apps, and be an industrial spy. Well, she knows how to be a receptionist, but the firm doesn't have any visitors, and most of the staff sleeps at their desks, because their corporate overlords want their current game finished, although the requirements for it keep changing. Then Dahlia finds a body in the supply room--she was only looking for toner!--and they're involved in a police investigation.
March 18, 2018
Dahlia Moss is hired to be an industry spy. Her job is to work as a temp at a software game development company and acquire the information her client wants. Mainly, the client wants to know what is taking so long for a game to be developed and they want the code to see what the problem is. However, once Dahlia is at the company, a couple of other issues arise, namely a mystery whistleblower and a dead body in the store room.
The third book in the Dahlia Moss mystery series. This is the first book I have read in this series, and it was a quick and entertaining cozy mystery.
Silly and light. Many crazy escapades occur along the way to Dahlia solving the mystery, but that was the fun of this book. Good for fans of contemporary cozies with kooky characters.
I received a copy of this book from Orbit Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The third book in the Dahlia Moss mystery series. This is the first book I have read in this series, and it was a quick and entertaining cozy mystery.
Silly and light. Many crazy escapades occur along the way to Dahlia solving the mystery, but that was the fun of this book. Good for fans of contemporary cozies with kooky characters.
I received a copy of this book from Orbit Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2018
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
I am so glad that this eARC asked me not to quote anything from the book until I could check with the published version because by the time I hit 5%, I'd already come up with a handful of candidates of quotations to start this post with, and I didn't want to have to choose.
Literally picking up where The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss left off -- with Emily Swenson asking Dahlia to be an industrial spy. She's being sent to serve as a Temp in the offices of a game development company -- they're best known for a really simple game, the kind you play in line at the DMV or something, it's relaxing. Still, it's a gaming company and a pretty successful one at that -- it's the kind of place Dahlia should work (if she wasn't becoming a detective). There's another company about to buy them out, but they need some more information -- there are rumors of problems in the office, are they true? Could they look at the existing code for the new version so someone can see why it's delayed?
Dahlia jumps at the assignment -- which is good, because otherwise the novel would be a very short, and pretty dull, story. She shows up for her first day to find, well, chaos? Chaos seems to be an understatement. She starts to acclimate pretty quickly and is behaving more professionally than just about anyone in the office. If Dahilia is the standard of professional behavior, that tells you everything you need to know about the rest. Oh, and then Dahlia finds a dead body. Now in addition to her Industrial Espionage work, there's maybe a murder for her to look into in her spare time.
The problems she faces staying staying incognito: The detective in charge of investigating the murder/suspicious death knows about her from Shuler. There's a reporter sniffing around -- and scheduled to tour the company -- who's written about her exploits. Her friends can't stop saying things to her coworkers about her being a detective. And, well, she's just not that subtle of an investigator -- she largely pulls it off, but that's primarily due to the company being in turmoil and no one having a lot of attention to devote to the question "why is our temp asking all these questions?"
Part of the fun of these books has been watching Dahlia flail around, unsure what to do next. There's less of that here -- she's learning. I'm not suggesting that she's transformed herself into Kinsey Millhone or Joan Watson, but there's something about her that's less flailing. Maybe because she has some pretty clear objectives this time out. I liked that hint of growing skills. Not bad for someone with a recent concussion.
Now, to the rest of the cast: the people in the office, by and large, feel like characters from other series. Gamers, SF geeks, cosplayers . . . those seem like people Dahlia interacts with. Responsible adults with steady jobs? Nope -- which serves the plot. There's a knitting circle that feels like what Dahlia's crowd will become in 30 years, and her interacting with them feels a bit more fitting.
The book is just as amusing as its predecessors, I literally laughed out loud a few times -- not at big comic moments, but at a line of dialogue or a quip Dahlia makes. The big comic moments worked for me, but not as effectively. As always, half the fun is from the very odd circumstances that Dahlia finds herself, but the other half of the fun is the way Dahlia narrates things, the metaphors, pop culture references, etc. Yeah, I thought the Mad Men references were a little too close to each other -- but I appreciated both of them so much, I didn't care (also, pairing Joan Holloway with Della Street? Perfect). One of the things that the writers behind MST3K always said that when they go for super-specific references that are obscure, they know that not all viewers will get the joke, but those that do will love it. There's a half-chapter in this book (and a couple of call-backs to it later) that I could swear was written just for me. And, yes, I loved it (I didn't give the book a bonus 1/2 star because of it, but I thought about it).
There's some maturing -- at least indicators that maturing and responsibility are on the horizon for ol' Dahlia. It reminded me of Lutz' The Last Word in that respect, but I had a lot more fun with this The Astonishing Mistakes than I did with Izzy Spellman's swan song (not that this is necessarily the end of Dahlia's adventures, though it's always seemed to be marketed as a trilogy). It's good to see that trajectory with Dahlia (and, honestly, her roommate).
Other than that, there's not much to differentiate this from the other two books in the series (as far as the writing goes, not the stories): the writing itself is fun, as is the story, a good mix of serious subject matter and comedic moments (none that detract from the tragedy of murder or anything). There's some good character moments and a decent mystery, too. If you haven't read any of Dahlia Moss' adventures, you should grab one and dive in -- this one will work just as well as the first or second. In the end, you'll want to read all three.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Orbit Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post -- thanks to both for this.
---
I am so glad that this eARC asked me not to quote anything from the book until I could check with the published version because by the time I hit 5%, I'd already come up with a handful of candidates of quotations to start this post with, and I didn't want to have to choose.
Literally picking up where The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss left off -- with Emily Swenson asking Dahlia to be an industrial spy. She's being sent to serve as a Temp in the offices of a game development company -- they're best known for a really simple game, the kind you play in line at the DMV or something, it's relaxing. Still, it's a gaming company and a pretty successful one at that -- it's the kind of place Dahlia should work (if she wasn't becoming a detective). There's another company about to buy them out, but they need some more information -- there are rumors of problems in the office, are they true? Could they look at the existing code for the new version so someone can see why it's delayed?
Dahlia jumps at the assignment -- which is good, because otherwise the novel would be a very short, and pretty dull, story. She shows up for her first day to find, well, chaos? Chaos seems to be an understatement. She starts to acclimate pretty quickly and is behaving more professionally than just about anyone in the office. If Dahilia is the standard of professional behavior, that tells you everything you need to know about the rest. Oh, and then Dahlia finds a dead body. Now in addition to her Industrial Espionage work, there's maybe a murder for her to look into in her spare time.
The problems she faces staying staying incognito: The detective in charge of investigating the murder/suspicious death knows about her from Shuler. There's a reporter sniffing around -- and scheduled to tour the company -- who's written about her exploits. Her friends can't stop saying things to her coworkers about her being a detective. And, well, she's just not that subtle of an investigator -- she largely pulls it off, but that's primarily due to the company being in turmoil and no one having a lot of attention to devote to the question "why is our temp asking all these questions?"
Part of the fun of these books has been watching Dahlia flail around, unsure what to do next. There's less of that here -- she's learning. I'm not suggesting that she's transformed herself into Kinsey Millhone or Joan Watson, but there's something about her that's less flailing. Maybe because she has some pretty clear objectives this time out. I liked that hint of growing skills. Not bad for someone with a recent concussion.
Now, to the rest of the cast: the people in the office, by and large, feel like characters from other series. Gamers, SF geeks, cosplayers . . . those seem like people Dahlia interacts with. Responsible adults with steady jobs? Nope -- which serves the plot. There's a knitting circle that feels like what Dahlia's crowd will become in 30 years, and her interacting with them feels a bit more fitting.
The book is just as amusing as its predecessors, I literally laughed out loud a few times -- not at big comic moments, but at a line of dialogue or a quip Dahlia makes. The big comic moments worked for me, but not as effectively. As always, half the fun is from the very odd circumstances that Dahlia finds herself, but the other half of the fun is the way Dahlia narrates things, the metaphors, pop culture references, etc. Yeah, I thought the Mad Men references were a little too close to each other -- but I appreciated both of them so much, I didn't care (also, pairing Joan Holloway with Della Street? Perfect). One of the things that the writers behind MST3K always said that when they go for super-specific references that are obscure, they know that not all viewers will get the joke, but those that do will love it. There's a half-chapter in this book (and a couple of call-backs to it later) that I could swear was written just for me. And, yes, I loved it (I didn't give the book a bonus 1/2 star because of it, but I thought about it).
There's some maturing -- at least indicators that maturing and responsibility are on the horizon for ol' Dahlia. It reminded me of Lutz' The Last Word in that respect, but I had a lot more fun with this The Astonishing Mistakes than I did with Izzy Spellman's swan song (not that this is necessarily the end of Dahlia's adventures, though it's always seemed to be marketed as a trilogy). It's good to see that trajectory with Dahlia (and, honestly, her roommate).
Other than that, there's not much to differentiate this from the other two books in the series (as far as the writing goes, not the stories): the writing itself is fun, as is the story, a good mix of serious subject matter and comedic moments (none that detract from the tragedy of murder or anything). There's some good character moments and a decent mystery, too. If you haven't read any of Dahlia Moss' adventures, you should grab one and dive in -- this one will work just as well as the first or second. In the end, you'll want to read all three.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Orbit Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post -- thanks to both for this.
October 22, 2019
Ahoy there me mateys! Though this log’s focus is on sci-fi, fantasy, and young adult, this Captain does have broader reading tastes. So occasionally I will share some novels that I enjoyed that are off the charts (a non sci-fi, fantasy, or young adult novel), as it were.
I received this silly, goofy contemporary murder mystery eARC from Goodreads Giveaways. Arrrrr! I was so excited to read this third book in the dahlia moss mysteries series. If ye haven’t read the first book, the unfortunate decisions of dahlia moss, then ye might want to skip this post and go read me review of the first book. No spoilers ahead but if ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .
So me hearties, I had absently said “I wonder what I should next read” when standing in me hold within the hearing of the first mate. And he exclaimed, “Something fun, that makes ye happy!” And I immediately knew that it was this book. This wonderful delightful book. When I showed the first mate me pick, his response was ” [chuckle] I like when ye read those Dahlia books. Ye heartily laugh out loud and then tell me about ’em.”
Yes, that is just what I did. Laughed and laughed. This was the zaniest, silliest book yet. After (barely) surviving her last two adventures, Dahlia is hired as a corporate spy on a mission to catch another corporate spy bent on espionage. Dahlia has to pose as a temp in order to go undercover and solve the case. The company – an app developer!
Seriously I didn’t think that Dahlia could up the ante on the last mission but this one was both absurd and delightful. The sheer number of people and intertwined problems in this one were ridiculously awesome. Dahlia is a mess but a fun one. It was a delight to see her put her questionable charming personality and skills to the test. If it hasn’t been clear, I loved it!!
The only sad part was that the ending of the book felt like an ending to the series. A fond, happy farewell. But a farewell nonetheless. I could read many more books about Dahlia. I would love the author to write oodles and gobs more. Heed me words, Matey Wirestone! If not, then I will read whatever this author writes next!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly Redhook Books and Goodreads Giveways!
I received this silly, goofy contemporary murder mystery eARC from Goodreads Giveaways. Arrrrr! I was so excited to read this third book in the dahlia moss mysteries series. If ye haven’t read the first book, the unfortunate decisions of dahlia moss, then ye might want to skip this post and go read me review of the first book. No spoilers ahead but if ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .
So me hearties, I had absently said “I wonder what I should next read” when standing in me hold within the hearing of the first mate. And he exclaimed, “Something fun, that makes ye happy!” And I immediately knew that it was this book. This wonderful delightful book. When I showed the first mate me pick, his response was ” [chuckle] I like when ye read those Dahlia books. Ye heartily laugh out loud and then tell me about ’em.”
Yes, that is just what I did. Laughed and laughed. This was the zaniest, silliest book yet. After (barely) surviving her last two adventures, Dahlia is hired as a corporate spy on a mission to catch another corporate spy bent on espionage. Dahlia has to pose as a temp in order to go undercover and solve the case. The company – an app developer!
Seriously I didn’t think that Dahlia could up the ante on the last mission but this one was both absurd and delightful. The sheer number of people and intertwined problems in this one were ridiculously awesome. Dahlia is a mess but a fun one. It was a delight to see her put her questionable charming personality and skills to the test. If it hasn’t been clear, I loved it!!
The only sad part was that the ending of the book felt like an ending to the series. A fond, happy farewell. But a farewell nonetheless. I could read many more books about Dahlia. I would love the author to write oodles and gobs more. Heed me words, Matey Wirestone! If not, then I will read whatever this author writes next!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly Redhook Books and Goodreads Giveways!
February 3, 2019
hoarder challenge: #23 Last in a trilogy
OMG!!! This was the best one yet!
Seriously, chapters 25-30 were HYSTERICAL!!! I was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of my eyes.
Just when i thought it couldn't get any nuttier, stuff just kept happening.
this one had very little game referencing, so i wasn't as clueless as the previous two. I've been a temp secretary (w/out the undercover corporate espionage element) so i could relate better to this story.
Another amusing romp w/Dahlia “geek detective”.
She does make you think it’d be easy to become a detective, but then all those dead bodies, people trying to kill you…yeah…not so easy.
Poor Dahlia, she still doesn’t have her PI license yet she keeps finding dead bodies. And this time she wasn’t even trying to solve a mystery, just trying to be a corporate spy.
Another round w/her faithful compainions, hijinks and mystery. Funny and surprising plot twists also.
And a new round of suspects for her to figure out who done it.
And for once, i figured some of it out but i didn't care b/c i was so busy laughing.
I’m glad that I discovered this trilogy. Even though I didn't understand a lot of the references in the other 2 books, I still enjoyed the stories.
The writer has created charming characters w/ clever humor.
I'm sorry that this is only a trilogy so there won't be another one, but i look forward to the next thing by this writer.
OMG!!! This was the best one yet!
Seriously, chapters 25-30 were HYSTERICAL!!! I was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of my eyes.
Just when i thought it couldn't get any nuttier, stuff just kept happening.
this one had very little game referencing, so i wasn't as clueless as the previous two. I've been a temp secretary (w/out the undercover corporate espionage element) so i could relate better to this story.
Another amusing romp w/Dahlia “geek detective”.
She does make you think it’d be easy to become a detective, but then all those dead bodies, people trying to kill you…yeah…not so easy.
Poor Dahlia, she still doesn’t have her PI license yet she keeps finding dead bodies. And this time she wasn’t even trying to solve a mystery, just trying to be a corporate spy.
Another round w/her faithful compainions, hijinks and mystery. Funny and surprising plot twists also.
And a new round of suspects for her to figure out who done it.
And for once, i figured some of it out but i didn't care b/c i was so busy laughing.
I’m glad that I discovered this trilogy. Even though I didn't understand a lot of the references in the other 2 books, I still enjoyed the stories.
The writer has created charming characters w/ clever humor.
I'm sorry that this is only a trilogy so there won't be another one, but i look forward to the next thing by this writer.
February 11, 2018
The Questionable Behavior of Dehlia Moss by Max Wirestone is the 3rd book in the Dahlia Moss mystery series, and my first book by this author. Wow this book is like riding a crazy roller coaster that never slows down. There are so many quirky characters, that kept me laughing and reading. This book can be read as a stand alone, but I plan to go back and read the first two books in the series because I enjoyed this one so much. If you enjoy quirky and funny mysteries, I suggest you give this book a try.
I received this book in exchange for an fair and honest review.
I received this book in exchange for an fair and honest review.
December 8, 2018
Could have been 5 stars but for the needless inclusion of some fat shaming early on. Dahlia is recruited at the end of last book to do some industrial espionage; so she's taken on as a temp secretary at a small gaming app firm which appears to be falling apart while trying to design a new game. And then, of course, there's a dead body! It has all the fun snark of Dahlia from previous books and a very nice "parlor scene" style feel to the mystery solving so it really hit the spot for me.
March 2, 2018
Humorous, sarcastic, rebellious, but mostly funny.
In this third installment of the Dahlia Moss Mysteries, you can expect the unexpected with a twist you wont see coming.
Note: I received an ARC for review and an honest and unbiased opinion.
In this third installment of the Dahlia Moss Mysteries, you can expect the unexpected with a twist you wont see coming.
Note: I received an ARC for review and an honest and unbiased opinion.
March 14, 2018
This book actually made me giggle. I am not, as you may glean from context, all that much of a giggler.
August 20, 2024
Funny super light murder mystery. Underwhelming ending but a fun read nonetheless!
October 7, 2024
3.5 stars. Honestly, just a good fun read that never took itself seriously. I enjoyed this book. Lots of jokes in here.
June 17, 2020
I'm a huge Dahlia Moss fan. She's funnier, nerdier, and less snarky than Veronica Mars, and that makes her a great heroine on her own terms. I maybe laughed out loud fewer times than in the first and second books, but that might have been because of my own disjointed, reading-a-few-minutes-here-or-there experience. Still fun, still interesting, still well worth the read. But I do recommend reading the first two, well, first.
June 15, 2018
This cover totally made me pick it up, no lie. I could not wait to start it. And start it again and again. I finally got 5 pages into it and the style of writing must not fit my style of reading. I could not keep my attention on the story. Sorry, has to be me!
November 14, 2018
I am very sad to say that this has been my least favorite book in the series. Any references to the geeky computer game world that made the previous Dahlia books so enjoyable were peripheral in this book. Instead, it seemed like a Keystone Cop version of a cliche self-destructing tech start-up company with a murder thrown in for good measure. Whereas the previous two books in the series were heavy on the geek and less on the madcap adventures, this was completely the opposite: not enough geek to balance out the weird things going on around Dahlia. Hopefully the next book in the series returns to the geeky Dahlia we all know and love.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review.
March 19, 2018
So very very funny. I read this on an airplane and kept snorting outloud and wishing I could share the funny bits with people around me.
October 13, 2019
This is the third book in the Dahlia Moss Series. It was funny, it was good, but so far it's my least favorite of the three. I'm not sure what it was missing this time. I think in the other two books her unintentional blundering provided unanticipated hilarity. There wasn't as much of that in this book.
Dahlia gets slid a note from Emily Swenson (Lawyer) that asks if she'll be an industrial spy. Dahlia would be the receptionist at this gaming company. Emily wants her to find out what's going on and steal the code to the game, as there was concern that the game was being sabotaged from the inside.
So she begins works. Everyone basically lives at the office since they are behind schedule. The people there are so tired and overworked they just call her Nu Cynthia (the old receptionist was Cynthia). There is Quintrell, Gary, Archie, Vanetta, and Lawrence. Then Tyler from management shows up to help as well. Vanetta is running the place, she's sleeping with Archie and Lawrence (mainly Archie) and she just learned she's pregnant. Cynthia also discovered that and told Archie. Archie spends most of the rest of the book doing embarrassing proposals even though neither her nor Vanetta really want to get married.
Quintrell and Gary are programmers. Quintrell is single and basically lives at the office. Gary is married with a young child and basically lives at the office. Lawrence is some kind of salesman maybe? I really don't know what he does but he spends most of his time not in the office. A whistleblower letter is published that exposes the issues at the company. Dahlia is told to also find out who the whistleblower is. But she finds Cynthia dead in the storage company.
The police are called. Everyone is interviewed and sent home. Dahlia gets Tyler to come out drinking by bribing him with Masako (who completely dimes her out as being a detective) as Masako is his type and he just broke up with his girlfriend. Quintrell comes too. They all get drunk. The police show up and arrest Quintrell. Dahlia goes to Cynthia's knitting group to get more intel. And that's going ok until Cynthia shows up. Turns out Cynthia isn't the dead lady in the storage room. It was Cynthia's sister.
Charice (roommate) and Daniel decide to get married so show up at the office in their wedding clothes. The reporter Ignacio also shows up to interview Vanetta about the company. The whole place is falling apart. Lawrence appears drunk but turns out he was roofied. Then Ignacio is also roofied. And Dahlia (dealing with all the craziness) figure out that Cynthia's partner is Joanne from the knitting group. Joanne is the whistleblower. Lawrence had the roofies and as a joke roofied Gary once. Gary was pissed and roofied Lawrences drinks. Cynthia's sister was looking for Cynthia's tea in the office and found it in Lawrence desk along with his other drinks. Joyce (sister) took a drink that had been roofied. She was on drugs for cancer and that combined with the roofies killed her. So her death is kind of a combined, but unintentional, fault of Lawrence and Gary.
Charice and Daniel are married. We jump almost a year ahead and Charice and Daniel have adopted Vanetta's baby and name her Haile. Dahlia and Shuler open a PI business together and Dahlia is still with Nathan. The book wrapped up like it could be the last one. I'd be ok with that. I think this was a good little series.
Dahlia gets slid a note from Emily Swenson (Lawyer) that asks if she'll be an industrial spy. Dahlia would be the receptionist at this gaming company. Emily wants her to find out what's going on and steal the code to the game, as there was concern that the game was being sabotaged from the inside.
So she begins works. Everyone basically lives at the office since they are behind schedule. The people there are so tired and overworked they just call her Nu Cynthia (the old receptionist was Cynthia). There is Quintrell, Gary, Archie, Vanetta, and Lawrence. Then Tyler from management shows up to help as well. Vanetta is running the place, she's sleeping with Archie and Lawrence (mainly Archie) and she just learned she's pregnant. Cynthia also discovered that and told Archie. Archie spends most of the rest of the book doing embarrassing proposals even though neither her nor Vanetta really want to get married.
Quintrell and Gary are programmers. Quintrell is single and basically lives at the office. Gary is married with a young child and basically lives at the office. Lawrence is some kind of salesman maybe? I really don't know what he does but he spends most of his time not in the office. A whistleblower letter is published that exposes the issues at the company. Dahlia is told to also find out who the whistleblower is. But she finds Cynthia dead in the storage company.
The police are called. Everyone is interviewed and sent home. Dahlia gets Tyler to come out drinking by bribing him with Masako (who completely dimes her out as being a detective) as Masako is his type and he just broke up with his girlfriend. Quintrell comes too. They all get drunk. The police show up and arrest Quintrell. Dahlia goes to Cynthia's knitting group to get more intel. And that's going ok until Cynthia shows up. Turns out Cynthia isn't the dead lady in the storage room. It was Cynthia's sister.
Charice (roommate) and Daniel decide to get married so show up at the office in their wedding clothes. The reporter Ignacio also shows up to interview Vanetta about the company. The whole place is falling apart. Lawrence appears drunk but turns out he was roofied. Then Ignacio is also roofied. And Dahlia (dealing with all the craziness) figure out that Cynthia's partner is Joanne from the knitting group. Joanne is the whistleblower. Lawrence had the roofies and as a joke roofied Gary once. Gary was pissed and roofied Lawrences drinks. Cynthia's sister was looking for Cynthia's tea in the office and found it in Lawrence desk along with his other drinks. Joyce (sister) took a drink that had been roofied. She was on drugs for cancer and that combined with the roofies killed her. So her death is kind of a combined, but unintentional, fault of Lawrence and Gary.
Charice and Daniel are married. We jump almost a year ahead and Charice and Daniel have adopted Vanetta's baby and name her Haile. Dahlia and Shuler open a PI business together and Dahlia is still with Nathan. The book wrapped up like it could be the last one. I'd be ok with that. I think this was a good little series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2018
So many trilogies or series that start out strongly fade by the time they near the end.. fade in quality, fade in consistency, fade in writing, etc. But not Dahlia Moss. Still as enjoyable, geeky, and mysterious as ever (which, honestly - none of this series is *that* mysterious, but they are all really fun!)
Max Wirestone writes like I think, so it's natural that I enjoy the chaos and farcical nature of the situations Dahlia keeps finding herself in.
In this final (say it ain't so!!!) installment of the Dahlia Moss mysteries, Ms. Moss goes undercover as an industrial spy to figure out why a hyped up video game is so far behind schedule - is it sabotage, or completely normal coding delays? A dead body, a few druggings, several ill-thought-out marriage proposals, and a mysterious whistle-blower later and Dahlia has solved several more mysteries than she was hired for.
The characters are fun (though for the first time, a few of them seemed less than unique), memorable, and even the jerks are pretty likeable - at least from a distance of never having to deal with them IRL.
Overall, a completely satisfying end to the series - except I want more.
Max Wirestone writes like I think, so it's natural that I enjoy the chaos and farcical nature of the situations Dahlia keeps finding herself in.
In this final (say it ain't so!!!) installment of the Dahlia Moss mysteries, Ms. Moss goes undercover as an industrial spy to figure out why a hyped up video game is so far behind schedule - is it sabotage, or completely normal coding delays? A dead body, a few druggings, several ill-thought-out marriage proposals, and a mysterious whistle-blower later and Dahlia has solved several more mysteries than she was hired for.
The characters are fun (though for the first time, a few of them seemed less than unique), memorable, and even the jerks are pretty likeable - at least from a distance of never having to deal with them IRL.
Overall, a completely satisfying end to the series - except I want more.
January 6, 2018
A copy of this title has been provided by the publisher VIA NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Quick disclaimer: I did not read the first 2 Dahlia Moss books before tackling this one, but I definitely plan on doing so after enjoying this one.
Geek detective Dahlia Moss investigates murder and corporate sabotage at a mobile game start-up while navigating love, friendship, and life in her 20s. The comparisons to Veronica Mars are pretty apt. Moss is sharp, likable, with serious geek cred. Plenty of pop culture and meme references abound. Ultimately, this is very much genre fiction and stays pretty light...but Moss’s strong voice and surreal goofball antics are refreshing. Fun fun fun. It’s easy for me to cheer on this smart female protagonist and I look forward to following this series.
‘The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss’ will be released January 9, 2018 at booksellers big and small.
Quick disclaimer: I did not read the first 2 Dahlia Moss books before tackling this one, but I definitely plan on doing so after enjoying this one.
Geek detective Dahlia Moss investigates murder and corporate sabotage at a mobile game start-up while navigating love, friendship, and life in her 20s. The comparisons to Veronica Mars are pretty apt. Moss is sharp, likable, with serious geek cred. Plenty of pop culture and meme references abound. Ultimately, this is very much genre fiction and stays pretty light...but Moss’s strong voice and surreal goofball antics are refreshing. Fun fun fun. It’s easy for me to cheer on this smart female protagonist and I look forward to following this series.
‘The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss’ will be released January 9, 2018 at booksellers big and small.
January 28, 2018
This is the third in the Dahlia Moss series, and the more I read these the more I like them. They are hilarious; they are told in the first person and I adore Dahlia's voice. I don't laugh out loud for many books, but a Dahlia Moss book is a definite choice to read at home, alone, where nobody can hear bursts of maniacal laughter as I follow Dahlia's adventures. Dahlia is approached by a scary, high-powered lawyer to infiltrate a small software company that creates video games and has recently been acquired by a larger company. Dahlia is ostensibly the temp receptionist, but she's really supposed to report on the company and report on the specifics of new code for a new project. And of course, in the way of Dahlia Moss books, things get more complicated from there... repeat performances by characters from previous books give the series continuity, but there are plenty of zany new characters to enjoy. Hope there will be a fourth book!
February 28, 2018
What is it about?
Dahlia Moss is studying to be a private detective. She is still recovering from a concussion when she gets asked to go under cover at an app game writing company in order to investigate how they are so far behind deadline.
This is book 3 in the Dahlia Moss series, but you do not have to have read the previous installments for this book to make sense. Everyone including Dahlia gets an introduction.
Was it good?
The story itself was interesting, although at its climax it had crossed the line to silly. This is a pretty quick-moving mystery with lots of zany characters, and the book itself was quick to read.
There really isn't any character development, and no life lessons learned. This book is meant to be fun to read. It didn't make me laugh out loud, but it did amuse me.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Dahlia Moss is studying to be a private detective. She is still recovering from a concussion when she gets asked to go under cover at an app game writing company in order to investigate how they are so far behind deadline.
This is book 3 in the Dahlia Moss series, but you do not have to have read the previous installments for this book to make sense. Everyone including Dahlia gets an introduction.
Was it good?
The story itself was interesting, although at its climax it had crossed the line to silly. This is a pretty quick-moving mystery with lots of zany characters, and the book itself was quick to read.
There really isn't any character development, and no life lessons learned. This book is meant to be fun to read. It didn't make me laugh out loud, but it did amuse me.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2018
I found this installment of the Dahlia Moss series really disappointing, I felt as though this book was missing a lot of the geeky/ fun elements that I really enjoyed in the first two books and threw in way too many winks/ references to the audience. The first two Dahlia Moss books had a more cohesive and well thought out story with well established characters whereas this book seemed frenetic-- and not in an endearing way. A lot of the plot points were rushed through to get to absurd scenes, which are significantly less enjoyable when the lead up we have seen in the previous books is absent.
January 23, 2018
I am honestly not sure what I think of this book. "Questionable" is right - this book was wild from start to finish. It's super weird, hilarious at times, definitely entertaining... but mostly weird.
I was thinking it was going to be a mid-grade book, but it's not really. I don't even know how to describe it. At times, it does seem like a middle grade book, but other times it seems more like adult content.
It was good, yes, but I'm really just at a loss for words for it. So I'll just say, if you want to read it, go for it. It'll entertain you. It'll just be up to you to decide whether that's good or bad.
Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
I was thinking it was going to be a mid-grade book, but it's not really. I don't even know how to describe it. At times, it does seem like a middle grade book, but other times it seems more like adult content.
It was good, yes, but I'm really just at a loss for words for it. So I'll just say, if you want to read it, go for it. It'll entertain you. It'll just be up to you to decide whether that's good or bad.
Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
December 25, 2017
This series always has the potential to go over the zany edge but Wirestone pulls Dahlia back at the best moment to keep things real. I didn't like the first book, which felt too frenetic for me, but this time around I found it entertaining, There's a lot going on at the new company that's hired Dahlia. The comparisons to Veronica Mars elude me so I can't comment on that (and I suspect that generates a fair amount of comment). I did like the contemporary references. It's a cozy for a different set of readers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
February 20, 2018
This book continues the exploits of gamer-girl, amateur sleuth Dahlia Moss. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and loved how dorky and flawed this character is. Humour is tough to write, and I found myself laughing out loud several times. Dahlia "confides" in the reader, speaking directly to them at times, as if she were actually writing an auto-biography. It was a writing device that worked beautifully, and added to the humour. I found the murder plot-line in a little less satisfying in this book, than in books 1 & 2, but I was sorry to see the book end. I am eagerly awaiting book 4!
July 26, 2018
This book continues the exploits of gamer-girl, amateur sleuth Dahlia Moss. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and loved how dorky and flawed this character is. Humour is tough to write, and I found myself laughing out loud several times. Dahlia "confides" in the reader, speaking directly to them at times, as if she were actually writing an auto-biography. It was a writing device that worked beautifully, and added to the humour. I found the murder plot-line in a little less satisfying in this book, than in books 1 & 2, but I was sorry to see the book end. I am eagerly awaiting book 4!
March 29, 2019
Engaging, funny and quirky characters. This was the 3rd in a series. I have not read the first two books. It stands on its own, but I believe that reading the first two books may have helped my "understanding" of the main characters better. A lot of subtle humor in this book. The ending seemed a little anticlimactic, but it solved the mysteries adequately. I may go back and read the first two books. "In compliance with FTC guidelines, I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.:
December 16, 2017
Another fun entry in this series! Dahlia again is giving a mystery to solve in a way only she could do. Think Veronica Mars, but not quite as smart, but every bit as lovable! Mysteries don't get more zany than this as one improbable thing after another happens as we head to an ending that is every bit as satisfying as we could have hoped. Now I just have to get the song The Lady in Red out of my head...
January 10, 2018
This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.
February 26, 2018
When I want a cartoon, I’ll find one. When I want a mystery I’ll read one. I don’t need my mysteries full of cartoons. That said, there are some very funny lines in The Questionable. the main character is goofy but smart and very deductive. Everyone else is...well, we’re back to the cartoon. Like I decided to stay away from Pun titles, think I’ll skip this series. If you like The a Thin Man kind of mystery, this might be for you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews