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The Red Sedan: A Mild-Mannered Mystery/Thriller
Want a cozy read? The Red Sedan is a wildly readable, engaging novel that links historical events with lovable leads and devious villains. The story begins in simple but stunning locales in Europe and ends in the beautiful and magnificent Napa Valley of California.RETIRED and enjoying another visit to the Lake District of northern England, American Michael Seltzer meets beautiful Austrian Elisabeth but loses her to a group of apparent evildoers. Compelled to rescue her from her kidnappers, Michael calls upon the local police force and his own devices to solve the mystery surrounding Elisabeth’s sudden disappearance.
CAUGHT between obligation and mortal danger, Elisabeth finds herself in the hands of California mobsters who have tracked her to England despite her efforts to elude them on an international scale. Just the night before, she had come across the only man, an American, she might trust to help her out of this perilous entanglement.
STYMIED but persistent, powerful West Coast crime boss Walter Breem and his henchmen follow Elisabeth to England to get from her what Breem desires most—access to a collection worth millions of dollars. That collection remains the one thing Breem has sought for decades, and he is completely obsessed with making it his own—at all costs.
CAUGHT between obligation and mortal danger, Elisabeth finds herself in the hands of California mobsters who have tracked her to England despite her efforts to elude them on an international scale. Just the night before, she had come across the only man, an American, she might trust to help her out of this perilous entanglement.
STYMIED but persistent, powerful West Coast crime boss Walter Breem and his henchmen follow Elisabeth to England to get from her what Breem desires most—access to a collection worth millions of dollars. That collection remains the one thing Breem has sought for decades, and he is completely obsessed with making it his own—at all costs.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 26, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 3, 2018
The premise of the story is that a retired lawyer in his fifties spends a few hours with a fellow traveler, then sees her briefly through the car windshield at a stoplight just after he'd been almost run down by a large car while he's riding his bike. From that brief glimpse at that traumatic moment, he realizes that she has been kidnapped, and he risks his life and travels across two continents to rescue her. She was kidnapped by criminals because she could get them access to a collection they wanted to steal.
The big mystery was what was in the collection. When it was finally revealed, I was a little confused. There were two parts to every item in the collection; the first part was obviously of great value, but I didn't understand how the collector could have acquired the second part or why he would want to.
The victim was saved, and the mystery of the collection was revealed. However, there were several unanswered questions. Why had the criminal been such good friends when the owner of the collection in earlier times and what happened to break up that friendship? Why did Elisabeth have complete trust in Michael even though they hardly knew each other? And why was that trust justified? How could running into the open door of a luxury vehicle kill one of the criminals?
There was a lot more description of buildings, food and beverages, clothing, and anything related to wealth and luxury than I personally enjoy. I also found it a little odd that Michael could wander off in thought about the architecture of the mansion or the shape of the woman walking ahead of him while he and the woman he loves are in danger.
The chapters weren't in chronological order—there would be a few chapters about the present, then a chapter about Elisabeth's father or grandfather building the collection. Everybody in the book had a POV, often several in the same paragraph, which was a little distracting to me, but perhaps not to others.
The epilogue seemed to be included just to add a little titallation—the story had been concluded nicely, then we have a scene of marital life (nothing explicit but suggestive) that seems anticlimactic.
The story kept my interest enough to finish it, but readers who would probably enjoy the book more than I did include the following:
- Those who find instant love with only a few hours of conversation believable
- Those who like to read about world travels and the accoutrements of wealth
- Those who enjoy a lot of introspection and musings in the midst of action and danger
- Those who are more knowledgeable about what was in the collection
I received a copy of the book from the author, but I voluntarily wrote the review, which expresses my honest opinion.
The big mystery was what was in the collection. When it was finally revealed, I was a little confused. There were two parts to every item in the collection; the first part was obviously of great value, but I didn't understand how the collector could have acquired the second part or why he would want to.
The victim was saved, and the mystery of the collection was revealed. However, there were several unanswered questions. Why had the criminal been such good friends when the owner of the collection in earlier times and what happened to break up that friendship? Why did Elisabeth have complete trust in Michael even though they hardly knew each other? And why was that trust justified? How could running into the open door of a luxury vehicle kill one of the criminals?
There was a lot more description of buildings, food and beverages, clothing, and anything related to wealth and luxury than I personally enjoy. I also found it a little odd that Michael could wander off in thought about the architecture of the mansion or the shape of the woman walking ahead of him while he and the woman he loves are in danger.
The chapters weren't in chronological order—there would be a few chapters about the present, then a chapter about Elisabeth's father or grandfather building the collection. Everybody in the book had a POV, often several in the same paragraph, which was a little distracting to me, but perhaps not to others.
The epilogue seemed to be included just to add a little titallation—the story had been concluded nicely, then we have a scene of marital life (nothing explicit but suggestive) that seems anticlimactic.
The story kept my interest enough to finish it, but readers who would probably enjoy the book more than I did include the following:
- Those who find instant love with only a few hours of conversation believable
- Those who like to read about world travels and the accoutrements of wealth
- Those who enjoy a lot of introspection and musings in the midst of action and danger
- Those who are more knowledgeable about what was in the collection
I received a copy of the book from the author, but I voluntarily wrote the review, which expresses my honest opinion.
October 2, 2020
This was an enjoyable mystery - I rather like that instead of a cozy it is a Mild-Mannered Mystery. When the woman that he was talking to while on vacation appears to have been kidnapped, Michael goes into action. His determination brings him from Europe to Napa, California to not only get Elizabeth back, but to find out the secret collection that made her a target in the first place.
The characters are engaging and relatable, and the mystery itself becomes more interesting the more you read.
The characters are engaging and relatable, and the mystery itself becomes more interesting the more you read.
October 13, 2018
Vividly imagined
Well created characters written that the reader can visualize the scene the characters and the event , a great job of making the reader feel a part of the story, a really charismatic book
Well created characters written that the reader can visualize the scene the characters and the event , a great job of making the reader feel a part of the story, a really charismatic book
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews