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Carol Ashton Mysteries #14
Accidental Murder
When people with no obvious connections to each other are dying in what appear to be legitimate accidents -- a fall down the stairs, a single-vehicle car crash, a drowning in a hot tub -- nothing seems amiss. Until, Detective Inspector Carol Ashton receives a call from a private investigator who works for a number of insurance companies. Recently, several large life insurance policy pay outs seem questionable but there is no proof of wrongdoing. As Carol begins an investigation of the completely unrelated deaths, she realizes this could be the toughest case of her career and perhaps, one impossible to solve.
220 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2002
3 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Claire McNab
48 books52 followersCLAIRE McNAB, 1940-2022
Claire McNab died on June 30, 2022, after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She also wrote under her real name, Claire Carmichael, an outpouring of children's literature, textbooks, self-help books, and plays. She became (and remains to this day) a renowned author of children’s books in Australia.
Claire McNab is the pseudonym of Claire Carmichael. She was born in 1940 in Melbourne, Australia. While pursuing a career as a high school teacher in Sydney, she began her writing career with comedy plays and textbooks. She left teaching in the mid-eighties to become a full-time writer. In her native Australia she is known for her self-help and children's books. She moved to Los Angeles in 1994 after falling in love with an American woman, and now teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Writers' Extension Program. She is best known for three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She is the recipient of the 2006 Alice B. Medal.
From the publisher's website: Claire McNab has written over 50 books and is known in her native Australia for crime fiction, children's novels, picture books, self-help, and English textbooks. Her first mystery, Lessons in Murder, was published in the U.S. in 1988. Now a Los Angeles resident, she teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. She is the author of three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She has served as the president of Sisters in Crime and is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Los Angeles and is working on the finale of the Carol Ashton series, Lethal Care.
Claire McNab died on June 30, 2022, after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She also wrote under her real name, Claire Carmichael, an outpouring of children's literature, textbooks, self-help books, and plays. She became (and remains to this day) a renowned author of children’s books in Australia.
Claire McNab is the pseudonym of Claire Carmichael. She was born in 1940 in Melbourne, Australia. While pursuing a career as a high school teacher in Sydney, she began her writing career with comedy plays and textbooks. She left teaching in the mid-eighties to become a full-time writer. In her native Australia she is known for her self-help and children's books. She moved to Los Angeles in 1994 after falling in love with an American woman, and now teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Writers' Extension Program. She is best known for three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She is the recipient of the 2006 Alice B. Medal.
From the publisher's website: Claire McNab has written over 50 books and is known in her native Australia for crime fiction, children's novels, picture books, self-help, and English textbooks. Her first mystery, Lessons in Murder, was published in the U.S. in 1988. Now a Los Angeles resident, she teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. She is the author of three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She has served as the president of Sisters in Crime and is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Los Angeles and is working on the finale of the Carol Ashton series, Lethal Care.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 26, 2021
It’s been awhile, but Inspector Carol Ashton doesn’t disappoint.
November 23, 2019
Some interesting plot lines . Aussie setting was my key to enjoyment.
June 10, 2013
#14 in the Detective Inspector Carol Ashton Mystery Series...
Carol faces a few obstacles in this book...
1. A seemingly accidental death leads Carol and her team on a the trail of a murder for hire scheme
2. Aunt Sarah has found a lump in her breast
3. Leota is currently stationed in Australia making it both easier and harder to see each other
4. Sybil is seeing someone else and Carol doesn't know why it bothers her so much
5. A former colleague who currently runs his own detective agency visits with a pattern of accidents related to hers and possibly a new venture
and...
If that wasn't enough, Carol has to deal with Superintendant Edgar is on her case to clear up this mess without involving the press, and makes it clear that Carol would be to blame if things went awry. Carol is up to her eyeballs with stress not only from her job but from everything and everyone around her. All she wasnt to do is be happy, do her job, make sure her family is healthy and safe and well that's the problem she doesn't know what else she wants... Leota or Sybil, Police or Private Investigator...
This was a great storyline but I felt wanting at the end as McNab rushed the ending, you get 20 some chapters of setting up the case and then a very small amount rapping it up and really no closure on Carol's relationship woes...
Carol faces a few obstacles in this book...
1. A seemingly accidental death leads Carol and her team on a the trail of a murder for hire scheme
2. Aunt Sarah has found a lump in her breast
3. Leota is currently stationed in Australia making it both easier and harder to see each other
4. Sybil is seeing someone else and Carol doesn't know why it bothers her so much
5. A former colleague who currently runs his own detective agency visits with a pattern of accidents related to hers and possibly a new venture
and...
If that wasn't enough, Carol has to deal with Superintendant Edgar is on her case to clear up this mess without involving the press, and makes it clear that Carol would be to blame if things went awry. Carol is up to her eyeballs with stress not only from her job but from everything and everyone around her. All she wasnt to do is be happy, do her job, make sure her family is healthy and safe and well that's the problem she doesn't know what else she wants... Leota or Sybil, Police or Private Investigator...
This was a great storyline but I felt wanting at the end as McNab rushed the ending, you get 20 some chapters of setting up the case and then a very small amount rapping it up and really no closure on Carol's relationship woes...
March 3, 2014
Sigh. Why can't lesbian fiction be well written? Clunky. Stilted. And yet I read it all, which says more about me than the novel.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews