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Scammed
Life in the upscale Los Angeles area community of the Venice Canals takes an ominous turn when retired doctor Al Shady and his wife Barbara Shady, Vice President and Treasurer of the Venice Canals HOA, disappear after a meeting.
The cops are on it, but looking in all the wrong places. What appeared to be home invasion and kidnapping turns out to be so much more including murder. Get ready for characters from different books in this series to come together to dig the dirt. As fate would have it, advertising agency owner Cameron Harson from GETTING EVEN and RIPOFF-- the first and second book in this series--and former FBI agent turned author Danny Garrett from BUMPING OFF FAT VINNY, the fourth book, are neighbors who didn't know each other. A mutual friend and neighbor--89-year-old retired Colonel Michael Thompson introduces them at an HOA meeting where the main focus was to celebrate the settlement of a multi-million dollar suit for construction default against developers who built mini-mansions and polluted the canals in the process.
When the trio walks home together along Grand Canal, accompanied by the Colonel's aged Afghan Hound Clarence, something looks suspicious at the Shady home on the other side of the canal. They cross over the bridge to investigate and find the house door ajar, the house is in a shambles and the Shadys are missing. With their backgrounds in investigating crimes, they are tempted to see what they can uncover, but should they?
With Cameron's friend Kate Steele, CEO of FraudBusters, who is visiting from San Francisco and Danny's friend, co-author and fellow sleuth Margaret Stanton, how can they resist? They delve into things that the cops won't, and they find plenty but in the process risk getting in the way of Federal agencies! Twists and turns make this a fun meeting of the minds with a surprise ending.
The cops are on it, but looking in all the wrong places. What appeared to be home invasion and kidnapping turns out to be so much more including murder. Get ready for characters from different books in this series to come together to dig the dirt. As fate would have it, advertising agency owner Cameron Harson from GETTING EVEN and RIPOFF-- the first and second book in this series--and former FBI agent turned author Danny Garrett from BUMPING OFF FAT VINNY, the fourth book, are neighbors who didn't know each other. A mutual friend and neighbor--89-year-old retired Colonel Michael Thompson introduces them at an HOA meeting where the main focus was to celebrate the settlement of a multi-million dollar suit for construction default against developers who built mini-mansions and polluted the canals in the process.
When the trio walks home together along Grand Canal, accompanied by the Colonel's aged Afghan Hound Clarence, something looks suspicious at the Shady home on the other side of the canal. They cross over the bridge to investigate and find the house door ajar, the house is in a shambles and the Shadys are missing. With their backgrounds in investigating crimes, they are tempted to see what they can uncover, but should they?
With Cameron's friend Kate Steele, CEO of FraudBusters, who is visiting from San Francisco and Danny's friend, co-author and fellow sleuth Margaret Stanton, how can they resist? They delve into things that the cops won't, and they find plenty but in the process risk getting in the way of Federal agencies! Twists and turns make this a fun meeting of the minds with a surprise ending.
242 pages, Paperback
Published September 2, 2019
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 15, 2019
A fun mystery set in California with great characters and a good mystery to solve.
Scammed is about a group of neighbors trying to solve the disappearance of their HOA Vice President and Treasurer shortly after the HOA had received several million dollars to fix the canals.
I loved the colorful characters that formed this little group of detectives. There was Cami who own an advertising agency, an author who use to be with the FBI, a retired Colonel, Cami’s friend, Kate who runs Fraudbusters, an actor, and a real estate agent. The author wrote the characters so convincing that I wanted to join them every night to try to solve the mystery behind the disappearances. The writing was good and the story kept my attention throughout. An interesting tidbit; the author mentions on her web sight that she waited years to find the right book to kill off an HOA President that she had issues with in real life.
Thank you to LibraryThing, Morgan St. James, and Marina Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
Scammed is about a group of neighbors trying to solve the disappearance of their HOA Vice President and Treasurer shortly after the HOA had received several million dollars to fix the canals.
I loved the colorful characters that formed this little group of detectives. There was Cami who own an advertising agency, an author who use to be with the FBI, a retired Colonel, Cami’s friend, Kate who runs Fraudbusters, an actor, and a real estate agent. The author wrote the characters so convincing that I wanted to join them every night to try to solve the mystery behind the disappearances. The writing was good and the story kept my attention throughout. An interesting tidbit; the author mentions on her web sight that she waited years to find the right book to kill off an HOA President that she had issues with in real life.
Thank you to LibraryThing, Morgan St. James, and Marina Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
September 3, 2019
Scammed (Revenge is Fun #5) - Review by Martha A. Cheves
Struggling to keep her voice level she said, Don't worry. I'm fine. Just a little exhausted. You know we had the HOA Board meeting last night. Well, Al Shady didn't show up and his wife was concerned so she left early to check on him. When the meeting was over, we still hadn't heard anything from either of them. The Colonel brought one of our neighbors to the meeting and we all walked home together. He's a former FBI guy turned author. We passed the Shady house and decided to check on them to make sure everything was okay. It wasn't. The front door was ajar and the place looked like it was ransacked. Both of the Shadys are missing and the cops are on it.
Cameron's boyfriend Milton has concerns for her safety. It seems that crime seems to follow her and her friends Kate and Kim, constantly putting them in harm's way. So, when the HOA vice president Al and his wife Barbara turn up missing, there is no doubt that the trio will find themselves trying to solve yet another mystery. But, this one hits home not only with Cameron but also with a few other members from the HOA. It turns out that Barbara was the treasurer and due to a settlement the HOA had recently received, they are afraid the money has something to do with the missing couple.
As always, Scammed kept me turning the pages. With each book in this series that I've read, I can't help but wish someone would pick them up for a TV series. They are an update and upgrade for the Murder She Wrote series. I love them and can't wait for more.
Struggling to keep her voice level she said, Don't worry. I'm fine. Just a little exhausted. You know we had the HOA Board meeting last night. Well, Al Shady didn't show up and his wife was concerned so she left early to check on him. When the meeting was over, we still hadn't heard anything from either of them. The Colonel brought one of our neighbors to the meeting and we all walked home together. He's a former FBI guy turned author. We passed the Shady house and decided to check on them to make sure everything was okay. It wasn't. The front door was ajar and the place looked like it was ransacked. Both of the Shadys are missing and the cops are on it.
Cameron's boyfriend Milton has concerns for her safety. It seems that crime seems to follow her and her friends Kate and Kim, constantly putting them in harm's way. So, when the HOA vice president Al and his wife Barbara turn up missing, there is no doubt that the trio will find themselves trying to solve yet another mystery. But, this one hits home not only with Cameron but also with a few other members from the HOA. It turns out that Barbara was the treasurer and due to a settlement the HOA had recently received, they are afraid the money has something to do with the missing couple.
As always, Scammed kept me turning the pages. With each book in this series that I've read, I can't help but wish someone would pick them up for a TV series. They are an update and upgrade for the Murder She Wrote series. I love them and can't wait for more.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews