Do It for Daisy

by William Ade

Tommy Lyle was desperate for love. Orphaned when police killed his criminal parents during a shoot-out, and twice divorced before he was forty, the only person left in his life who cared about him was his big sister, Daisy. And Daisy just pushed her wealthy husband to his death in the middle of Tommy's dinner party.
Tommy's desperate effort to keep his sister's affection tests his already slippery hold on morality. She demands his help covering up her crime and navigating a revengeful mother-in-law, a crooked medical examiner, a cheating undertaker, and a steely-eyed trustee.
If that wasn't enough trouble, Tommy has to keep Detective Nick Bongiovanni from turning a simple follow-up visit to the husband's apparent accidental fall into the crime of the century.

276 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2021

About the author

William Ade was born and raised in a small town in Indiana during the fifties and sixties. He earned college degrees in early childhood education and special education, working in both fields until 1980. That August, he and his wife of one year moved to the Washington DC area. They had freshly minted graduate degrees, a VW Super Beetle, and no jobs.

Ade’s career shifted from education to telecommunications, and he was eventually employed by MCI and then Verizon up until his retirement in 2014. During that same period of time, he and his wife, Cynthia raised two wonderful children into adulthood.

Ade’s latest novel, The Man Who Fixed Things, was published January, 2023. Level Best Books will publish the first of Ade’s Nic Knuckles collection, Big Scream in a Small Town in 2023. They published his crime novel, Do It for Daisy in 2021. Other novels by the author includes, Art of Absolution (2020), and the serialized The Inevitable Failure of Jonathan Golding (2022). His short story collection, No Time for His Nonsense was released in 2020. His short stories have appeared in Mysteries Unimagined, the Rind Literary Magazine, The Broken Plate, Black Fox Literary, Mindscapes Unimagined, and the 2018 and 2019 Best New England Crime Stories. His short story, Punch Drunk, will be part of the 2023 Chesapeake Crimes: Three Strikes – You’re Dead anthology.

Visit his website at billade.com.

Reviews

[Teresa Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one more twisted, turning, unexpected, surprising story. The characters are not likable (except for two) but there are plenty of unexpected developments to keep the reader engaged and turning pages. I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though I would have liked to see Daisy get hers. (This isn't a spoiler because Mr. Ade makes no bones about the fact Daisy is a "bad guy" right from the beginning.) I definitely recommend this book and will be looking for other books by Mr. Ade.

I received a review copy from BookSirens and this is my honest opinion. I want to thank them and Mr. Ade for the opportunity to read it.

[H Petty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will Tommy do absolutely anything for his sister Daisy?

This book explores the relationship between a brother and sister and how far a devious, murderous and exploitive sister can manipulate a weak-willed brother.
As it turns out, all the way and then a bit further!

This book is amusing in parts and emotionally disturbing in others - I was willing poor Tommy to just say 'NO!' and as the story progresses, I just wanted to smack Daisy around the chops. Don't get me started on the Mother in Law....

An enjoyable read with interesting characters, whom the author brings to life, and similar to some people readers may know for real.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.