Tag Archives: Contemporary Mystery

The Secret Brokers by Alexandrea Weis-a review

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The Secret Brokers by Alexandrea Weis-a review

THE SECRET BROKERS by Alexandrea Weis

THE SECRET BROKERS is the first storyline (June 2012 release)  in Alexandrea Weis’ s contemporary mystery spinoff series based on her Nicci Beauvoir Series. As this was my first foray into the Alexandrea Weis series of novels, I was slightly lost as to the circumstances that brought our hero Dallas August to the point where he is today. Dallas is former FBI agent who now works in a private capacity uncovering the secrets of the rich and infamous. I had to check out the reviews and author’s blurbs to understand the attitude and persona behind Dallas August-Dallas August is not so squeaky clean and law abiding as one would think. The series takes place between New York City and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Secret Brokers follows Dallas as he is called in to repay a favor to a crime syndicate boss-to gather information from a competing crime lord’s daughter under the guise of guard and protector-and that information is wanted by everyone connected to the syndicate. While an old man lay dying, his death bed confession was heard by Gwen Marsh-the daughter of a powerful crime lord and one in direct competition with the man who hired Mr. August.

Like many forced encounters, the relationship between Dallas and Gwen Marsh is fraught with anger, secrets and mistrust. Gwen is vehemently opposed to Dallas’s presence and it doesn’t help that he comes with attitude to spare, but Gwen is no wall-flower as Dallas will soon discover. Before taking on his current assignment, Dallas had researched as much as he could regarding Gwen Marsh and her relationship with her family and friends. But as the storyline progressed things did not add up, and the information was in total opposition to the Gwen Marsh he was getting to know. Nothing about the woman matched what he was told. And to complicate matters, her relationship with her father was so stressful that Dallas suspected a bigger family secret.

We are re-introduced to many of the previous storyline principle and secondary characters. There is plenty of information regarding the Nicci Beauvoir affairs including the under cover assignments, presumed deaths and current identification of those once closest to Dallas and his friends. But Dallas is a man with a broken heart and it has taken him months to get where he is today, and on the surface he has not progressed too far. NIcci was once the love of his life but she was murdered and has miraculously returned from the dead with a new identity and her previously dead lover in tow, and Dallas is having a difficult time letting go of the past. But it takes a strong woman like ‘Gwen Marsh’ to uncover the secrets that lay hidden beneath the strong façade and mask of a man like Dallas August.

THE SECRET BROKERS has a plotline filled with twists and mystery, a little bit of sex and whole lot of interesting characters. Now that I have read this particular novel, I will be going back to catch up with the previous storyline and series. I want to know what brought Dallas to where he is today. The man is driven by his past, and his brooding personality pulled me into the storyline. I wanted Dallas to be happy but he was sabotaging any attempt for happiness every time he thought about Nicci and what might have been. Alexandrea writes an amazing story that pulled me in from the very start.

Copy supplied by author

Reviewed by Sandy

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IMITATION OF DEATH (Nikki Harper Mysteries #2) by Cheryl Crane

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IMITATION OF DEATH (Nikki Harper Mysteries #2) by Cheryl Crane

IMITATION OF DEATH is the second novel (August 2012 release) in Cheryl Crane’s Nikki Harper Mystery series. Cheryl Crane is the daughter of screen legend Lana Turner and brings much of her ‘inside Hollywood’ style into her storylines.

The Nikki Harper series focuses on the mother daughter duo of world famous screen actress Victoria Bordeaux and her amateur investigator daughter Nicolette ‘Nikki’ Harper.  The pair can be found at the scene of some pretty infamous crimes.  But when their neighbor’s troubled son, Eddie Bernard is found murdered, Nikki takes it upon herself to prove the Jorge Delgado, her childhood friend, is not the guilty party. The problem, the murder weapon is a pair of garden shears owned by Victoria’s gardener Jorge, and witnesses had seen them arguing the day before on the Bernard’s property.  Jorge had threatened to kill Eddie Bernard.

Cheryl Crane weaves old time Hollywood magic with current day problems and contemporary icons.  Drugs, illegal immigrants, actors in the closet and back stabbing wanna-bes are nothing new in Hollywood, but Cheryl adds references from today’s popular culture ala The Food Network, Dancing with the Stars, Housewives of Wherever Crap (I quote) and Entertainment Tonight blending the old with the new including product placement without the visuals.  I can’t but help picturing Lana Turner as the elegant screen actress Victoria Bordeaux. And poor Nicolette is besieged with people asking about her mother at every turn-someone always wants an autograph.

We are introduced to the grieving neighbors including father Abe Bernard and his current and ex-wife Ginny and Melinda, as well as an assortment of extended family and assistants, all with a different story to tell.  And Victoria’s side is not without some troubles of their own.  But Eddie Bernard had led a drug and alcohol induced life of one trouble after another.  He had just been released from, yet another, rehab when the unfortunate ‘accident’ had occurred.  He was an embarrassment to his family, and someone was willing to stop him permanently. But when a Mexican gardener is accused of killing a wealthy white boy, the police had all but signed Jorge’s death warrant.

As the story develops, the finger pointing and accusations worsen especially when Eddie’s history reveals how deep he was into the drug scene.  The further Nikki digs, the more she is certain that someone from Eddie’s life of drugs was responsible for his death.  Illicit homosexual affairs, cocaine abuse and blackmail were all part of  Eddie’s past, but it would be someone close to Eddie that was pushed one incident too far.

IMITATION OF DEATH reads like a who’s who of Hollywood.   The characters are all fictitious but the storyline could very well have come from any number of true hidden family secrets amongst the rich and famous.  At times the number of suspects on Nikki’s list was as large as a small village, but Eddie had made quite a number of enemies in his short life on earth.  Cheryl Crane hides the identity of the murderer until the very end and then you look back and say…..”ah, I should have seen that coming”. 

Copy supplied by Goodreads Firstreads

Reviewed by Sandy

 

 

 

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