Deadly Gamble

Charlie Parker Mystery, Book 1

By: Connie Shelton

Narrated by: Lynda Evans

This series looks sharply at those who perceive themselves as the rich - the elite, and revolves around expensive cars, clothes and posh country clubs. Fans of Sue Grafton, J.A. Jance, and Sara Peretsky will find Shelton's female sleuth captivating. Devout in her dedication for the underdog, Charlie Parker gets drawn into perilous predicaments while sticking her neck out for friends and clients in trouble. She proves a wily opponent for the evil she discovers. Using her trusty jeep for surveillance, she is aided and abetted by Rusty, a huge, lovable mutt.

©2011 Books In Motion (P)2011 Books In Motion

Good for a couple dollars

I liked the story and the characters but the audio portion was not great. I could hear her turning the pages and she fumbled the script quite a bit. There was some kind of background noise or voices as if the teacher from the peanuts cartoon was in the next room. Waa waaa wa waaa wa wa wa on and off throughout the book. Hopefully it gets better.

Deadly Narration

The plot line of this book was decent, but hard to follow in places. The characters were likeable and believable, though somewhat flat. Charlie seemed to do the same thing every night. There wasn't really anything unique about her. I feel like a hobby or relationship could've added some depth. The characters' reactions to the deaths in the story were entirely unrealistic--nobody was upset in the least. I do not anticipate buying the next one in the series.

However, the narration was terrible. It did not feel like a performance at all! There was absolutely no voice differentiation for different characters, so I would often get confused about who was talking. Charlie is supposed to be a relatively young woman, but the voice sounded much older. I couldn't tell when it was supposed to be a man talking versus a woman or a child.

There were several times when it seemed like the narrator lost her place or needed to turn a page (unnatural pauses).

There was also background noise, like pages turning or people talking in the distance. A couple of times, I actually paused it and looked around to see who was talking.

Needs work

This was an okay read. The characters were likable and the story believable. I was a bit unsatisfied with the ending and a plot twist that was never truly developed. All in all, it was an ok book. The narrator gets one star because of the annoying noises that I heard throughout the book. I'll give the second book a try. Hopefully there will be a new narrator.

Ok

Characters in books make a lot of questionable decisions. Police arresting people with no evidence, Charlie walking into dangerous situations. Story flowed well and mostly kept my attention.

Needs work

This was an okay read. The characters were likable and the story believable. I was a bit unsatisfied with the ending and a plot twist that was never truly developed. All in all, it was an ok book. The narrator gets one star because of the annoying noises that I heard throughout the book. I'll give the second book a try. Hopefully there will be a new narrator.