Death at the Tavern

Higgins & Hawke, Book 1

By: Lee Strauss

Narrated by: Pamela Dillman

It’s the hot and humid East Coast summer of 1931 and seven years since Dr. Haley Higgins’s brother Joe was murdered. The case is cold. The Boston Police Department may have given up on finding Joe Higgins’s killer, but Haley never will. She’s serious and savvy and has what it takes to hold up under depressing times, and she at least finds some satisfaction doing her part as the city pathologist’s assistant in solving other crimes.

Investigative reporter Samantha Hawke—byline Sam Hawke—is blonde, beautiful, and broke, no thanks to her no-good husband who’s been on the lam for over six years. Her position at The Boston Daily Record is more than a job—it’s payback. When a man is found dead at the Bell in Hand Tavern on Union Street, Haley and Samantha are both working the case. Haley’s looking for justice, and Samantha’s after recognition and a raise. They want the same thing—to catch a killer—and it turns out they may need each other to solve this case before becoming the next victims.

©2019 Lee Strauss (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Good story but….

Don’t know why the only 2 characters with a Bostonian accent are Hailey & Samantha. I cringed every time they said a word end in on an”r.”

Hoping the author makes a few changes in next books

Hope the next books in the series will show the female main characters more independent of how male characters feel about them and vice versa. “He demanded her gaze and she gave it to him”. She was described as having an ‘hour glass figure’. Would a mom of a young child have a ‘tiny waist’? Narrator is a bit too sing song in her delivery. The plot is a bit predictable. I will probably still listen to the next story on the series. I appreciate the concept of two strong female main characters teaming up with their skills to solve cases.

Good story, mediocre performance

I love Lee Strauss and already read all the books in this series so I was excited to listen on Audible. Sadly, I just couldn’t get past the variety of not well-performed accents which, for me, took the focus away from the story itself. I would have liked to have listed to the entire series but I just can’t do it.