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A
Perfect Manhattan Murder
By Tracy
Kiely
A Nic
& Nigel Mystery, Book 3
Publisher: Midnight
Ink
Release
Date: May 8, 2017
Length: 240 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738745244
ASIN: B01LXJQVDI
Length: 240 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738745244
ASIN: B01LXJQVDI
About the book:
Thrilled that their friend’s
Broadway debut was a rousing success, Nic and Nigel Martini, along with Nic’s
college pal Harper, are trying to enjoy the exclusive after-party.
Unfortunately, all the champagne and repartee in the world aren’t enough to
overlook the churlish behavior of Harper’s husband, Dan. Nic is shocked the
next morning when she learns that Dan’s been murdered. Nigel thinks the world
may be a better place without him.
Still, Harper’s their friend
and they’re intent on helping her any way they can. The Martinis will stop at
nothing—with the possible exception of cocktails and walks with their bull
mastiff Skippy—to see that the killer ends up behind bars.
About The Author
Tracy Kiely is a
self-proclaimed Anglophile (a fact which distresses certain members of her
Irish Catholic family). She grew up reading Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and
watching Hitchcock movies. She fell in love with Austen’s wit, Christie’s
clever plots, and Hitchcock’s recurrent theme of “the average man caught in extraordinary
circumstances.”
After spending years of
trying to find a proper job that would enable her to use her skills garnered as
an English major, she decided to write a book. It would, of course, have to be
a mystery; it would have to be funny; and it would have to feature an average
person caught up in extraordinary circumstances. She began to wonder how the
characters in Pride and Prejudice might fit into a
mystery. What, if after years of living with unbearably rude and
condescending behavior, old Mrs. Jenkins up and strangled Lady Catherine? What if Charlotte snapped one day
and poisoned Mr. Collins’ toast and jam? Skip ahead several years, and several
different plot ideas, and you have her first mystery Murder at Longbourn.
While she does not claim to
be Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, or Hitchcock (one big reason being that
they’re all dead), she has tried to combine the elements of all three in her
books.
Author Links:
Webpage: http://www.tracykielymysteries.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tracy_Kiely
A Broadway play, an unhappy society wife and a precocious bull mastiff take center stage in Tracy Kiely’s A Perfect Manhattan Murder, the third installment in her Nic and Nigel Mystery series. A quick pace, lively dialogue, and a decent mystery kept me turning the pages from start to finish. While this is the third installment in the series, I was able to read and enjoy it on its own without having read any of the previous books.Ms. Kiely does a good job introducing her main characters, Nic, Nigel and “Skippy”, loosely based on Dashiell Hammett’s Thin Man series, from the very first page. While using a contemporary setting, not the early 1930’s of Mr. Hammett’s series, Nic and Nigel do share several personality traits with his characters, Nick and Nora Charles. Ms. Kiely’s Nic is a female and a former police detective, and is just as quietly intelligent as Mr. Hammett’s Nick was. Ms. Kiely’s Nigel is the rich, ex-playboy, whose family has all of the money while Mr. Hammett’s Nora had been the rich society lady who married a “working” man. I really liked how Nic and Nigel interacted with each other, and with all of the secondary characters. Their dialogue is sharp and is quite humorous.I also enjoyed getting to know the secondary characters; especially “Skippy”, Nic and Nigel’s dog. A full sized bull mastiff, “Skippy” goes everywhere with Nic and Nigel and they treat him as a small human rather than as a pet. A good example is that they stay at top rate hotels and expect the hotel’s nanny staff to watch over Skippy as if he was a toddler (a three year old) rather than take him to a kennel. I also enjoyed getting to know Nic’s college friends, she had somehow managed to get a scholarship to an exclusive university, and watching how their past decisions influenced their current lives.The “victim” was not a likeable character, which was okay with me because I didn’t have to mourn his passing, and I thought Ms. Kiely did a good job with the mystery. There are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting and there are also enough other things going on to keep the reader entertained. The pace is lively and Ms. Kiely’s voice as an author is fairly established and enjoyable to read.Will Nic be able to identify the killer before someone else becomes a victim? Will Nic be able to prove her friend is innocent of the crime? And will room service be able to keep Nigel hydrated while he and Nic investigate the murder? You’ll have to read A Perfect Manhattan Murder to find out. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the previous mysteries in this series.My Rating: 4 out of 5 Crowns
I had not heard of the Nic and Nigel mysteries before, and look forward to a new series (for me)! Thanks for featuring A Perfect Manhattan Murder on your blog!
ReplyDeleteGreat description of the book and review. Really makes me want to read the book.
ReplyDelete