“When the body of a long-missing police officer is found in a lake, it brings attention from more than Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates. Several friends from the past, a senator, high up members of the police force, even the FBI, want in on the investigation.“When the past blends into the present, the search for answers means intruding into a past that many want left alone.“Joshua and Cameron … alone.
“Joshua and Cameron become involved in the case from different directions, but before long learn they find they are on the same coincidental path. That leads straight to their elderly neighbor., Dolly. It seems unlikely she could be involved, yet when clues lead to a private club of the past and several murders, she alone may hold the answers. With a lack of any viable suspects, it could lead to anyone.
“The ending is exciting and satisfying. I’d love to say more but you will have to read the story to learn exactly what happens. Don’t be surprised if the solutions don’t play out the way you expect. As usual, Lauren has a few surprises for you. Remember, It’s not over til it’s over!” – Review by Merri Citarella, Jaquo Magazine
When Homicide Detective Cameron Gates befriends Dolly, the little old lady who lives across the street, she is warned not to get lured into helping the elderly woman by investigating the unsolved murder of one of her girls. “She’s senile,” Cameron is warned. “It’s not a real murder.”
Such is not the case. After Dolly is brutally murdered, Cameron discovers that the sweet blue-haired lady’s “girl” was a call girl, who had been killed in a mysterious double homicide.
Meanwhile, Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton is looking for answers to the murder of a childhood friend, a sheriff deputy whose cruiser is found at the bottom of a lake. The deputy had disappeared almost twenty years ago while privately investigating the murder of a local prostitute.
In Real Murder, best-selling mystery author Lauren Carr dives deeper into Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates’ romantic relationship. “The difference between this series and my Mac Faraday mysteries,” Lauren explains, “is that the Lovers in Crime are a couple. While the mystery is the main ingredient and is always in the forefront, Joshua and Cameron’s romance, and new marriage, is also a key ingredient.”
While they love each other passionately, the newly-wed couple do have adjustments to make—like Joshua’s grown daughter Tracy, who returns home from college for the summer and makes no secret about her hurt feelings over her father’s elopement. Of course, there is also Irving, Cameron’s twenty-five pound Maine Coon cat, who does not like the human male who has stolen his woman’s affections.
Believing that differences are nothing more than spice sprinkled upon their new marriage, the Lovers in Crime plunge into investigating Dolly’s viciously brutal murder. Who would want to murder such a sweet old lady? Is it possible that one of Dolly’s girls knew a long-buried secret that some believed was worth killing to keep undercover?
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Another excellent and complicated collection of mysteries (and murder) from author Lauren Carr.
You can read (or listen to) this as a stand alone, but this is a cast and world you will find yourself being pulled into and want to visit again and again.
Josh and Cameron are now married but still in the honeymoon phase, with the required adjustments. Cam also has adjustments to make after being injured and required to take “time off.”
Cameron has to meet and get to know Josh’s neighbors, including an elderly woman who knew Joshua since he was very young. She has her own secrets from her younger days. When she tries to tell people they wave her off as going senile in her old age.
Another mystery from years past (nearly twenty) and also hitting close to home, involve a deputy who has been missing, and Josh feels guilty. Sometimes we have to accept our inability to make different choices. When this decades later mystery as a major break, that also hits too close to home.
It was fun to get to know Josh’s kids at a very young age. Also adding entertainment and humor to this book are the furry family members.
With many twists and seemingly unrelated turns and events, this book will take some focus if you want to catch all the clues liberally sprinkled across the pages. It is worth a second look once you find out how it ends.
Real Murder is the exciting second installment from Lauren Carr’s series, Lovers in Crime. Readers catch back up with the Homicide Detective, Cameron Gates, and Prosecuting Attorney, Joshua Thornton. Cameron helps her new elderly friend and neighbor, Dolly, by investigating a long ago murder. Dolly, too, then becomes a murder victim herself. While, Joshua, is looking into the murder of an old friend, who was killed investigating another murder. Will Cameron and Joshua be able to solve the murders before it is too late and another suspicious death occurs?
I have enjoyed Lauren Carr’s mysteries and Real Murder does not disappoint. I believe this one has more twists and turns that often kept me guessing what could possibly happen next. I had the pleasure of listening to the audible version of this story and Mike Alger does a fabulous performance bringing the characters to life. He is very talented. I could not help to giggle at some of the scenes while listening to his narration. I love the dynamic duo of Cameron and Joshua. They are so fun together.
I am giving Real Murder a well deserved five plus stars. I would give it one hundred stars if I could. I can not wait to find out what will happen next in the third book from the Lovers in Crime series, Killer in the Band. I highly recommend this one for readers who enjoy a fun, clean, quick, and suspense filled mystery. I do not think they will be disappointed. I loved it!
I received the audible version of this book from the author. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
There a murder or murders that no one want to unsolved. It seem that their a killer that has yet to be answered. It all starts with the discovery of the missing sheriff deputy Mike Gardner and his cruiser in the lake.
There are more mysteries to solve and it all get started once Joshua and Cameron some what gets involved. Joshua on the case with his case and Cameron deals with a case that involes a sweet old lady that is her neighbor and named Dolly. Cameron wants to find closer or answers for a mother that lost her son.
Who killed Ava Tucker and her young man? Are they all connected or not? Why was Mike looking into a local hooker murder and is it a family secret that got him killed? Hunter seem like he want to find his fathers killer. You will be surprised at how it ends.
Laura does a remarkable job of bring her characters to life. You feel the their love for each other. Tracey seem to have found her love in Hunter Gardner. Will they marry and have a happy life together. We see how Cameron and Joshua deals with their marriage issues and their love for each other as well. They seem to work well together.
If you are a mystery fan or murder fan. Then you are missing out on these author books. Lauren Carr books are must read books. She will have you leave satisfied but hungry for more. This book was no different. I love how they are all intertwined.