Freelance writer Emily Garland is cash-strapped, newly single, and tired of reporting on the same old condo stats. When she’s offered a lucrative assignment in the village of Lount’s Landing, she decides to take a chance. All she has to do is relocate and uncover the real story behind a proposed redevelopment plan. What could possibly go wrong?Plenty, as it turns out. Not everyone is happy with … happy with real estate mogul Garrett Stonehaven’s plans to convert an old schoolhouse into a mega-box store. At the top of the list is Arabella Carpenter, the outspoken owner of The Glass Dolphin antiques shop, who will do just about anything to preserve the integrity of the town’s historic Main Street.
But Arabella is not alone in her opposition. Before long, a vocal dissenter dies. A few days later, another body is discovered. Though both deaths are ruled accidental, Emily’s suspicions are aroused.
Putting her interview skills to the ultimate test, Emily teams up with Arabella to discover the truth behind Stonehaven’s latest scheme—before the murderer strikes again.
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Author, Judy Penz Sheluk, created a believable charming town. Emily is sent there to snoop on a greedy man with a secret past. She has secrets of her own.
When someone in town murders the opposition, Emily digs into the area’s long buried past to discover the murderer.
The audiobook’s narrator has an soothing, clear, and even- keel voice. Nothing was exaggerated and the characters are enjoyable.
There were a few unnecessary scenes that slowed the pace and threatened to bore me, however, overall the story kept my interest.
I really enjoyed this book. The mystery was well crafted. The characters are relatable and likable. The plot was well developed and moves at a great pace with well place clues and red herrings. I look forward to the next in the series.
I listened to the audio version of this book. The narrator does a great job of bringing the story and characters to life. She brings each character’s personality off the page. I had no problems following which character was speaking.
All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way, I have been influenced by anyone.
This review is for the audio book.
I enjoyed this book. It is the the first book by this author I have listened to but I have already downloaded the next book. Mainly because it was a good mystery and I didn’t see who the killer was. The story is told by two characters so you get information and clues from two perspectives. They is a lot of characters so didn’t always keel them straight but it did make it interesting, plenty of suspects. I think the characters will over time and each book grow to be likeable people.
Emily is given a new assignment as the editor of a magazine, her real job is to work out what Garrett Stonehaven a developer wants with a small town. Emily and Garrett have a history so she jumps at the chance to find any dirt on the man she blames for her Mother’s death. The problem is Lount’s landing is anything but a sleepy town and the town is divided into two camps the ones that love his ideas for main street and the one’s against. Within days of arriving there are two deaths but were they really accidents? Emily’s reporter nose tells her no. She quickly makes friends with the new owner of the glass dolphin shop, Arabella who is firmly against the planes but can’t tell her the real reason she took the job. Can the pair work out who was behind the murders and if it does have anything to do with development plans. With a small town there is plenty of gossip, history and secrets to uncover.
I liked the narrator and thought she gave different voices to different characters making them easy to tell apart.
This is for the audio version:
Lount’s Landing is a fun little town, even with the business of murder. The main characters are easy to relate to, love and take in as friends. I only wish Lount’s Landing was a real town so I could go for a drink and a little antiquing. Oh, I am heading back by way of A Hole in One, another Glass Dolphin Mystery. See you all soon!
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.
This is the first book in the Glass Dolphin Mysteries. It is a standalone story. I read the second book before the first [enjoyed both of them].
Here, Emily, a journalist, is offered an editor’s job of the town magazine in Lount’s Landing. She accepts and begins trying to get to know the townspeople. She learns that a real estate developer is planning to convert the local school into a big box store and several of the townspeople are not thrilled. Soon one of fhe most vocal critics is dead, followed by another death both ruled accidents but is this too much of a coincidence? Emily decides to investigate.
This is a well-written cozy with likeable characters. There are plenty of twists in the mystery to keep you guessing. I enjoyed Arabella and her antiques shop The Glass Dolphin – the little details about the pieces and antiques in general were enjoyable. It was also fun to learn the history of the town, the various businesses and the name Hanged Man’s Noose. Overall, a very entertaining cozy.
I listened to this book – the narrator did a very nice job.
Another fun read from Judy Penz Sheluk. This is such an enjoyable cozy. It has all the basics…a neat town, a few neat stores and as usual and as in all small towns, a lot of nice folks and a few nosy ones. This town, called Lounts Landing, is named after a traitor. While there is no actual treason against one’s country in this book, there are definitely a few traitors. Another thing this neat little town has is an antique store called surprisingly enough, The Glass Dolphin. Antiques are something I like and even though this is not a story about antiques, I really like the mention of them and occasional descriptions. While I have called this a cozy and a fun, easy read, it is definitely not lightweight. There are plenty of twists and turns and dead bodies in this story:)
I read Book 2 first and liked it so much I was fortunate to get Book 1 to read. Both books can totally stand alone and have very different storylines even though they involve some of the same characters. Characters I really liked. I think Sheluk is very good at giving her characters a lot of personality. When an author is good at describing characters, not their physical characteristics but their personalities, it makes them very enjoyable and the story even more readable.
That’s what happens in both of the books in the series. I hate to be so pushy here Judy Penz Sheluk, but please hurry up and write Book 3.
***This book was provided to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are definitely my own.
I was gifted this book with the understanding that I would leave an honest review.
I enjoyed this book. Judy Penz Sheluk is new to me but I found her book very interesting with many twists so I didn’t quickly figure out what was going on. I did have a hard time at first keeping track of everyone. There are a lot of characters but about 1/4 of the way into the book I was doing fine. I really enjoyed Suzanne T. Fortin’s narration of this story. She does a nice job of keeping you listening. The lead character is a journalist Emily Garland and you quickly get to like her. I really enjoyed the addition of descriptions of food and drinks. The lovely shortbread cookies that Arabella Carpenter, Glass Dolphin Antiques shop owner loves is one example and Judy Penz Sheluk has the recipe on her website so cool. She also has the signature drink The Treasontini, a blueberry martini, the drink on the cover and then the nacho’s ” Full Noose Nachos: are also included. So much fun.
I totally enjoyed this first in the series. I liked how it started from the viewpoint of one character, then we get to see a second character’s view. The mystery keeps you guessing, as Emily questions the death of a store owner who was against plans for a big box store, it leads you deeper and uncovers layers of deception that leads to the past. Likable characters, great scene setting and a twisting mystery. I will continue on with this series.
“The Hanged Man’s Noose” earns 5/5 Visits with Karma…Murderously Engaging!
Emily Garland, freelance writer for Urban-Huntzberger, has been given an extended assignment which includes a permanent position, salary, and benefits, but the caveat is she needs to relocate to Lount’s Landing and act as the editor-in-charge of a local magazine “Inside the Landing.” While there she is to covertly investigate Garrett Stonehaven, a real estate developer with questionable, if not criminal, dealings connected to him, but nothing could be confirmed. He is preparing to present to the town his proposal to revitalize the Main Street area with most of the town’s leaders on board. However, there is a lone holdout, Carter Dixon isn’t convinced the change in the original proposal will be agreed upon by the town. But, when he ends up dead, seemingly from anaphylactic shock, the path seems clear. Well, until a few more bodies litter the way.
Judy Penz Sheluk has penned a very creative and clever tale of greed amid a small town community struggling to survive, but the motives behind the mayhem aren’t as clear as one would think. I was so engaged by all the connections between characters slowly revealed totally muddying the suspect pool. In this case, the past may have caught up with everyone. Judy’s stories always include a clever mystery, excellent pace revealing the often “Oh my!” clues, a realistic investigative style, and a change in third person point of view that is clever. I really was fascinated by the interesting historical references to Samuel Lount, discussion on appraisals and antique verifications (real vs fake), and explanations of financial scams. However, it’s the characters she has created that invests this reader in the story. Emily Garland is an intelligent woman with her own demons, but she has an excellent reporter’s nose providing an air of legitimacy with all her interviews and interrogations. Arabella Carpenter has all the earmarks of a great BFF or main character herself, and other Main Street merchants and town resident’s round out a very realistic cast of characters. It’s a great story with entertaining twists and turns is well worth it, but the realistic characters are the frosting! And the Treasontini? The recipe for The Hanged Man’s signature cocktail, can be found on Judy’s website.
Although I also have the eBook, my enjoyment was greatly enriched following along with by Suzanne T. Fortin’s narration in the audio version. She used her entertaining voice artistry to go beyond the traditional reading style. She did well interpreting personality and emotions of the characters, but without obvious dialects or accents the differences between female characters or male voices were less effective. However, this didn’t effect my overall entertainment. It is definitely a great way to enjoy Judy Penz Sheluk’s work!