Nobody “sees” Miranda Ogilvy except the hunky blind deejay next door and the men hired to kill them both. Murder, political corruption, quirky small-town neighbors, and Dave the Wonder Dog work together to make this mystery fun, romantic, and satisfying.Detailed Plot Summary: Miranda Ogilvy is accustomed to being invisible. Sometimes people actually see her, but they forget her almost … almost immediately. It’s not a bad life for a ghost, but Miranda is not a ghost. She’s a librarian.
The problem may be that Miranda lives in a big, busy city. So when her aunt dies suddenly and leaves Miranda a century-old cottage forty miles beyond the middle of nowhere, Miranda makes the life-changing move from Miami to Minokee.
Moving doesn’t solve the problem, however; people still don’t notice Miranda. The only two people who seem all too aware of her are a handsome neighbor (way out of her league) and the man who murdered her aunt (too late to move back to Miami?).
Shepard Krausse is a late-night radio talk show host, but it isn’t because he “has a face for radio,” as the saying goes. In fact, Shepard is such a hunk that the little old ladies in his tiny Minokee community set their clocks every day in order to be on their front porches sipping coffee and watching through binoculars as he takes his morning run. Shep waves to the ladies (Psst! Bernice, yer droolin; on yer apron.), but he has never seen them. Shep has been blind since birth. His best friend (and guide dog), Dave, goes everywhere with him, including on the morning run. (Shepard’s the cute one; Dave’s the smart one.)
Shepard’s radio show, “Sheep Counters with Shep and Dave,” caters to insomniacs whose paranoia and conspiracy theories are keeping them awake. People enjoy venting their rage on the air, and Shepard’s audience enjoys, in about equal numbers, either agreeing with or ridiculing his callers.
Shep has a conspiracy theory of his own. He believes his uncle, the governor of the state of Florida, is corrupt in a big way, and may even be behind the murder of Shepard’s former neighbor, Phyllis Ogilvy.
Miranda is small, plain, and, of course, invisible. Shepard is the size of a professional television wrestler and, of course, resembles Adonis. She squeaks by on a librarian’s salary, still wearing clothes she owned in high school. His matching outfits are laid out for him every morning by his chauffeur/valet. She has learned four languages by listening to CDs in her car. He speaks seven languages, which he learned while in boarding school in Switzerland. Her aunt was a small-town librarian and part-time birdwatcher. His uncle is the governor of Florida, and his mother acts like the Queen of England. Miranda attended a community college. Shepard has an Ivy League law degree. Not since the owl and the pussycat has there been a more unlikely pair.
Now that Miranda has moved into Minokee, however, Shep and Dave are determined to protect their new neighbor from the bad guys. They just need to find out who or what the villains are. Miranda and Shep don’t know that soon, on a steamy Florida night, the city girl and the blind deejay will be running for their lives in the inky darkness of Little Cypress National Forest.
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Enjoyed it
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Shep and Dave
Part of a series: Minokee Mysteries
Standalone
HEA
I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC from NetGalley.
librarian, Florida, romantic, service-dog, friendship, family-dynamics, situational-humor, verbal-humor, blindness, seniors
The story unfolds bit by bit at a rather steady pace that escalates in intensity and danger. All of the characters truly are! From the ogling older ladies of the neighborhood to the vamp at the library to the incredible guide dog to the pair of main characters. Follow the fun, get caught up in the danger, feel the grief, and rejoice at the ending! Another great read by the author of Schifflebein’s Folly and Duby’s Doctor! And every bit as surprising!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from BooksGoSocial via NetGalley. Thank you!
I read to escape from my real life problems. This story made me laugh out loud! If you enjoy books that make you giggle like a school girl, I highly recommend Finding Miranda. Warning, you may also cry like a baby. So be prepared for an emotional roller coaster ride.
I was gifted this book with the understanding that I would leave an honest review. I am not a huge fan of Romance novels but thought I would give this one a try as it was also a mystery. The romance in this book is not the overly sexual writing which is good in my opinion. But I just could not get into the characters except for Dave the adorable dog in the story. As the book unfolds well let me just say that I lost interest because of Dave. I don’t want to give anything away about the story. From that point on I had a hard time reading but I did finish the book. This was not for me but I can’t say it is not an okay book for someone else. Joshua Bennington is the narrator for this book and I found him okay as well. But give the book a chance most seem to love this story.
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 Minokee Mysteries series. It is a standalone story with no cliffhanger ending.
Here, Miranda has moved to a small town after inheriting a house from her aunt. The problem – Miranda is a wallflower – literally. No one remembers her or notices her – she is just part of the background. One day, Miranda sees a very attractive jogger, Shepard – who notices her, even though he is blind. Shepard is a host of a radio show – which covers conspiracies – and has a great guide dog in Dave. Miranda wonders what this man could possibly see in her – invisible to everyone Miranda.
From the blurb, I thought this was going to be light-hearted and comical – and it was but it is so much more. This book really doesn’t fit into a box – it has romance, a dog, a mystery, political intrigue, humanity, and comedy. The characters of Shepard and Miranda tug at your heart and Dave – Dave will break your heart! The evolving relationship between Miranda and Shep is realistic, enjoyable and fun. This book is well-written and paced. I absolutely loved this book. Highly recommend!
I listened to this book – the narrator was fantastic. He has a smooth deep voice – which is exactly how I believe based on the description, Shep should sound. However, he also does voices for all of the characters – and it was great how timid the voice of Miranda was at the beginning and then slowly changed as she got more courageous. His narration was a compliment to the written word and made the book so much more enjoyable.
One of the best cozy mysteries.
Loved this story. It had some fun drama. A fantastic read.
There are laugh-out-loud moments in this amazing, clean book. Some tear-jerking moments at the end, but overall this is a fabulous read! Highly recommend.
It was very different. Blind man running. Old ladies watch. Young girl no one really sees interaction made me laugh. Some parts made me cry. Satisfying ending. Very enjoyable