THIS JUST IN—On the weather front, Category Four Hurricane Kevin took a last-minute left and is headed straight for the Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.In breaking news, Undercover Casino Operative Davis Way has one foot out the evacuation door when fifty million dollars disappear, and in its place, a dead body.In other news, if forced to ride out the storm on the hotel’s … the storm on the hotel’s thirteenth-floor fortress, Davis won’t be alone. Her husband, Bradley, her best friend, Fantasy, and a crew of highly trained first responders will be hurricane hostages too, along with Mississippi State Gaming Agents, a FEMA agent, an insurance agent, a State Special Agent, and an Emergency Response Agent—at least one of them a double agent.
The good news is her high school reunion is cancelled.
The bad news is everything else.
The fake news features a castaway pig named Bacon.
The hurricane heist headlines will be sensational. If Davis survives to see them. Grab your rain slicker and galoshes for DOUBLE AGENT, A Davis Way Crime Caper, and prepare yourself for a perfect storm of humor, hijinks, and heart.
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DOUBLE AGENT by Gretchen Archer A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you’ll probably like them all.
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I love Davis Way!
Gretchen Archer does it again with this eighth Davis Way caper. No one weaves a mystery with so many different threads that all pull together into a seamless plot like Gretchen Archer. Best yet, she keeps it light, funny, and heartfelt. You won’t be disappointed!Gretchen Archer
Just finished reading this 8th book in the Davis Way Crime Caper series. Davis doesn’t just find herself preparing for Hurricane Kevin, but money from the slot machine cash boxes are missing and dead bodies are stacking up. I really enjoy how they try to ride out the hurricane on the thirteenth(Disaster) floor and figure out where the money went. But no matter what, Davis and the Bellissimo gang come through in the end. It had me laughing and shaking my head through the whole thing. It was interesting how Gretchen Archer pulled everything together at the very end. Looking forward to what Davis gets into next time, but it might be awhile considering the mess the casino was left in.
This is a well balanced and orchestrated cozy mystery series that has perfected the ability to interlace wry banter with clever repartee (read: well delivered snark) and a rapid fire dialog that keeps you turning the pages; all woven into the story to give it an additional element not often found within the cozy mystery genre…believability. The characters are uniquely relatable, with personalities so real you feel a nearly instant emotional connection to them.
With all the fluid layers which comprise the twists and turns that are the trademark of this series, it takes a truly gift writer, with an extraordinary imagination, to draw the reader seamlessly through the story while keeping the plot evolving until a most surprising and unexpected conclusion.
With its trademark zany cast of characters, Davis and company have this loyal reader anxiously awaiting her next escapade as soon as the last page is turned.
This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and Edelweiss+. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.
BE PREPARED!
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is no stranger to Hurricanes having looked both Camille and Katrina in the eye and lived to tell about it. Hurricane Kevin has decided to head directly toward the Bellissimo Casino and Resort. It is said to be a Hurricane of epic proportions. What the weather forecasters don’t know is that the DISASTER brewing within the walls of the Bellissimo is a much bigger threat than the actual Hurricane.
Archer has blessed her readers with one very of the greatest female crime solving lead characters of all time in Davis (not DAVID) Way Cole. Davis has grown and matured into a fascinating woman, wife of Bradley (President & CEO of the Bellissimo). Her supporting cast of characters she works with on the Covert Security Team for the Bellissimo are like family to her and they work together like a well-oiled machine – well, maybe at least like a squeaky, cranky, glitching machine until faced with all sorts of death defying situations and then they turn into that well-oiled machine!
No one is better at creating unique and unforgettable characters than this author. She will have them embedded in your brain and you will remember them, their characteristics and their crazy accents long after you’ve finished the book. This series should come with a CAUTION because you cannot read one and not get caught snickering or completely laughing out loud! She is the best at detailed descriptions of people, personalities, situations and people working their way out of a jam. Her books are totally fun from start to finish and they always challenge you to choose the villain/villains. My favorite part of this book is that it is about FAMILY – the Bellissimo Covert Security Family as they work together to protect each other and more importantly the Cole/Davis Families as they do everything in their power to protect and provide for their families from the Bellissimo to Pine Apple, AL. Even a Hurricane can’t stop that kind of love! I was provided an ARC of this book by Henery Press and Edelweiss. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.
As always, Gretchen Archer has another winner with Double Agent. It was hard to put the book down. I can’t wait for the next book!
Double Agent by Gretchen Archer is the first book that I have read of hers and it won’t be the last. I am in fact buying the first seven books so I can catch up while waiting for the next book. Even though Double Agent was # 8 in the Davis Way Crime Caper Series it can be read as a standalone. I think if you read the first books in the series you will love this one even more. I read this in one sitting it was so good, I did not want to put it down. I found myself laughing out loud several times, oops!! Excellent! Fast paced, a nicely twisting plot-line, and LOL fun! Can’t wait for the next book.
I love this series so much! I look forward to each new book.
It’s the perfect storm. A dead body. A $50 million heist. And a category-four hurricane.
The latest installment in Davis Way Cole’s adventures as (Bradley’s) wife, (Bex and Quinn’s) mother, (the Bellissimo Casino’s) upper-echelon security expert and computer wizard, and (Bianca’s) body-double and babysitter once again takes a crisis and makes it hilarious.
While most of Biloxi is evacuating in the path of Hurricane Kevin, a storm is already brewing at the Bellissimo. How did $50 million in cash suddenly disappear after being collected from the main casino’s slot machines? Who is the very-real corpse dressed in the fake police uniform? And just exactly how did he get to be a corpse? How will Davis prevail (or even retain her sanity) locked down for a hurricane on the “Disaster” floor of the casino hotel with a rich and varied assortment of loonies, some of whom are probably also dangerous felons?
As the first drops of Hurricane Kevin arrive, two more dead bodies with fake credentials surface. The odd goings-on inside, and the wind and rain outside, go from bad to worse. But even hurricanes come to an end, and by the time the sun comes back out, Davis and her crew have resolved another caper with the help of plenty of guts, wits, and some very good guesses.
Gretchen Archer has once again crafted a clever and intricate (and very entertaining!) plot that has so much going on I almost want to tell her to save some ideas for next time. But this is the eighth full-length book of the series and there is no sign at all that her ideas will ever start thinning out. Along with the fast-paced story line there is a large company of colorful characters—the stock players whom we get to know a little better each time out, and many new (some to be recurring?) characters who are equally well-developed. Like the seven “Double” books before it, this not-particularly-long book packs its pages with action, suspense, humor, and even the occasional pearl of wisdom. In some spots it may be a little hard to keep up, but that is only to be expected when the wind is raging at 100mph and you don’t know whom to trust!
Five Star read, excellent characters. My favorite funny statements were made by Davis of course but when Filet (cook) reminded all to washes their dirty hands, I cracked up. There were many dirty hands that needed to be washed. I had to read in one sitting to find out WHO was the killer. GREAT READ
This is my favorite book series.
She creates characters which keep you laughing and laughing as you try to figure out who did it.
Double Agent is #8 in the series and it is my favorite after Double Whammy. I never could figure out who did this crime until the very end. These books seem to get better and better.
As soon as they clean up the damage caused by Hurricane Kevin and other misfortunes at the Bellissimo Resort and Casino, I am ready for the next adventure. Can’t wait for the action and the fun to begin.
We all have a list of authors and/or book series that we always look forward to reading. We eagerly await each new release, ready to spend time once more in this world with these characters. The Davis Way Crime Caper series by Gretchen Archer is definitely on my “anxiously awaiting these books…when does the next one come out?!” list.
I was so excited to receive an early copy of Ms. Archer’s latest crime caper, Double Agent. I knew before I even opened the book that I was about to be transported to a world filled with “humor, hijinx, and heart.” (OK, the back cover told me that part.) And I was not disappointed.
My favorite part about this series is Ms. Archer’s distinct writing style. Each book is told in the first person from Davis’ point of view, and the writing feels so…effortless and natural I guess are the words I’m looking for. (And sometimes even a little punny.) It doesn’t feel like I’m reading a book written by Gretchen Archer. It feels like Davis is sitting with me, telling me all about her latest adventure. The story just flies by, full of funny commentary and small asides from our heroine as she struggles to solve the latest mystery and keep those she loves safe. Davis isn’t perfect…and that’s what makes her great.
The mystery is an intricate and interesting puzzler — how *do* you sneak fifty million dollars out of a locked-down casino? — but as always, for me it’s the characters that take center stage. As Davis investigates, she runs across both old favorites (including Bianca, Davis’ parents, and Eddie the Idiot) and new characters, some of whom I really hope we see again. One of my favorite new characters is Filet, the chef. English is clearly his second language, and his radio calls to gather people for meals might just become the stuff of legend.
Ms. Archer made me laugh. A lot. I teared up a little, too. And the closer Hurricane Kevin gets to the Bellissimo, the more Davis sees the true character of those around her. And — for the most part — the good shines through. Above all, that is what I loved most about this book.
Fun read!
I anxiously await each one of the series. Always sad when the mystery is solved and the book is finished.