There just isn’t enough crime in Mattawooptock, so Gertrude has to convince Calvin to go to the big city—Portland, where she will go undercover as the newest slam poet on the scene. But have any actual crimes been committed, or is this just Gertrude’s wild imagination at work?
Gertrude, Gumshoe: Slam Is Murder
By robinmerrill
I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the third book in the Gertrude Gumshoe series. It is a standalone book – however, the joy in this series comes from the growth of Gertrude’s character and her interactions with others. I highly recommend you start with the first book in this series “Introducing Gertrude Gumshoe.”
I just can’t get enough of feisty Gertrude. Her antics make me laugh out loud – getting her license; reciting poetry [one about her cat and the detective]; and of course, her relationship with Calvin. I love when she questions people and they ask who she is, her only response is “I’m Gertrude,” as if she is known the world over and only has a first name like Cher or Adelle or Madonna. I absolutely enjoy this series and recommend it highly for anyone who wants a good laugh.
The narrator, Darlene Allen, is the same narrator for the entire series. She does a very good job narrating and embodies the quirkiness of Gertrude’s character.
Gertrude decides she needs another case to work on, so this time she looks to the big city to find one. Is there really a connection between the deaths that have recently occurred, or were they all accidents? Follow along as Gertrude participates in a poetry slam to try and find out the answers to her many questions.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.
This review is for the audio book.
I enjoyed this book. It is a fun light and easy mystery to follow along. This is book four but you don’t need to have listened to them in order and all of them are a hoot, just like Gertrude. I love the characters, Gertrude is so hopeless, bossy, dramatic, blunt and yet you can’t help but like her. She always manages to find a way to get what she wants, I do feel sorry for Calvin the sidekick and think he is another well crafted character, who else would let Gertrude take a driving test in there car?
Gertrude is bored and where looking through the newspaper she stumbles onto what she thinks could be two murders. The first problem is she is the only gumshoe who hasn’t passed there driving test, yet. So enlists Calvin her fellow crime solving sidekick to drive. The second problem is both deaths seems to be connected to a poetry slam and Gertrude needs to go under cover to get close to question the suspects but first she needs to Google what a poetry slam is. Getting on stage proves to be no problem but coming up with a poem while under the big bright lights of the stage proves to be elusive just like unmasking the killer before they strike again. Can Gertrude and Calvin work out who the killer is or will they be booed off the stage?
I like the narrator she has to cover a wide range of ages to give each character there own voice, which she does beautifully.
It is a wonder that Gertrude has ever made it this long in life. She goes to the big city to “investigate” crime when home gets to boring and when she royally ticks Calvin off she goes and gets another partner! The reaction was .
Audiobook review: The overall story premise was interesting. One comical scene of Gertrude driving backwards brought a smile to my face but really that’s all I found funny in this proclaimed comical mystery. Gertrude, the elderly sleuth, believes there is a link between poetry readers deaths even though many look like an accident. A different narrator may have brought more humor tones; there were awkward pauses in the dialogue and at the end of chapters that had me checking my phone to ensure the audible app had not closed.