Terry Strong has been hired by Martin Oldfield to find his wife. After a bit of confusion, Terry discovers that the wife, Eloise, had disappeared 25 years ago, leaving Oldfield with a five-month old baby. After investigating Eloise’s whereabouts, Terry finds her, but she is now Louise Kingley. Terry arranges for Oldfield and Louise to meet. The day after the first meeting, Oldfield is arrested … for killing Louise. Oldfield hires Terry to clear him of the murder, sending Terry on an ever-changing whirlwind search to discover who Eloise/Louise truly was and who, in fact, killed her. A surprise ending brings the investigation to a shocking close.
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“Poison Butterfly” is the first book I have read written by Lo Monaco. I really enjoyed the twist and turns and how fast paced it was I read it in one night. It was action packed and every time you thought you knew who did it there was another suspect. I did have it figured out before the end of the book. The book kept me interested and had me turning the pages to see where it would lead me. I would like to read the first book in this series and am looking forward to reading more books in this series. Thank you Facebook Cozy Crew for my copy of this book and giving me another new author to read.
Poison Butterfly by Lo Monaco is a fast-paced, entertaining cozy mystery that features Theresa (Terry) Strong as the 33-year-old protagonist who runs a small private investigator’s firm along with her intern Jackson (Jack) Jefferson, who is 23 and her Taekwondo instructor who is putting in hours to become a private investigator. She lives with her mother who is also single, because it makes sense; also because her mother cooks, cleans, and does laundry. Terry has been divorced six years from a man 25 years her senior who cheated on her but still occupies her thoughts too often.
Martin Oldenfield arrives at Terry’s office wanting to hire her to look for his runaway wife. Problem is: she ran away 25 years ago. Knowing it will be a futile effort she promises him a week and accepts his $1500 retainer because he seems like a nice man. She and Jack locate her almost immediately but it does not end well as the next day, as he was meeting her for the second time, Oldenfield is arrested for her murder. Terry thinks he’s innocent and so we meet another interesting character: Rance DuBoise, a lawyer and friend of Terry’s who is a Southern gentleman and decidedly gay, much to the consternation of the female population to whom her is exposed.
Poison Butterfly is an entertaining story with some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. I enjoyed it and look forward to the next in the series.
I was given free ARC of Poison Butterfly in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This book is full of mind blowing twists. It is a
fast paced, filled cover to cover with action, lies
uncovered and secrets revealed. There is quite a
tangled web of clues to weave through plus an
unexpected conclusion.
Terry Strong is a private investigator. She is hired
by Martin Oldfield to find his wife. It seems Eloise
Oldfield left her five month old baby, emptied her
husband’s bank account and disappeared. It is
25 years later and Martin has received a postcard
from her. So he hires a Terry to find her.
Terry finds her but the Eloise is now known as Louise
Kingley. Although she never divorced Martin, she is
married again. Terry arranged for Martin and
Eloise/Louise to meet.
Then Terry gets a call from a Martin that he found
Eloise/Louise dead. He has been arrested. He claims
he is innocent. Martin requests her to investigate and
get him a lawyer. She needs to prove his innocence.
The plot is uniquely complex with intrigue, tension,
drama, suspense, plenty of chills plus many twists and
turns.
The characters are well rounded, well developed, three
dimensional, interesting and cleverly crafted.
A good read.
I volunteered to read Poison Butterfly. Thanks to the
Facebook Cozy Review Crew for the opportunity and
for introducing me to this author. My opinion is my own.