Love, Honour, and O'Brien

October 24, 2011
After Andrew McNish, a smooth-talking financial adviser, runs out on office supply clerk Holly Love with most of her savings on the eve of their wedding, Holly vows to get even in this engaging stand-alone from Australian author Rowe (Death in Store). Holly hires seedy PI Mick O’Brien to locate her ex-fiancé, but when Mick turns up dead, Holly has to investigate on her own. Mistaken for Mick’s business partner, she encounters a number of odd characters in her travels around New South Wales: clairvoyant and psychic Abigail Honour, an opinionated parrot, an Elvis impersonator who drives a hearse, and an elderly invalid, Una Maggott, who’s convinced Andrew was her long-lost half-brother and has been murdered by someone in her household with an eye on her fortune. Despite some overly lengthy exposition, fans of quirky mysteries and skillful suspense will find much to enjoy.

December 1, 2011

Holly Love falls for the oldest con in the book--the boyfriend who takes her money and runs. Devastated and adrift, she manages to pull herself together and hires a detective to track down Andrew, the boyfriend. After the world-weary but wise O'Brien starts the investigation, he dies unexpectedly in his apartment. With the help of his neighbors, Holly follows the breadcrumb trail. Casting herself as O'Brien's partner, Holly ends up in Australia's Blue Mountains at an old-fashioned country house whose owner believes that one of her own tenants has murdered Andrew. VERDICT This charming series debut by the author of the Verity Birdwood and Tessa Vance mysteries stars an endearing heroine and a dynamic cast of zany characters. Using the classic country house venue of mystery's golden age in a contemporary setting is brilliant and will capture readers' imaginations. A very gentle cozy with a little magic and an open-ended conclusion that begs for a sequel.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2011
A woman scorned hires a private detective, with decidedly unexpected results. Leaving her boring fiancé and doting parents, Holly Love has moved to Australia's Blue Mountain area, where she's met, romanced and accepted a marriage proposal from charismatic Andrew McNish. When she arrives at his house on their wedding day, she finds a note reading, "Don't try to find me," an envelope containing $40, and not much else. Andrew has cleaned out their joint account, and Holly, left almost penniless, must sleep on the floor and eat scraps of cheese and pickles while debt collectors arrive in steady streams. Enraged, she calls a private detective, O'Brien, who agrees to take her case. But when she goes to his apartment office, she finds his dead body, a picture of Andrew and a mouthy parrot. After Holly convinces O'Brien's neighbors in Mealey Marshes that she didn't kill him, they befriend her and suggest she use his just-rented apartment. Naturally, Holly starts getting calls from people wanting O'Brien to investigate. She agrees to take on a case that may lead to Andrew. Delivered to a gloomy mansion by an Elvis impersonator driving a hearse, she learns that the wheelchair-bound owner, who claims Andrew is her half brother, thinks he has been murdered by one of the odd group of people living there. With the help of her new friends, one of them a psychic, Holly becomes embroiled in a desperate and dangerous adventure to track down her missing lover. The prolific Australian author (The Makeover Murders, 1993, etc.) offers the hilarious first in a new series that mixes humor with mystery.

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