Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Lowcountry Bombshell
Unavailable
Lowcountry Bombshell
Unavailable
Lowcountry Bombshell
Ebook306 pages4 hours

Lowcountry Bombshell

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this ebook

Liz Talbot thinks she's seen another ghost when she meets Calista McQueen. She's the spitting image of Marilyn Monroe. Born precisely fifty years after the ill-fated star, Calista’s life has eerily mirrored the late starlet’s—and she fears the looming anniversary of Marilyn’s death will also be hers.

Before Liz can open a case file, Calista’s life coach is executed. Suspicious characters swarm around Calista like mosquitoes on a sultry lowcountry evening: her certifiable mother, a fake aunt, her control-freak psychoanalyst, a private yoga instructor, her peculiar housekeeper, and an obsessed ex-husband.

Liz digs in to find a motive for murder, but she’s besieged with distractions. Her ex has marriage and babies on his mind. Her too-sexy partner engages in a campaign of repeat seduction. Mamma needs help with Daddy’s devotion to bad habits. And a gang of wild hogs is running loose on Stella Maris.

With the heat index approaching triple digits, Liz races to uncover a diabolical murder plot in time to save not only Calista’s life, but also her own.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

LOWCOUNTRY BOMBSHELL by Susan M. Boyer - A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you’ll probably like them all.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHenery Press
Release dateSep 3, 2013
ISBN9781938383571
Unavailable
Lowcountry Bombshell
Author

Susan M. Boyer

Susan M. Boyer is the USA Today bestselling author of twelve novels. Her debut novel, Lowcountry Boil, won the 2012 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, and garnered several other award nominations. Subsequent books have been nominated for various honors, including Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Okra Picks, the 2016 Pat Conroy Beach Music Mystery Prize, and the 2017 Southern Book Prize in Mystery & Detective Fiction. Susan loves beaches, Southern food, and small towns where everyone knows everyone, and everyone has crazy relatives. You’ll find all of the above in her novels. She and her husband call Greenville, SC, home and visit the Carolina coast as often as possible.

Related to Lowcountry Bombshell

Related ebooks

Cozy Mysteries For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Lowcountry Bombshell

Rating: 3.781249916666667 out of 5 stars
4/5

48 ratings11 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This time Liz has been hired to protect a wealthy woman who is a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe. Since more than her looks parallel Marilyn's life, she wants Liz to protect her from someone killing her on the anniversary of Marilyn's death.This book was really different from the first. But I liked it. There is a lot going on but all the pieces are pulled together well except for how this woman, Calista, looks so much like MM. I hope to see more of Calista and maybe we can find out more about her.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The scourge of the second book strikes again. Lowcountry Boil was an inspired combination of two of my favourite fictional themes - ghosts and the Deep South - plus great characters and humour. Lowcountry Bombshell, sadly, is a meandering mishmash of nauseating romance, clumsy product placement and a Marilyn Monroe fixation that really has nothing to do with the plot. Only two details made me smile: the GPS 'medallion' that Liz gives her client, which reminded me of an episode of Knight Rider, and Colleen, Liz's ghostly best friend, who is working on materialisation. Hopefully book three, Lowcountry Boneyard will pick up the pace - and pack off the boyfriend.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    4 STARSI liked it so much I went and bought the first Liz Talbot Mystery to read soon. The characters were good, some kooky, some bad guys and even one that died years ago. The plot was twisty and I was not sure who did what. The story was easy to follow, funny, action packed, romantic and full of drama.Liz Talbot is a P.I. in her hometown. She has her high school friend Colleen who died back then come and visit her. Colleen even helps protect her sometimes. Liz romantic life is a mess. Her one ex-husband is back into the picture and wants to remarry her. She wanted that for years. Her partner in the P.I. is another ex-husband's brother. Who is coming back for her.Her new client Calista McQueen looks like Marilyn Monroe and has a lot in common with her. She is afraid that someone will kill her on the day Marilyn Monroe died. She even married a baseball player named Joe. Her mom even gave her into the foster care system so that she would be like Marilyn. She left home 18 years ago and has not seen her mom or first husband since than they don't even know what name she is using now.Liz's brother is the Chief of Police and even wonders if Calista is all there. It did not help that Calista was wearing disguises so she did not look like Marilyn.Then her life coach was murdered. Liz found out that Calista had millions of dollars. Her deceased husband won the lottery jackpot the day he was murdered. Liz feels like the danger has to be related to the money. Then some scary things happen to her. Liz should have died but her friend Colleen interfered. Liz is afraid that Colleen will get into trouble for helping her. Colleen sure brings some laughter and funny scenes with her.Liz is going to protect Calista, she is also going to be a friend to her too. She does a good job investigating with Nate as they try to add romance to their partnership. They have the fact live in two different towns and neither one wants to move.It is full of action, romance, danger, paranormal and fun characters that I enjoyed reading about. Kept me guessing to the end.I was given this ebook to read and asked in return to give honest review of it by Netgalley and Henery Press.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Private Investigator Liz Talbot is back in this second book. We met her in Lowcountry Boil, the first book in this series. This book is just as much fun, if not more.There are the two men in Liz's life. Liz remains close to her brother, Blake, the Chief of Police in their hometown. She is now in a partnership with another private investigator, Nate, and their relationship is growing.Liz has a very unique client. Calista McQueen is a dead-ringer for Marilyn Monroe. Her entire life mirrors Marilyn in many ways. She is a widowed lottery winner, who is being stalked. here are millions of dollars at stake that could be the reason for threats on Calista's life.When Calista's personal psychic is murdered, things really heat up. Liz is determined to solve the mystery and protect Calista. Her own deceased friend, Colleen, watches over Liz. This adds a paranormal element, and also some interesting situations.The book is very entertaining, filled with southern charm. This is a mixture of romance, humour and mystery. The story will keep you guessing until the end, and then you will be left wondering what will happen in the next book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ms. Boyer is two for two. I picked up the first book in this series, Lowcountry Boil as a Kindle freebie. I generally never get around to reading those freebies; they're sort of like, for me, the way survivalists stock canned good in case of the apocalypse. It seems I horde books away in case, I don't know, the world suddenly runs out of reading material? Anyway, nothing in my TBR pile looked good that day, so I flipped open the kindle app and started reading. I won't bore you with the details here - you can read the review for Lowcountry Boil elsewhere on my blog. But it was an excellent read, 5 stars, and apparently everyone else thought so too, as it won the Agatha award for best first. I immediately pre-ordered Lowcountry Bombshell, but delivered with the book was a sense of trepidation - what if it's not as good as the first one? The plot involves a woman who appears to be Marilyn Monroe's doppleganger. I never bought into the Marilyn mystique - what if this is really hokey?? Ms. Boyer ended the first book with Liz having to decide between two men; what if she decides to drag it out into a massive love triangle? I HATE love triangles!!! So to the TBR pile the book went. I read a few other books first and the book languished on The Pile for a few weeks. Saturday night I finally felt ready to pick it up and be disappointed if it just couldn't hold up against the first one. How happy was I to find that not only did Ms. Boyer *not* create a love triangle (that's resolved practically in the first chapter) but that she had created a lovely, twisted, almost-sort-of-creepy plot line involving this Marilyn lookalike? Truly, I found the story fascinating from the word go.The characters, if you've not read the first book, are appealing, real, three-dimensional people you'd like to run into at the diner if you were lucky enough to live on Stella Maris. Stella Maris itself is well sketched out; Ms. Boyer doesn't map it out for you, but it's atmosphere is very well communicated in the writing. (Much better than *I'm* communicating at the moment.) I really like Nate and I love how self-assured Liz is. She doesn't take any crap from anyone and the men in her life are unable to control her, in spite of their most concerted efforts. She's intelligent too - this is a woman who knows how to do her job and do it with grace and style. I will admit though, the slight case of germaphobia is kinda weird. She has a quirky family and her best friend is a ghost. Or, more correctly, a guardian spirit. She doesn't play a central role in this book, but she is a presence during important moments. The plot - well as I mentioned before - a bit twisted. Very well crafted, very well written. Layers. This plot has layers. Cozy readers will recognize this is not standard equipment in all cozies. The author led me around by my nose throughout the mystery - I followed the clues and had not the first idea of who the killer might be. And when you find out - whoo boy. Again, not your cozy standard. Not too dark at all, but a step beyond the run-of-the-mill cozy mystery murderer. For that reason and for a sex scene or two that ventures outside the strict cozy definition, I'll say this is not your mama's cozy. If mild sex is offensive, if a murderer that's closer to cold-blooded than cozy is not for you, then you might not enjoy this book. For everyone else - this is an excellent read. N.B. - this would have been a 5-star read but there were quite a few editing errors, including a sentence that wasn't - it just ended abruptly at the word "and". The few Henry Press books I've read to date have shown much higher quality editing than this, so I'm hoping it's a one-off instead of a sign of things to come.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a wonderful new series I've found! Great characters are developed in each, thought out, well plotted, mystery. My favorite part of the country to picture in my mind while thinking about having family Sundays dinners myself! Now that I'm familiar with all of Susan's Talbot family and small island roots the books will get better and I'll go thru the remainder too fast.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Lots of fun reading and lots of fun characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the second book in the Liz Talbot series, and I enjoyed it as much as the first. Liz is a feisty southern lady who lives in the South Carolina lowcountry. She grew up on this island and her family is there. She open a branch office of her PI agency that is located on the mainland. Liz is living in her grandmother's home, and is loving being back home, when a woman comes to her agency asking for her help. Calista is about mid-thirties and she looks exactly like Marilyn Monroe. But that is not where the similarity ends. Birthdates, mother's name, first marriage are all similar to Marilyn. Liz is floored, but when Calista asks her to help keep her safe, Liz takes on the task. Then her handsome partner from the mainland comes to visit, and boy do things heat up from there! There's lots of suspense and action just like Lowcountry Boil. but there's a lot more heat in this book. This is a really fun series, and I love Liz and her friends and family, and the addition of Nate to the story really added something. This is not your usual cozy series. There is a lot more action and tension - hence the reference to V.I. Warshawski. I can't wait to read the next one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed the second book in the Liz Talbot Mystery series. It had a little of everything that I like, mystery, humour, romance, family relationships and supernatural. I didn't identify it as a cozy as there is some sex, nothing too risque, but it is there along with some language.

    Liz is living in her grandmother's house on the island of Stella Maris and is exploring her newly minted relationship with her partner and ex-brother-in-law, Nate. She meets up with a new client only to find out that she is the spitting image of Marilyn Monroe. Calista McQueen wants to hire Liz to keep her alive. She is sure that someone will try to kill her on the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. Liz is worried that Calista must be pulling her leg or have some mental health issues, but as the case unfolds, her concerns are legitimate. Her life has eerily mirrored that of Marilyn and she is convinced that within 10 days her fate will mimic that of Marilyn and she will be dead. She asks Liz to investigate, providing several strange incidents that have led her to believe that she will die. Liz investigates those closest to Calista including her crazy mother, certifiable fake aunt, her lovesick ex-husband, yoga instructor, nosy therapist, and suspicious housekeeper. Who is trying to scare Calista? Is someone going to try and kill her? As the investigation continues, Liz and Nate find themselves a target as well. Who is after them? What lead has caused them to become a target? With the help of the local police and her friendly ghost, they continue to try and protect Calista.

    The relationships are wonderful in this book. We see Nate and Liz become more than just partners and dealing with a new romantic relationship causes some issues with the business. Her family are not as prominent in this story, but her brother Blake helps her out and her mom is around often enough to keep the family involved and add some Southern humour. I love Liz's character. She is a little quirky, fun, but not too stuck on herself, a good southern character. She is also smart, stands up for herself, brave and will not give up when she takes something on. Colleen, the ghost of her high school friend, is not in a lot of this book, but when she does appear, she plays a major part. The new relationship with Nate is well done. There are some scenes that involve some sexual endeavours, but they are done tastefully and not described in detail. He is a normal male, who suddenly becomes overprotective of "his woman" as she is now more than just his partner. Overall, this is a great read. A lot happening to keep you reading well past the time you should be in bed or making dinner. I am ready to start on the next one.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is so good that I have decided to get the first in the series and read it also. PI Liz Talbot is someone with a lot of class. Yes, her love life is sort of a mess. Yes, she has a dead BFF who appears periodically to listen, offer advice, and to even help Liz out—though not too often so the story stays believable. In this book, Liz takes on a client who not only looks like a clone of Marilyn Monroe but whose life follows Marilyn’s (with a little help from her mother and mother’s friend), who is worried she will die on the anniversary of Marilyn’s death in a similar way. Protecting her client while figuring out what is really going on takes Liz on a journey filled with twists and turns, some worrisome and some quite amusing and interesting. The only real criticism I have of the book is that I wish I had felt more chemistry between Liz and her current boyfriend, Nate. If he is to continue in her life, their connection needs to be stronger and more natural. This author has definitely caught my interest. I hope she can write more books quickly. I am eagerly awaiting them. I received this ARC from Net Galley to read and review.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    As a mystery/romance/chick lit book, the latter two are something I just don't read, but I received an ARC as a Firstreads winner, so I thought I'd give it a try. (I do wish there was a category for the mystery/romance; they seem to be proliferating; maybe that's what chick lit is.) It was quite well plotted—but I won't tell you the plot as I don't think that's what a review should be—but I felt the main character, Liz Talbot, pointed too often and too early to the "bad guy" (so she could be right at the end?). However, that shouldn't put anyone off. (I read a lot of mysteries, my favorite genre, and so I am often able to figure out whodunit before the denouement.) The plot twists are still good enough that it's fun to read. Boyer also does a pretty good job with the relationships between the characters. She does three things that I find irritating, however: 1) The boyfriend's patter with regard to sex is mundane and formulaic, and 2) she does that post modern thing of mentioning brands but is inconsistent in doing so (with regard to this, the inconsistency is such that it when she does do it, I wonder "why bother?"), 3) the best friend as ghost à la Drop Dead Diva. I think for most mystery/romance/chick lit readers, this is a good choice, but I confess, I like my mysteries a little darker.